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With family and friends filling Holly Auditorium, the Respiratory Care Class of 2026 celebrated the responsibility that comes with caring for patients during their white coat ceremony on Feb. 7.

Honoring the people who have supported them along their respiratory care journey was a major theme of the ceremony. Faculty repeatedly reminded students of that crucial support, which was on display when parents, children, spouses, friends and other loved ones helped students into their white coats on stage.

“This is a celebratory moment to enter you into the clinical setting,” Respiratory Care Program Director and Assistant Professor Megan Carreon, MA, RRT, told the students. “It’s amazing, it’s beautiful — but you didn’t get here alone. It’s really important to appreciate those around you.”

“Ask questions and treat every patient like your first”

School of Health Professions Senior Associate Dean David Henzi, EdD, FASAHP, encouraged students to remember two things: To keep asking questions during their clinical rotations and to treat each patient with the same care and attention as they would their first.

“Please, please remember that these patients more than likely have never, ever been in the situation that you find them in,” said Henzi, who is interim chair of the Department of Respiratory Care. “They will be in intensive care units. They will have had trauma. They will be scared. Their family members will be scared. So please remember: This may be your 500th patient that you have seen, but this is the first time that many of them have seen a respiratory therapist. Remember that. It’s new to them; it’s scary. You will be able to comfort them and help them through a very stressful time in their life.”

Assistant Professor and Director of Clinical Education for the Department of Respiratory Care Rain Rueda, MD, MS, RRT, RRT-NPS, told the students that the white coat ceremony marks the transition from the classroom to the clinical phase of the program. The white coat is a promise, she said.

“The white coat you are about to wear is more than just a uniform. It is a symbol of trust, of hope and most importantly, a symbol of responsibility,” Rueda said. 

Alum says program prepared him well for medical school

Guest speaker Martin Valdes, MD, a 2016 graduate of the respiratory care program, told the students that the program prepared him well for a career as a physician. Valdes is a pulmonary/critical care medicine fellow at �����Թ�.

“I stumbled upon this beautiful profession at a respiratory care career fair when I was at UTSA as an undergrad,” he said, adding that he was inspired by how students in the program described the curriculum and the training they received to become compassionate clinicians. “Well folks, the program did not disappoint. It exceeded all of my expectations and taught me how to be an astute clinician and researcher with a hunger for more knowledge.”

“We are the masters of the airway and its complex respiratory physiology,” he said. “We are the experts in mechanical ventilation. Our expertise is invaluable and respected among health care systems everywhere in the United States.” 

Students and faculty member inducted into Lambda Beta 

Following the white coat ceremony, Rueda and 10 second-year students were inducted into Lambda Beta, the honor society of the respiratory care profession. 

“Respiratory care is more than a profession. It is a calling — I truly believe that,” said Thomas J. Stokes, Jr., MA, RRT, assistant professor in the Department of Respiratory Care and Lambda Beta adviser. “It is an art and science of healing of bringing breath and life to those in need.”

To qualify for membership, students must have completed 50% of their coursework and hold a GPA in the top 25% of their class.