ISU held their white coat ceremony

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - A group of Indiana State students will now take their first steps into their new careers in the medical field.

Sunday afternoon, Indiana State’s Physicians Assistant Program conducted their white coat ceremony, symbolizing the graduates’ transition from students in a class room to making rounds around the hospitals they’ll be working for.

The students will spend 15 months training in healthcare facilities before graduation.

The director of the program said she hopes the students will fill a void in our local medical field.

“Unfortunately in rural areas, we don’t have a lot of people, a lot of physicians, that want to work our in the rural area.  So, we are really hoping to fill that need by having physician assistants that can do primary care,” said Heather Mata PA Program Director.

Indiana State began their PA program in 2011.