Manning High School graduate Tyra Pugh received her white coat at a White Coat Ceremony held June 23 at Emory and Henry College in Marion, Virginia.
The White Coat Ceremony signifies that students are ready to begin their practical rotation experiences in the field of medicine. These rotations consist of serving three, 12-week intervals at various hospitals, clinics or medical facilities.
“The White Coat Ceremony is a tradition where the professors present the students with a white coat as a gesture of acceptance as a colleague,” said Pugh. “The White Coat is a symbol of lifelong learners for the betterment of our patients."
The daughter of Jerome and Gloria Pugh, she will complete two rotations in Virginia and a third one at Lexington Medical Center in Lexington.
Pugh was the salutatorian of her graduating class at Manning High School in 2007. She is a 2011 graduate of the University of South Carolina, where she received a bachelor of science degree in exercise science.
Prior to acceptance at Emory and Henry, she was employed for four years with Pinnacle Physical Therapy in Columbia. Pugh was part of an inaugural class at Emory and Henry College and will be one of the first to graduate from the program when she receives her doctorate May 5, 2018.
Pugh hopes to continue on as an employee at Lexington Medical Center where she will carry out her final rotation after graduation in 2018.
“When I went to USC, I fell in love with Columbia and I will always see myself living in South Carolina,” she said. "All my family is in South Carolina and I have missed it while studying out of state. I am very much looking forward to going back home to live and work.”
