On Friday, December 9, 2016, 73 graduates of the Physician Assistant Class of 2016 celebrated their completion of the PA Program. Drexel’s nationally recognized PA program was established in 1971 and is one of the oldest in the country.

 

A large piece of the program’s mission is to serve the underserved, making community service and civic engagement part of its DNA. Students know, right from their first interview as a prospective student, that they will be expected to get involved with the community. 

 

This class, like all graduating classes, took that part of the mission very seriously and performed a number of civic engagement activities lead by class presidents Michael Rigatti and Alyssa Muething. Those included two medical mission trips to Haiti and a variety of involvement ranging from health education presentations and screenings for the City of Philadelphia Golden Senior Health Fair, Love Run Half Marathon EXPO Fundraiser for PA Olympics, the City of Philadelphia’s Veterans Resource Fair, Kidney Action Day, 10th Annual Jazz on the Avenue, Philly Restart, and St. John's Hospice, Puentes Hacia el Futuro Middle School, Belmont Academy Charter School, Atria Senior Living, Cook Wissahickon Elementary  School, Mercy Vocational High School, and Allen M. Stearne Elementary School.

 

Twelve student papers were submitted to publications including the Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, the Journal of Physician Assistant Education and The Clinical Advisor. Advance Magazine for NPs and PAs accepted Christina Dias’ paper titled “Improving Screening Rates for Intimate Partner Violence in Pregnancy: A Three-pronged Approach.”

 

In addition, six student posters were accepted and shown at the 2016 Pennsylvania Society of Physician Assistant Conference featuring topics from “The Inclusion of EKGs in Pre-participation Athletic Screenings” to “Misconceptions of the Bull’s Eye, Erythema Migrans.”