Coated with purpose: MLS students step into next chapter of their academic journey
The energy was electric as the Medical Laboratory Sciences Class of 2027 gathered at the Holly Auditorium on Sept. 19 for its White Coat Ceremony, a time-honored tradition symbolizing the official transition from student to medical professional-in-training.
With flowers in hand, proud family members and friends gathered in eager anticipation as their loved ones prepared to take part in the ceremony.
Ahmad Galaleldeen, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Health Sciences in the School of Health Professions, welcomed the attendees and congratulated the students for reaching this important milestone marking their transition to clinical rotations in October.
“You worked very hard to get to this point, but today is not the end,” Galaleldeen said to the students. “You're going to leave your classrooms and laboratories and go to hospitals and clinical sites where you work with professionals, and most importantly, where you work with [and] impact real patients. That changes everything.
“In the classroom, sometimes you just want to pass an exam, just get a grade, finish the course. But in the hospital, it's different. There is a patient behind every specimen and every result. They are trusting you without even knowing your name. So, I always want you to remember that when you go to these clinical sites.”
Interim Dean for the School of Health Professions Bridgett Piernik-Yoder, PhD, OTR, FAOTA, thanked the students’ family members and friends for their support, recognized the faculty’s commitment to student success and reflected on the significance of the white coat.
“In health professions like medical laboratory sciences, the white coat signals to others that this person is a part of their chosen profession and committed to providing excellent, accurate and trustworthy clinical services,” Piernik-Yoder said. “The White Coat Ceremony, therefore, is a meaningful ritual. It marks the moment a student publicly accepts the ethical and professional obligations of their field, which extends beyond technical skills. It represents a commitment to bring precision and integrity … and a recognition that behind every specimen is a person and often a family seeking answers.”
Following Piernik-Yoder’s opening remarks, married couple and MLS program alumni J. Abraham Lopez, MD, MLS(ASCP)CM, and Sheila Lopez, MLS(ASCP)CM, each delivered a keynote address.
Sheila Lopez relayed the importance of asking questions and developing trusting relationships as students begin their clinical rotations.
“With every interaction, you become the face of the laboratory,” she said. “How [you respond], especially when something goes wrong, helps determine whether others see the lab as simply a place that produces numbers or as an essential partner in patient care.”
Lopez added that building confidence as a medical laboratory scientist takes time.
“Confidence is built one difficult class, one clinical rotation, one corrected mistake and one well-earned success at a time,” she said.
Now a physician, J. Abraham Lopez remembered the MLS program as welcoming and invested in the success of its students.
“The energy I got from the faculty was incredible,” he said, recalling that as a fourth-year pre-med biology major, he had changed his mind and decided to focus on the MLS program, adding two more years to his studies. And those years proved valuable, reinforcing his belief that he could take on new challenges.
And he did, later attending medical school, where he had the critical advantage of knowing the language of medical laboratory professionals. After graduating from medical school, he served in the U.S. Army.
Reflecting on his years of medical service, Lopez said the MLS program provided the spark that ignited the energy in him. “It broadened my sense of what I could accomplish and helped transform my ambition into purposeful action,” he said. “It did not simply prepare me for my first professional position, [it] gave me the foundation, the confidence and the sense of purpose to pursue everything that followed. It's now been about 20 years since my military service, and I went on to complete an emergency medicine residency, and I've been active in that field.”
Lopez called on students to be prepared to help medical providers who will need their expertise in the future.
“Be ready to [become] as good as you can in this field because … we need good instructors, we need good laboratory personnel to help us make the right decisions.”
Before students took the stage to receive their white coats, Cordelia Kudika, MA, CHS(ACHI), director of clinical education and assistant professor, said the garment represents the start of a new pathway that requires perseverance and humility.
“This is a declaration of commitment to the public good,” Kudika said. “When students accept the obligations of our profession and have chosen to devote themselves to the well-being of others by donning the white coat, you expect to provide the highest standards of ethical care to your patients and to meet the wellness needs of society. You make this commitment in the presence of your peers, your family and friends.”
Students step into their calling
As students crossed the stage to receive their white coats, cheers from family and friends filled the auditorium. During a rare pause between coatings, an exuberant young child called out to one of the students, “I love you!” The declaration drew laughter from the crowd, capturing the joy of the celebration.
To Larissa Rodriguez, receiving her white coat signified crossing a threshold to the clinical practicum world, an especially meaningful accomplishment for her parents.
“I think they’re very proud, especially because they didn't go to college,” Rodriguez said. “So for me to be getting my master's, it's very special.”
For master’s student Carly Sturdevant, president of the Medical Laboratory Sciences class of 2027, receiving her white coat validated years of hard work and was especially meaningful because she experienced it with her peers. The ceremony serves as a reminder that all patients deserve respect and humility and that being a healthcare provider is a privilege, she said.
“I was born and raised in San Antonio, so getting to give back to my community is a big part of what I’m excited for,” she said.
That commitment to helping others was also noted by Piernik-Yoder, who reminded students that their expertise must always be grounded in trust, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility.
“Patients trust that you will provide answers that may guide some of the most important medical decisions of their lives,” Piernik-Yoder said. “You must always remember to earn that trust every single day and with every result you produce through your competence, integrity and care.”
In the ceremony’s closing remarks, Guillermo Núñez, PhD, MLS(ASCP)CM, director of the Medical Laboratory Sciences program and assistant clinical professor acknowledged the students’ friends and loved ones who have supported them throughout their academic journeys.
“Behind every student here, there are people who have encouraged them, supported them, listened to them, celebrated their success … therefore, this accomplishment is also yours,” Núñez said.
Watch a video of ceremony highlights here.