About this time every year, we all reflect back on all that has happened in the past year. We have had quite a few changes, additions and accomplishments in 2017! This year we would like to share our milestones with all of you:
The department faculty and staff grew! Vanessa Bester joined us in July as new Associate Director and Associate Professor. Katelyn Waalen started in August as a clinical lead specialist. Amanda Perkins permanently took over pharmacotherapy this fall and Trent Whitcomb joined our faculty this fall.
We were also excited to welcome a new Dean of Professional Studies earlier this spring! Dean Monica Devers oversees the graduate, adult graduate and traditional undergraduate professional studies programs. Before deciding to come to Augsburg, Monica was the first dean at the School of Health and Human Services at St. Cloud State University. She is trained in speech-language pathology and has worked for the University of Minnesota as well as Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota.
Program Director Alicia Quella won a fellowship through AAPA-PAEA for research on trends with new PA graduates and their job placements. This is the first year of the fellowship and we are excited about what her research will find! Watch the video where Director Quella talks more in-depth about her research.
Skye Peltier, an alumnae from class of 2005, won the CARE award from the American Thrombosis and Hemostasis Network. With her award, Skye intends to use the power of real-world data in the ATHNdataset to further research in opioid use in hemophilia patients.
Every year our students participate in a wide-range of volunteering activities. Over the course of the year, we clocked 34.5 hours of service. Some of our favorite community partners are Ronald McDonald House, Feed My Starving Children, and Second Harvest Heartland! During PA Week alone, student volunteered almost every day of the week.
The PA program partnered with the Augsburg Men’s and Women’s Hockey teams for a stuffed animal toss. A total of 100 stuffed animals were donated to Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis.
Augsburg PA students secured the title of Challenge Bowl Champions as well as second place!
In December, the program held it’s twenty-first commencement ceremony at Hoversten Chapel on Augsburg main campus. Twenty-seven graduates completed their formal training and are now preparing for their certification exams. We can’t wait to see where they go!
We will shortly be under-going a remodel of our classrooms and are excited about the new learning environments for our current cohorts and the ones to come. Stay-tuned for more information about our upcoming remodel!