Ceremony Marks Transition for PA/MPH Students
Cohort Receives White Coats Before Raucous Crowd of Family, Friends
Four dozen prospective Physician Assistant and Public Health professionals received their white coats during a ceremony Jan. 23 as a deafening crowd of supporters wished them well on their continuing academic journey.
The Lander Hall Auditorium at Touro University California (TUC) was filled to near capacity as member of the Joint Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies/Master of Public Health program’s Class of 2027 marked a ceremonial transition from the classroom portion of their education to hands-on clinical training.
Campus and program leaders took turns addressing the class, offering words of praise and encouragement.
Class President Cindy Ly shared her upbringing in a small cultural community, the support she found at Touro, and encouraged her peers to build upon the relationships they have built at TUC.
“Touro really built a safe space, and I felt like I was able to find my community here,” Ly said. “Although our cohort is very diverse, we all found similarities within each other, whether it was being first-generation or coming from an underserved area, we all bonded and we became each other’s support system.”
Class of 2027 Honors Recent Program Alumna
Members of the cohort honored program alumna Brianna Hightman, Class of 2025, with the PA Teaching Award.
Hightman could not attend the ceremony because she was working with the Neurocritical Care team at Stanford Health Care in Redwood City. Josie Hunt, Associate Director of the PA program and a Class of 2012 alumna, read from Hightman’s prepared remarks.
“I am genuinely honored and very touched to accept this award,” Hightman said in her prepared remarks. “I had the privilege of watching you grow from the summer until now, and it has been incredible to see how you’ve navigated challenges, built resilience, and continued to show up for yourselves and for one another as you prepare to step into the clinical side of medicine.”
Hightman became Adjunct Faculty in August after serving as a PA Faculty Fellow. She joined Stanford Health Care in December and remain Adjunct Faculty with the PA program.
The Class of 2027 cohort includes 47 students. Members of the cohort will begin a year of clinical rotations once their didactic program concludes in May.
“We’ve experienced and accomplished so much, but the best is yet to come,” Ly said.
Speakers included Dr. Tami Hendriksz, Campus Provost, Dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine, and a 2006 alumna of the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program; Rabbi Elchonon Tenenbaum, Campus Rabbi and Director of Student Life; Dr. Terezie Tolar-Peterson, Dean of the College of Health Sciences; Dr. Joy Moverley, Director of the PA program and a 2012 alumna of the program; and Dr. Gayle Cummings, Director of the Public Health program.