Will Miller, 20, may have summed up the sentiment after the White Coat Ceremony as well as anyone else:
“It feels like I’ve moved up a step in the world,” Miller said with a broad smile.
During the ceremony held Friday, Sept. 27, Miller and 105 other students in the Doctor of Pharmacy Class of 2028 were cloaked in pharmacy white coats, marking their completion of purely didactic learning and their advancement to professional training. The conclusion of the ceremony brought a celebratory mood to campus as hundreds of family and friends gathered to take photos and classmates embraced each other with shouts of congratulations.
For those in the audience paying close attention, Miller stood out during the cloaking ceremony. Most students received their white coat from a faculty member, among the veteran pharmacists charged with guiding them on their path to professionalism. As Miller’s name was called, however, his uncle, Dr. Justin Taranto ’23, quietly got up to stand behind his nephew at the front of the Albert M. White Gymnasium and drape the cloak over Miller's shoulders. Miller’s mother, Jennifer, made the request for Dr. Taranto to cloak Will, as her brother had been a role model to her son.
Miller and Taranto
Was Miller surprised? “I was, very,” he said. “I do look up to him,” he said of his uncle. “He did push me along to join the field.”
The 42-year-old Dr. Taranto chose pharmacy as his second career — the one he always wanted, which combined his interests in understanding medication and working with people.
“I always liked that it was the intersection of the science and the patient care,” Dr. Taranto said.
The students also recited the Oath of a Pharmacist during the ceremony, and were reminded by speakers of the meaning of the symbolic White Coat and the responsibilities that the wearer bears to act with integrity, compassion and a lifelong commitment to learning.
Keynote speaker Dr. Zachary Hecox ’16 brought home that point while also sharing the need for students to remain resilient to challenges, such as the head injury he suffered that required him to work harder to memorize information. Dr. Hecox, now a pharmacist at Albany Memorial Hospital’s Anticoagulation Management Clinic, also urged students to take part fully in the clinical experiences they are offered.
“Do not be afraid to get those white coats dirty,” he said. “The stains may or may not come out, but they build character.”
Family and friends photograph a group of Class of 2028 students who came to ACPHS from Puerto Rico.