31 Graduate From AACC's Physican Assistant Program

      The faculty selected three students for awards presented by Timothy G. Parker, M.M.S., P.A.-C., academic/clinical coordinator of the program. Donghua Wang of Baltimore, the class valedictorian, received the Dean’s Award for having the highest cumulative grade point average. The President’s Award went to Kala R. Scoggin of Huntington, Md. for demonstration of exceptional leadership qualities. The Faculty Award went to Kimberly A. Callaway of Alexandria, Va. who was recognized as the student who best exemplified the code of ethics of the Physician Assistant profession.

      The students selected Hannah Kifle of Alexandria, Va. to receive the Clinician’s Clinician Award for professional integrity and clinical excellence. They also gave the 2008 Clinical Preceptor of the Year award to Diana Abney, M.D., a pediatrician with Cambridge Pediatrics in Waldorf. The 2008 Faculty Award honoring the PA program’s top professor went to Maureen Prendergast, M.D.

      Several students were recognized for their recent induction into the Pi Alpha Honor Society, which is the National Honor Society for Physician Assistants. The selection criteria includes demonstrated excellence in research, publishing, community professional service or leadership activities in addition to having a cumulative grade point average above 3.5 on a 4.0 scale. They are April Ann Burke and Amy A. Hoffman, both of Ellicott City; Melissa Kay Colehouse of Crownsville; Jonathan A. Dowdle of Catonsville; and Scoggin.

      Other members of the 2008 PA graduating class are:

* Annapolis: Jared Anthony Dant

* Baltimore: Antoine J. Carey, Rachel B. Froehlich

* Bowie: Wendy A. Dillon, Shawna J. Guney

* Clarksville: Nicole Lynn Meyers

* Clinton: Karika P. Watkins

* Columbia: Darwin P. Lowry Jr.

* Edgewater: Petronela Szima-Cotter

* Gambrills: Ann E. Hendon

* Glen Burnie: Michael S. Jones

* Halethorpe: Irina Klimova Nescot

* Kensington: David C. Ford

* Linthicum: Krupa P. Shah

* Madison, Ala.: Samyuktha Devabhaktuni

* North Potomac: Weiyu Xie

* Owings Mills: Charles Richard Brown

* Reisterstown: Nargiz Mughanlinskaya

* Severna Park: Lee Hunter Young

* Silver Spring: Emerson Yang Chang, Biniam G. Kifle

* Sparrows Point: Westley T. Hartley

* Temple Hills: James Robert Bufkin

      The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant accredits the PA program, which is open to students with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Graduates provide medical care under the supervision of a licensed physician and are eligible to sit for the national certification exam.

      The deadline is Sept. 1 to apply for admission to the physician assistant class that begins in May 2009. For program information, attend one of the free upcoming orientation sessions, visit the Physician Assistant Web site or call 410-777-7310.