Colorado Mesa University’s Physician Assistant (CMU PA) program stood out for its remarkable dedication to not only providing top-tier medical education but also for nurturing a vibrant and impactful student society.
The CMU PA program was honored with the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) Outstanding Student Society Award. The award ceremony took place in Nashville during the AAPA Conference in May 2023.
The award recognizes PA programs that demonstrate exceptional commitment to the development of their student societies as well as fostering engagement, leadership and educational advancement within the university and community.
“The award was given on the basis of public education, advocacy of the profession, public service and outreach, outreach promotion of diversity and professional involvement,” the president of the fourth CMU PA cohort Andrew Heaton said. “We met those criteria through different capstone projects and groups that are in our class. For any master’s program, you have to do a master’s thesis or a capstone project.[…] There’s some that are research based and then more that are community and profession based.”
The CMU PA program has only been active for a short amount of time and the current class will be the fourth to graduate. PAs are licensed medical professionals who provide patient care by diagnosing and treating illnesses and doing minor procedures.
The CMU program has students go through a year and a half of dyadic (classroom) training and a year of clinicals all across the country. The goal is to not only learn the practice in theory but to get hands-on experience.
The PA student society has been an active force in promoting learning beyond the classroom. The society has organized numerous events, including medical outreach programs, public health campaigns and volunteer initiatives aimed at addressing healthcare disparities in underserved communities.
Along with volunteering at a free dental clinic in Pueblo, Colorado, student groups are working within the Grand Junction community and all across the nation. CMU PA program Secretary Morgan Orand and Heaton have been working with Colorado Health Network in and around Grand Junction to spread knowledge about harm reduction and hand out clean needles, condoms, Narcan and other commodities.
“One big goal of our project was to try and expand the impact of Colorado Health Network, particularly here in Grand Junction and so we went and gave a couple of presentations at the hospital,” Orand said.
Orand also stated that harm reduction is about meeting people where they are at. The program recognizes that people are going to do what they want, but there are ways to reduce overdoses and common diseases such as HIV. This preventative care gives people a chance to live normally after recovery.
This PA cohort will graduate in May and will walk at the CMU ceremony at Stocker Stadium, then in their own white coat ceremony.
