JONESBORO -- Ever since he could dream, Carter Lee has wanted to put on the white lab coat that would mark him as a physician.
Friday, the 22-year-old from Sherwood and 119 other students of A̶r̶k̶a̶n̶s̶a̶s̶ ̶S̶t̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶U̶n̶i̶v̶e̶r̶s̶i̶t̶y̶'̶s̶ ̶C̶o̶l̶l̶e̶g̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶O̶s̶t̶e̶o̶p̶a̶t̶h̶i̶c̶ ̶M̶e̶d̶i̶c̶i̶n̶e̶ the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University* were given coats during a "white-coat" ceremony -- a rite for all first-year medical students.
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences' College of Medicine also held its white-coat ceremony for 174 first-year medical students Friday night at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.
The ASU ceremony was for the 120 students of the inaugural class of the osteopathy school that was conceptualized less than three years ago.
Osteopathic classes begin Monday in the refurbished R.E. Lee Wilson Hall on the ASU-Jonesboro campus. Osteopathic medicine incorporates a "whole-person" approach to care that includes the musculoskeletal system and the body's ability to heal itself.
"I looked forward to wearing this coat ever since I could talk," said Lee, who earned his undergraduate degree in biology at ASU-Jonesboro. "I've had dreams of this for as long as I can remember. To actually do this is surreal."
Talks between administrators of ASU and the New York Institute of Technology about developing the osteopathy school began Aug. 13, 2013, said Barbara Ross-Lee, dean of the New York Institute of Technology's College of Osteopathic Medicine at ASU.
The two institutions agreed on the Jonesboro campus, and the New York Institute of Technology will lease the facility and offer a doctorate of osteopathic medicine there. Workers renovated the Wilson building, an 84-year-old Art Deco-style facility in the middle of campus, and rededicated it as the medical complex in June.
"It's hard to believe we got this done in less than three years," Ross-Lee said Friday. "Our primary focus was making sure we had enough people to do all this.
"Monday is the first day for these students, but they have a lot to prove," Ross-Lee said. "We expect them to be very visible in the community as the first class."
Lee said he was "on board" with the mission of the school and plans to remain in Arkansas after earning his doctorate in four years.
According to Shane Speights, associate dean of clinical affairs at the ASU osteopathy school, Arkansas ranks No. 48 out of 50 states in physicians per capita.
School officials said the lack of available health care in the Arkansas Delta was a major motivation for developing the school in Jonesboro.
Hallie Frederick, 22, of Jonesboro said she realized the need for care when she worked in a Jonesboro hospital's emergency room for a year.
"I saw people who were in need of primary care," said Frederick, one of the osteopathy school's students. "We saw a lot who came to the ER several times because they didn't have a doctor. There is a need."
Of the 120 students enrolled this semester, 70 are from Arkansas, 19 are from Illinois, nine are from Florida and the rest are from 12 other states.
Sixty-seven students are male and 53 are female.
Nearly 1,000 crowded into the Fowler Center for Friday's ceremony. As parents, medical professionals and university officials sat in the auditorium, the students lined up for entry onto the stage.
An ASU food server joked with some of the Illinois students as they waited by buffet tables, warning them about Arkansas' fickle weather. Expect one more "hit" of heat in October, the server said.
As he announced the beginning of the ceremony, President Edward Guiliano of the New York Institute of Technology explained to the students the meaning of receiving the coat.
"You will receive the white coat as a traditional reminder to do patient care. It marks a transition in your life," he said.
"It also guarantees that everyone you know will ask you for free medical advice now," he quipped.
The coat also serves as a symbol of trust, said Wolfgang Gilliar, dean of the New York Institute of Technology's College of Osteopathic Medicine in Old Westbury, N.Y.
"It is a symbol of open dialogue and hope," he said. "It will announce to your patients, 'I am here for you.'"
The ceremony lasted about an hour and a half as each student received his or her coat and then posed for a photograph with a physician who presented the coat.
Nine students were given coats by their fathers, two by their grandfathers, one by his brother and one by her mother.
Shelby Armstrong, 22, of Fayetteville received her white coat from her father, Fayetteville neurosurgeon Larry Armstrong.
"I grew up around medicine," she said. "I was looking at CT scans and X-rays as a child.
"My father made me sit through a death talk with a family to tell them their loved one would not live," Armstrong said. "That was when medicine became a very real practice for me."
She said when she graduates, she hopes to remain in Arkansas and practice.
As students left the Fowler Center, Ross-Lee bade them a good weekend.
"But remember," she told them. "This all starts on Monday."
State Desk on 08/06/2016
*CORRECTION: The New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro was incorrectly identified in this story.