AAPA recognizes nation's top five Physician Assistants with PAragon Awards

The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) today recognizes five of the nation's top PAs with the Academy's highest honor, the PAragon Awards. The PAragon Awards confer special recognition on PAs who have distinguished themselves through their unparalleled service to patients, their communities, the profession and the Academy. The PAs will be recognized throughout AAPA's 39th Annual Physician Assistant Conference taking place in Las Vegas May 30–June 4.

The 2011 PAragon Awards, supported by Pfizer Inc, honor exemplary PA service in six categories: Outstanding PA of the Year, Humanitarian PA of the Year, Federal Service PA of the Year, PA Service to the Underserved Award, Physician-PA Partnership Award and the PAragon Publishing Awards. Contact AAPA for more information and videos for each winner.

Outstanding PA of the Year Award: Michael "Rocky" Rackover, MS, PA-C, of West Chester, Pa., was recognized for his efforts to educate fellow PAs and other health care providers about genetics and genomics in the future of medicine.

Humanitarian PA of the Year Award: Mary L. Fargen, PA-C of Austin, Minn., was honored for her service to communities in need in the U.S., Haiti and around the world, including providing health care to individuals in rural areas and prisons.

Federal Service PA of the Year Award: Colonel Douglas C. Hodge, PA-C, of Fairborn, Ohio, was recognized for his expertise and work in medical equipment testing and evaluation and in Tactical Combat Casualty Care.

PA Service to the Underserved Award: Rachel Stark Farrell, PA-C, of Marysville, Calif., was recognized for launching a clinic that delivers preventive and health care to women and families in one of the poorest counties in California.

Physician-PA Partnership Award: Christopher E. Sadler, PA-C, and Daniel Einhorn, MD, FACP, FACE, of San Diego and La Jolla, Calif., were honored for their collaborative work in endocrinology and diabetes over the course of a 20-year partnership.

The PAragon Publishing Awards honor PAs who authored outstanding articles that were published in peer-reviewed journals in 2010. This year's winners are:

• Katherine G. Footracer, PA-C, of Los Angeles, Calif., received the first place award for "Travel-related infections: Diagnosis and treatment of exotic fevers," which was published in the October 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (JAAPA).
• Laura C. Blesse, PA-C, of Cincinnati, Ohio, for "Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Relieving the symptoms and the frustration," which was published in the November 2010 issue of JAAPA.
• Danielle M. Kruger, RPA-C, of Whitestone, N.Y., for "Lyme Disease," which was published in the May 2010 issue of JAAPA.