On April 5, 2024 the University of South Florida School of Physical Therapy held their annual Commitment to the Profession Ceremony for the Doctor of Physical Therapy Classes of 2026. The ceremony marks the time in which the students are welcomed into the profession by receiving their first White Coat, and they take a special Oath of Professionalism that each class creates. The students are coated by faculty advisors and then presented with a gift from their “Big” (an upper-class student) within the program. This year the school was able to raise over $17,000 from donors to cover the full cost of the 53 coats with the remaining funds going to student scholarships.
Mary Beth Holmes PT, DPT, PhD Assistant Professor and Co-Director of Clinical Education, Physical Therapy Program at Boston University was the keynote speaker. She emphasized the prevalence of burnout in the health care field, how taking care of patients starts with taking care of themselves first, and the value of human connection on the path to better mental and physical health. She also provided the students with some words of wisdom as they progress through their DPT program and become new professionals. Lastly, she worked with faculty the previous day on some topics related to her scholarly interest in self-determination theory and continuum of motivation.
Shirley Smith
Whitney Herd
The first award of the evening was the Spirit of Interprofessionlism award, which is presented to individuals who have promoted the role of physical therapists in the collaborative healthcare team within the academic, clinical, or research programs of USF Health. This year the recipient was Shirley Smith, Director of USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Office of Student and Community Engagement. Shirley has helped to provide unique inteprofessional and simulation activities to our students during orientation and within the DPT curriculum.
The next award was the Gregory R. Nicolosi Commitment to Professionalism Award. which this award goes to a second year DPT student who is recognized by classmates as one who has consistently demonstrated the Core Values of Professionalism, including: Accountability, Altruism, Compassion & Caring, Excellence, Integrity, Professional Duty, and, Social Responsibility. This year the recipient was Whitney Herd from the DPT Class of 2025.
During the ceremony the school also awards it’s departmental scholarships to DPT students. The following are the 2024 recipients, above are their pictures:
- Vorholy Memorial Scholarship – Nicole Lukinbeal, Class of 2024
- Future Professionals Scholarship – Hayden Euper, Class of 2024
- CORA Scholarship – Richard Aley, Class of 2024
- Tiedemann Circle of Motion Scholarship – Emily Gober, Class of 2026
- Laura Lee “Dolly” Swisher Scholarship – Hamidah Figuero, Class of 2026
Our last awards of the evening were the UnBULLieveable Awards which recognize clinical partners. The UnBULLieveable awards were created to recognize clinical and community partners who have stepped up and helped our school out. They have continued to support our program by taking on additional students for clinical education, partnering to be advisors for our DPT advisory board, and many have become friends of the program over the years. These recipients were nominated by the DPT Clinical Education Team, and then finalized by the school’s awards and scholarships committee. The following were our 2023 recipients:
- AdventHealth Orlando
After the awards the students were coated, recited their professional oath, and then finished up a small cookie reception.