The Marshall University School of Pharmacy welcomed 54 incoming pharmacy students at its eighth annual White Coat Ceremony, Friday, Aug. 30, at the Brad D. Smith Foundation Hall in Huntington.
The Class of 2023 includes 35 women and 19 men ranging in age from 18 to 61. There are 33 students from West Virginia and 21 out-of-state students. Twenty-nine are Marshall undergraduate alumni.
During the ceremony, students were presented with white coats and recited the Oath of a Pharmacist.
“This is an exciting day for these men and women who are on their way to becoming caring and compassionate pharmacists,” said Gayle A. Brazeau, Ph.D., dean of the school of pharmacy.
The following scholarship recipients were also recognized during the ceremony.
- Sean Doyle – $2,500 Marshall University School of Pharmacy Stephen J. Kopp Academic Excellence Award
- Jordan Musgrove and Sarah Nickel – $2,500 Marshall University School of Pharmacy Don Perdue Award
- Jillian Holgate and Cheyenne Weakley – $2,000 Marshall University School of Pharmacy Scholarship Award
- Zachary McCallister – $1,500 Advantage Toyota Scholarship
- Michael Jeffrey – $1,000 Mary H. and Churchill Hodges Scholarship
- Kailey Spainhower – $1,000 Pioneer in Pharmacy Scholarship
- Tanner Sweeney – $625 Trivillian’s Scholarship
This year’s keynote speaker was Dr. Daniel Buffington, president and founder of Clinical Pharmacology Services, which is an ambulatory care specialty practice in Tampa, Florida. Buffington is also a faculty member at the University of South Florida Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy and has received an award of excellence from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Buffington received his Pharm.D. and M.B.A. from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia.