2024 AAPA Award Recipients
The AAPA Awards Committee has announced the recipients of the 2024 Awards, which honor PAs and PA students who have served their patients, their communities, and the PA profession with great distinction. The awards are the highest recognition bestowed on members by the Academy.
Eugene A. Stead Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award
This award is AAPA’s most prestigious, and honors a lifetime of achievement that has had a broad and significant impact on the PA profession.
Richard Dehn, MPA, PA-C, DFAAPA, is the 2024 recipient of the Eugene A. Stead Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award. As a primary care provider, educator, mentor, and prolific researcher, Dehn has made significant contributions to the PA profession. Read More
PA of the Year Award
This award honors a PA who, within the course of a one-year period, demonstrates exemplary service to the community; exemplifies the PA profession’s philosophy of providing accessible, quality healthcare to all; and furthers the image of the profession in a positive, meaningful way.
Jasmin E. Charles, MPAS, PA-C, is the 2024 recipient of the PA of the Year Award. Dedicated to providing care in addiction and maternal fetal medicine, Charles is the co-founder and clinical director for the Substance Use and Pregnancy – Recovery, Addiction, and Dependence clinic in Utah. Read More
PA Student of the Year Award
This award honors a PA student who furthers the image of PAs and PA students; gives self-sacrificing time and effort in service to community; demonstrates leadership and professionalism; and exemplifies the PA profession’s philosophy of providing accessible, quality healthcare to all.
Jade O. Norman, MHS, is the 2024 recipient of the PA Student of the Year Award. A PA student at Meharry Medical College, Norman is passionate about health equity and is chief of patient advocacy and equity for a medical concierge service for lower socioeconomic families. Read More
Military Service Award
This award recognizes a veteran or active duty PA who demonstrates exemplary healthcare service and exemplifies the PA profession’s philosophy of providing accessible, quality healthcare to current members of the military, veterans, or a medically underserved community.
Leticia Bland, DHSc, MPAS, PA-C, is the 2024 recipient of the Military Service Award. A U.S. Air Force veteran, Bland volunteers her time to care for underserved communities. In her role as an educator, she helps her students learn to treat diverse populations. Read More
Diversity Award
This award recognizes a PA or PA group that serves as a champion of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within the PA profession and/or the patient population or community that they serve.
Paola Gonzalez, MPAS, PA-C, is the 2024 recipient of the Diversity Award. A PA for more than 20 years, Gonzalez is passionate about helping communities who face diminished resources and healthcare disparities. She is the current president of PAs for Latino Health. Read More
AAPA/PAEA Preceptor of the Year Award
This award honors a preceptor who demonstrates exemplary service in the clinical education of PA students as a mentor, role model, and instructor; and furthers the image of PAs by exemplifying the PA profession’s philosophy of providing accessible, quality healthcare.
Hardik Thakkar, MSPAS, PA-C, is the recipient of the 2024 Preceptor of the Year Award. Thakkar manages a team of APPs at Moffitt Cancer Center, where he has precepted over 20 PA students over the last three years, and has established a program to increase preceptor participation. Read More
Publishing Award
This award is granted to a PA who published, during the prior calendar year, a new clinical or research article expressing original and/or scientifically rigorous ideas substantiated by best practices, and contributing to the advancement of the PA profession.
Ryan D. White, PhD, PA-C, is the recipient of the 2024 Publishing Award as the author of the paper, “Examining the Influence of PA Scope of Practice Reforms and Individual Characteristics on Wages,” which investigated whether scope of practice reforms impact PA compensation and was published in Medical Care Research and Review. Read More
Outstanding Student Society
This award recognizes one student society for outstanding service to the profession in the areas of public education and advocacy; public service and outreach; promotion of diversity; and professional involvement.
The 2024 Outstanding Student Society is the CUNY School of Medicine PA Program, whose members conducted outreach to high school students, hosted and attended events to celebrate diversity, and held drives for needed supplies within their community. Read More
CO Outreach and Advocacy
AAPA’s Outreach and Advocacy Awards are presented each year to recognize constituent organizations (COs) for their outstanding programs, projects and initiatives.
The recipient of the 2023 CO Outreach and Advocacy Award is the Minnesota Academy of PAs (MAPA). MAPA utilized its 12 committees to provide PAs with CME opportunities, further diversity, equity and inclusion, advance advocacy initiatives, and more. Read More