On Aug. 19, the USC Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy inducted 151 students into its Doctor of Physical Therapy program with its annual White Coat Ceremony.

“By putting on this white coat today, you enter a profession of caring, compassion, advocacy and humanism,” said keynote speaker and Adjunct Instructor of Clinical Physical Therapy Melissa Brose, DPT. “In accepting this white coat, you must do so with humility rather than hubris. It is your privilege to provide service to others, to assist them in having a voice and to empower them to optimize their ability to move.”

After faculty members bestowed scholarships, awards and words of advice to both new and returning students, the incoming class took a solemn oath to conduct themselves with the professionalism, ethics and compassion befitting a Trojan physical therapist.

The class is composed of 99 females and 52 males, who hail from 14 states. USC’s doctor of physical therapy program has two pathways to its degree — one is the traditional residential program, the other is a hybrid online/on-campus program, where students visit campus regularly for hands-on intensive training. In the incoming class, 101 are following the residential pathway and 50 are on the hybrid pathway.

Of those on the hybrid pathway, the farthest a student must travel to campus for intensives is 2,000 miles.

— John Hobbs