‘White Coat’ Ceremony Planned for New Pharmacy Students

Students comprising the seventh class of the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy will recite their Oath of a Pharmacist at a “White Coat Ceremony” to be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13, the University of Hawai`i at Hilo Performing Arts Center.

School officials said the ceremony is a rite of passage into clinical practice for students entering their first year in the professional program to affirm their commitment to professionalism, respect, integrity and compassion.

The student pharmacists of the Class of 2017 will be the first to take the oath under the school’s new name, which was changed this year to honor the late longtime senator from Hawai`i.

The ceremony will include remarks by UH-Hilo Chancellor Don Straney and DKICP Dean John M. Pezzuto. The students will also be addressed by community leaders, including Inouye’s former Chief-of-Staff Pat DeLeon and Hawai`i County Mayor Billy Kenoi.

Other speakers will include Lucinda Maine, executive vice president and CEO of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, and Mike Hoskins, RPh, Mina Pharmacy, who is the 2013 Preceptor of the Year.

The event is open to the public.