UF Physician Assistant Program hands out annual awards

Outstanding students and teachers in the University of Florida Physician Assistant Program received special recognition recently at graduation and honors convocation events.

Tiffany Bray, Sandy Distretti, Kerilyn Krake, Meredith Miller and Megan Rog each received the Outstanding Didactic Student Award for achieving a 4.0 grade point average upon graduation.

Randolph Mahoney won the Outstanding Clinical Student Award, presented for performance and maturity within the working environment. He also received the Kenneth R. Lewis, Jr., M.D. Leadership and Humanitarian Award for best exemplifying the ideals of the PA profession.

The honored students were among 59 who graduated June 23 from the College of Medicine-based program.

The graduating students gave special recognition to three instructors for their involvement with the class. For the first classroom-based year of the program, Assistant Professor Charles Currey, PA-C, M.H.A., was honored with the Outstanding Academic Instructor Award, and for the second clinic-based year, Brian Brooks, PA-C, and Michelle Ross, M.D., were honored with the Outstanding Clinical Instructor Award.

Thomas Hollinger, Ph.D., an associate professor of anatomy and cell biology, was the keynote speaker. He presented his ideas about moving into the future while striving for careful and improved patient care.