In 2021, Mount Union’s physical therapy program began to describe our white coat ceremony as "PT’s Coat of Many Colors." This came about when we take into consideration the history of the physical therapy profession combined with our own individual histories and backgrounds. PT is now around 100 years old as a profession and was not created by the medical teams of its day. We were not part of the then existing white coated model of health care delivery. 虽然, 那个没有我们的白大褂模特证明是有价值的, 专业的象征, 有爱心的, 和可信度. But we were not officially in the lineup of the medical model who first donned the white coat. When we wore them, we were borrowing a look, assuming a medical status.
物理治疗白大褂仪式
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The Mount Union大学 2021 White Coat Ceremony class.
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Dr. Sheryl Holt speaking at Mount Union's 2021 PT白大衣 ceremony.
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Mount Union 学生们穿上白大褂 at their White Coat Ceremony 2021.
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Mount Union PT students standing at the 2021 White Coat Ceremony.
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Dr. Gianni Pierro '15, D'19 giving the Keynote Address at Mount Union's 2021 PT白大衣 ceremony.
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Physical therapy Students walking across the stage at Mount Union's 2021 PT白大衣 ceremony.
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Physical therapy Students reading the oath of the physical therapist at Mount Union's 2021 PT白大衣 Ceremony.
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Dr. Megan Salvatore speaking at Mount Union's 2021 PT白大衣 Ceremony.
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Mount Union PT教师摆姿势拍照 at the 2021 White Coat Ceremony.
The physical therapy profession began around needs, not invitations. The needs to which we responded were not those that the traditional medical field addressed and were approached in a manner different than the traditional medical model. Physical therapists began utilizing new methods of treatment, 培训, and care to which they found these ailments would respond. Our earliest practitioners of physical therapy would work with their hands, 热敷, and other restorative means to do all they could moment by moment, 日复一日.
The first patients were those of returning soldiers with missing limbs or eyes, 毁灭性脊髓灰质炎流行病的受害者, and many victims of paralysis and irretractable pain. All needed a path forward, something to live for and a body that could be rebuilt. We offered comfort, strength, assistive devices, and real hopes. Physical therapy opened doors to those whose life choices depended on rehabilitation.
在时间, 我们确实继承了一件白大褂, but our field has never been overly committed to keeping the white coat spotless. That’s not out of disrespect, but because we are hands-on professionals. Our coats get dirty and are graced with real sweat with tear-stained shoulders. 一点一点地, we as PT's create a more significant inner fabric of soul, 许多人的故事和希望的挂毯. 白大褂的象征意义是重要而真实的, 理疗师接受的过程也是如此, the real physical work of changing people’s lives and being changed in the process.
As physical therapists celebrate the white coat and its symbolism, 我们要求我们的学生让他们的外套, 无论是外部还是内部, 在它的无形特性中成长, representing the best they can be as professionals and compassion and competency driven men and women. A “PT's Coat of Many Colors” stands for something bigger than one person, and it affords our patients a symbol of our commitment to meeting them one by one by one.