Physician assistants recognized for contributions to profession and to health care in Maine

The University of New England Physician Assistant Program, part of the Westbrook College of Health Professions, co-sponsored the 2018 Physician Assistant Awards Ceremony along with Maine Association of Physician Assistants (MEAPA).

Assistant Clinical Professor Gretchen Preneta, M.S.P.A., PA-C, serves as president of MEAPA and delivered opening remarks in which she described how the event sheds light on the connection and collaboration between MEAPA and UNE.

“We are here to make sure that our future colleagues know that they are entering a community of professionals who take care of and recognize each other,” she said. “We are all expected to provide outstanding health care to the greater community. That’s our assumed role. What we emphasize during this ceremony is that we have the equally important responsibility to each other. When you leave the ceremony today, when you graduate and accept your first clinical position, when you assume positions of leadership in your institutions, remember to acknowledge your place in the wider PA community.”

PAs and PA students were recognized during the event for their contributions to the professon and to health care in Maine. Haley Acker of the class of 2020 was the recipient of the Susan Vincent Memorial Scholarship.

Thomas White, J.D., M.B.A., M.A., PA-C, interim director of the UNE Physician Assistant program, received the Outstanding Healthcare Professional 2018 award, which is presented each year to a health care professional who through their efforts has demonstrated exceptional clinical knowledge and teaching skills in support of the PA profession and contributed to the improvement of health care in the state of Maine.

The Maine PA of the Year Award was presented posthumously to Frederick Lee Staples II, P.A., a Maine native who was described as dependable, trustworthy and supportive of all of his colleagues. He practiced Emergency Medicine in Randolph, VT at the Gifford Medical Center before coming back home to Maine, where he became a member of the Southern Maine Health Care Hospitalist service.

The Robert J. Lapham Service award was presented to Stephanie's Podolski, P.A. ‘15, in recognition of outstanding service to the PA profession. Podolski’s volunteer work covers all areas of the awards criteria: community service, professional service, support to the PA profession, precepting, teaching, and legislating.

Two distinguished leaders in the profession were also in attendance. Ann L. Elderkin, P.A., is executive director of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR). Elderkin served as the president of the American Academy of Physician Assistants from 1993 to 1994 and on the AAPA Board from 1986 to 1995. In 1993 she testified on the role of PAs at televised public hearings of the White House Task Force on Health Care Reform. Paul Moson, P.A., graduated in the second PA class at Duke 1968 and was the first PA to take a job North of the Mason-Dixon line in Vermont. After two years in Vermont he went to Yale to develop and direct the Physician Associate program there. He is a founding member of the AAPA since April 1968 and a past president of the AAPA.