Class of 2019 Challenge Bowl Participants: Eric Anderson, Katy Lane, and Julie Torres
Student Delegates of the House of Delegates (HOD): Hillary Bennett, Amy Hamilton, and Johnnie Gilpen
2018-2019 Student Academy Board of Directors
Director of Student Communications: Diana Wiley
Chief Delegate: Hillary Bennett
South Central Regional Director: Nelson Head
This year, several OUHSC PA students were chosen to represent the program on a national level at the annual AAPA conference held in New Orleans, LA. This conference afforded these students an opportunity to connect and develop relationships with both students and practicing PAs around the nation. The program sent Class of 2019 members, Eric Anderson, Katy Lane, and Julie Torres to compete against 93 teams in the National Medical Challenge Bowl. The Challenge bowl is a competitive quiz-style game consisting of board exam-type questions that students are given 15 seconds to answer. The Challenge bowl was a fun and exhilarating chance for students to flex their knowledge, muscle, and gain some medical street-cred.
The Assembly of Representatives (AOR) was packed full of resolutions that were debated and voted on in an effort to guide the work of the Student Academy in the upcoming year. Phillip Foster, South Central Regional Director, and Nelson Head, the program’s AOR representative, were in participation.
The Board of Directors of the Student Academy of AAPA is comprised of 11 PA students from across the country, and three OUHSC PA students were elected to serve on this year’s board - Hillary Bennett as Chief Delegate, Diana Wiley as Director of Communications, and Nelson Head as South Central Regional Director. The OUHSC PA program is the only program in the country to have multiple members serve on this year’s board.
Furthermore, Hillary Bennett, Amy Hamilton, and Johnnie Gilpen were three of the 17 voting student delegates of the House of Delegates (HOD), each representing approximately 800 PA students across the country. The OUHSC PA program was the only program in the country to have three students selected as Student Delegates of the HOD. The HOD is the policy making body of AAPA that debates and votes on various resolutions during committee meetings.
The student delegation would like to thank the Oklahoma Academy of PAs (OAPA) for their generous funding of the Challenge Bowl team. We are grateful for the OAPA’s continued and long-standing investment in student’s educational and professional development. The conference provided students with the ability to attend educational sessions over various topics, the inaugural Yes, I Scan ultrasound workshop, and SPARK sessions that were geared specifically toward students. The current delegation is thankful for the educational and professional opportunities that were afforded to us by the OAPA and OUHSC PA Program. We look forward to continuing to represent the program, OAPA, and the state of Oklahoma again next year at the AAPA conference in Denver, CO.
