Three Students Selected as This Year’s Winners of the PAEA Writing Awards

Three PA students have been selected as winners of the 2007 PAEA Student Writing Competition, sponsored again this year by the Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (JAAPA). Faculty members are encouraged to attend the awards ceremony and presentation of the winning papers. This will take place during the SAAAPA Student Professional Workshops at the Academy’s 36th Annual PA Conference in Philadelphia, on Monday, May 28, from 11:00-11:50 a.m., in room 108B of the Philadelphia convention center.

The students and their submissions were

• First place: Sofia Tundel, Duke University Medical Center PA Program, for “The Effect of Red Yeast Rice on Lipid Levels”

• Second place: Jana Larson, University of South Dakota PA Program, for “The Effects of Low-Glycemic Carbohydrate Diets on Serum Lipids: An Evidence-Based Review of the Literature”

• Third place: Ben Sigwarth, University of Iowa PA Program, for “Treatment Options for Insomnia”

Robert Hadley, PhD, PA-C, from the University of Kentucky PA Program and a member of the PAEA Research Institute’s Subcommittee for Student Research Affairs, which oversees the writing competition, will present certificates and checks to the students. Sarah Zarbock, PA-C, editor in chief of JAAPA, and Tanya Gregory, PhD, editor, are also expected to be present. JAAPA’s funding covers students’ travel to the AAPA conference, as well as their registration, lodging, meals, and award checks in the amount of $500, $300, and $200 for the first, second, and third place winners, respectively.

“We are grateful to JAAPA for their ongoing support of the student writing competition,” Hadley said. “Encouragement of writing and academic approaches to clinical problems is an essential part of developing future leaders in the PA profession. . . . All of our writing competition applicants are to be commended for their hard work and their dedication to their profession.”

Fifty-four entries to the competition were received this year. Faculty from PA programs across the country served as reviewers, and each student submission was reviewed by two faculty members (no faculty member reviewed papers originating at his or her program). Theresa Hegmann, chair of the subcommittee and facilitator of the writing competition for the second year, enhanced the review process this year by arranging for each submission to be reviewed twice. The highest-ranked entries underwent a final review by subcommittee members Hadley, Claire O’Connell, Antone Opekun, Virginia Hass, and Eric Vangsnes.

The student winners often had personal motivations for choosing their topics. Tundel said: “My mother’s PA suggested that she take red yeast rice to lower her cholesterol.” Given my Asian heritage,” she added, “I was interested that an herb from China could improve lipid profiles. I wanted to explore the data to see if red yeast rice significantly alters cholesterol levels in order to incorporate the findings into my future practice.” Larson, who placed second, said: “I am honored to be recognized by PAEA for this manuscript and proud to represent the University of South Dakota’s PA program. I hope this research provides health care practitioners with a useful resource for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Competitions like this remind us, as PA students, of the importance of lifelong learning and the imperative need for evidence-based information.”