Published on February 8, 2021 by Sarah Waller  
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Samford University’s School of Public Health honored its 2021 cohort of dietetic interns through a virtual white coat ceremony on January 30. Premiering on the school’s Facebook page, the virtual ceremony included images and clips of students putting on their white coats, often being coated by family.

The ceremony also included remarks from Janie Clay, a registered dietitian and the senior WIC nutrition consultant for the Jefferson County Department of Health. “You will never forget receiving your white coat in the middle of COVID-19, when the world never knew that it needed registered dietitians as much as it does right now,” she said.

The School of Public Health’s dietetic internship is a 16-month, post-baccalaureate program, which fulfills the requirements from the Commission on Dietetic Registration to become eligible for the registered dietitian exam. The white coat ceremony represents the beginning of the interns’ year of clinical rotations.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.