USM Students Receive Doctor of Audiology White Coats in Special Ceremony

The School of Speech and Hearing Sciences' Doctor of Audiology program at The University of Southern Mississippi presented white coats to five students during its annual ceremony held April 27th in the Thad Cochran Center on the Hattiesburg campus.

The White Coat Ceremony is an annual tradition involving third-year doctoral students in audiology who receive their white coats while surrounded by University faculty and staff, family, and friends. The ceremony celebrates the end of the academic education for the students and the transition to extensive clinical training during a nine-month externship.

Those earning white coats include: Michael Brian Slater (Gulfport, Miss.) , Robyn Chunn (Alabaster, Ala.), Preston Lewis (Traverse City, Mich.), Mindy Taylor (Madison, Miss.) , and Lauren O'Keefe (Biloxi, Miss). These outstanding students were awarded their White Coats by Dr. Karen Coats, Dean of the USM Graduate School and Dr. Kathleen Masters, Dean of the College of Nursing and Health Professions.

The students will be completing externships in the Veterans Health Care Systems in Atlanta, Georgia and Biloxi, Miss., Tuscaloosa Ear, Nose, Throat, Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Mass., as well as The Emerge Center for Communication, Behavior, and Development in Baton Rouge, La.

“We as a faculty are extremely proud of what this group of students has accomplished thus far. We expect great things from them and look forward to seeing their impact on our profession,” said Dr. Kimberly Ward, Audiology Clinical Education Director.

For more information on the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences and the Doctor of Audiology program, please visit www.usm.edu/shs .