Home » UPike College of Optometry class of 2023 receives symbolic white coat

UPike College of Optometry class of 2023 receives symbolic white coat

PIKEVILLE, Ky. – The University of Pikeville-Kentucky College of Optometry (KYCO) held its White Coat Ceremony for the class of 2023 on Saturday, April 10, via livestream. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, the event was closed to the public.

The White Coat Ceremony is symbolic within health professions, reflecting a commitment to patient care. After two years of a rigorous classroom and procedure lab curriculum, the class of 2023 will apply their knowledge in the clinical setting.

Second-year students at KYCO were “coated” in the presence of their peers and KYCO faculty by Cliff Caudill, O.D., FAAO, KYCO assistant dean of clinical affairs and associate professor of optometry, and Donald Egan, O.D., FAAO, DPNAP, associate dean for academic affairs and professor of optometry.

Dean Michael Bacigalupi, O.D., M.S., FAAO, FNAP, welcomed viewers from across the country through livestream and praised students for rising to meet the challenges of being educated during a pandemic.

UPIKE President Burton J. Webb, Ph.D., and Provost Lori Werth, Ph.D., congratulated students on this significant occasion. Egan also spoke to students about the history and the significance that the white coat holds.

Delivering the keynote address for the ceremony was R. Max Raynor, O.D., president of SECO International, also known as the Southern Council of Optometrists, the largest educational meeting for primary eye care doctors in the world. Dedicating his 30-year career to providing the ultimate in preventative primary eye care, he is an active member of the North Carolina State Optometric Society, serving as president in 2007.