AAPA
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A physician’s assistant (PA) at Trego County Lemke Memorial Hospital in WaKeeney, and a PA in Abilene are two of five people recently recognized by the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) with annual awards to members who have distinguished themselves as PAs in service to patients, the community, the profession and the Academy. The awards were presented at AAPA’s annual conference last month in Las Vegas.
David Day, EdS, MPAS, PA-C, DFAAPA, CPAAPA, from WaKeeney, Kansas, was been selected by both AAPA and the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) as the recipient of the 2017 Preceptor of the Year Award for his dedication to mentoring future leaders of the profession. Day has mentored more than 50 future PA leaders in addition to several nurse practitioner students while working in primary care and emergency medicine at the WaKeeney hospital for more than 15 years. Trego County-Lemke Memorial Hospital is a 25-bed critical access health care facility.
Day has served in multiple leadership roles with the Kansas Academy of PAs and served as a governor-appointed member and chair of the PA Council, an advisory committee of the Kansas Board of Healing Arts.
Marta Klein, PA-C, from Abilene, Kansas, was named the recipient of the Humanitarian of the Year Award for her work providing medical care and building sustainable health solutions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Klein, who works with the Evangelical Covenant Church, found ways to improvise and implement programs in the DRC despite facing adverse conditions. Her work has helped to address the extremely high rates of pediatric malnutrition in the country.
U.S. Public Health Service Rear Admiral Epifanio Elizondo, Ph.D., PA-C, DFAAPA, who lives in Burleson, Texas, was awarded the Academy’s highest distinction, the Eugene A. Stead Jr. Award of Achievement, for his lifetime of service. Elizondo served as the highest-ranking PA in military history and has been a public health leader during hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa.
Col. Pauline Gross, U.S. Army, PA-C, SP, who lives in San Antonio, Texas, earned the Military Service PA of the Year Award for her lifetime of exemplary service to her patients and nation. Col. Gross is currently Command Surgeon of the U.S. Army Installation Management Command in San Antonio, Texas. She has expanded the role of PAs in the military, highlighted by her appointment as the first PA in this role.
Alison C. Essary, DHSc, MHPE, PA-C, from Scottsdale, Arizona, received the 2017 Publishing Award for her research article entitled, “Women, Family, Medicine, and Career Choice: An Opportunity Cost Analysis” published in the Journal of American Academy of Physician Assistants (JAAPA). Essary serves as director of strategic academic initiatives for Arizona State University’s College of Health Solutions. Her scientific work has broken new ground in the fields of healthcare accessibility, patient-centered care, and gender issues in the family practice setting.
“We are pleased to honor these outstanding PAs who have served patients during public health crises, addressed international issues such as malnutrition, expanded the role of our profession in the military, published important scientific work and mentored future leaders,” said AAPA President and Board Chair Josanne K. Pagel, MPAS, PA-C, Karuna®RMT, DFAAPA.
About the American Academy of PAs
AAPA is the national organization that advocates for all PAs and provides tools to improve PA practice and patient care. Founded in 1968, AAPA represents a profession of more than 115,500 certified PAs across all medical and surgical specialties in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. territories and the uniformed services. Visit AAPA.org to learn more.