Honors & Awards
Certificates, Awards, and Honors
Certificate for Excellence in Academic Achievement
This certificate is awarded to students in the top 25% of the class who maintained a cumulative GPA greater than 3.75 in the first six trimesters and were never placed on academic probation at the programmatic or university level.
- 2020 — Emily Scroggs, Chelsea Payne, Donald Vertrees, Emily Smith, Nicole Briggs, Angela Stroman, Brandon Wong, Jessi Riel, Cayla Clark, Megan Culberson
- 2021 — Elizabeth Kepley, Jena McCall, Joshua Murrett, Sarah Riesinger, Victoria Hobel, Emily Chalfant, Megan McManigal, Courtney Grayson, Christine Sung, Katrina Pfannenstiel
- 2022 — Lauren Wirdzek, Stevie Lamb, Cassandra Annunziata, Garrett Austin, Brooke O’Neill, Alec Larson, Cara Peters, Haylie Szabo, Tu Do, Terasina Zaragoza, Steven Andrews
- 2023 — Mya Alves, Natalie Brewer, Angela Briones, Jessica Burgess, Emma Edmond, Hannah Goodale, Irina Kilyushik, Madeline Lyman, Amanda Navarro, Kelsey Thayer
- 2024 — Hannah Davis, Kimber Kirschner, Jordan Legge, Alexandra Martin, Gloria Nguyen, Courtney Parker, Hope Sabatine, Morgan Sperry, Kristen Walsh, Emily Yao
Certificate for Best Overall Capstone Project
This certificate is awarded to the student who was voted on by the faculty as having the best overall Capstone Project.
- 2020 — Leslie Hohenbrink, “The Provider’s Approach to Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy.”
- 2021 — Megan McManigal, “Is the Complementary Alternative Medicine, Mucuna Pruriens, an Admissible Contender in the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease?”
- 2022 — Taylor Kane, “Efficacy of Fish Skin Grafts in Managing Complicated Wounds Compared to Standard Grafts; a Review.”
- 2023 — Ira Santos, “Probiotics and Maternal Health Outcomes in Females with Gestational Diabetes”
- 2024 — Emily Yao, “Exploring the Use of Ketamine in Critically Ill ICU Patients Requiring Analgosedation”
Certificate for Best Capstone Oral Presentation / Poster Presentation
This certificate is awarded to the student who was voted on by the faculty as giving the best Capstone Presentation.
- 2020 — Josephine Appeng, “Human Trafficking in Healthcare and the Efforts to Identify and Rescue”
- 2021 — Lauren Bennett, “A New Paradigm for Antimicrobial Therapy”
- 2022 — Lauren Wirdzek, “The effects of COVID-19 infections during pregnancy on maternal, fetal, and neonatal outcomes.”
- 2023 — Jennifer Miller, “Conventional versus Robot-Assisted Total Knee Arthroplasties in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis”
- 2024 — Jordan Legge, “Comparative review of hypertonic dextrose prolotherapy and corticosteroid injections in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis”
Award for Exceptional Leadership
This award is presented to a student in recognition of their demonstrated ability throughout their PA student experience to lead. Exceptional leadership is characterized by significance, effectiveness, innovation, and inclusiveness.
- 2020 — Jordan Hernandez
- 2021 — James Grant Fahey
- 2022 — Haylee Tracy
- 2023 — Amanda Navarro
- 2024 — Joel Justin Corvera
Spirit of Pacific Award
This award recognizes a student who has, throughout the program, embodied the Program’s mission and values by demonstrating their commitment to treating others with respect and dignity, commitment to community, compassion through service, integrity and character, strong leadership skills, and excellence in academic achievement.
- 2020 — Chelsea Payne
- 2021 — Victoria Maynard
- 2022 — Iris Orion
- 2023 — Anabel Ingwerson
- 2024 — Shelby Frans
Clinical Excellence Award
This award recognizes a graduating PA student who demonstrated clinical excellence during clinical rotations.
- 2020 — Jill Nowicki
- 2021 — Zachary Reese
- 2022 — Stevie Lamb
- 2023 — Emma Edmond
- 2024 — Alexandra Martin
Award for Resilience
This award recognizes a deserving student who overcame significant obstacles during their student experience, demonstrating resilience and strength of character through intentional perseverance.
- 2020 — Jamie Romero
- 2021 — Jose Barros
- 2022 — Tu Do
- 2023 — Joanna Martinez
- 2024 — Zaynab Jamil
Preceptor of the Year Award
This award recognizes a preceptor for their significant contributions in clinical education during clinical rotations. Students nominate and vote for this award.
- 2019–2020 — Matthew Kurowski, PA-C, Kaiser Roseville – General Surgery
- 2020–2021 — Naoki Miyakawa, PA-C, Kaiser Modesto
- 2021–2022 — Star Hildabrand, PA-C, James Dalton Medical Office at Angels Camp
- 2022–2023 — Dr. Robert Assibey
- 2023–2024 — Marlene Rubio-Damian, PA-C, Shingle Springs Health and Wellness
Inductees to The Honor Society Phi Kappa Phi
- 2020 — Cayla Clark, Jessie Riel, Emily Clyma, Chelsea Payne, Emily Smith, Angela Stroman and Brandon Wong
- 2021 — Katrina Pfannenstiel, Elizabeth Kepley, Joshua Murrett, Sarah Riesinger
- 2022 – Steven Andrews, Cassandra Annunziata, Garret Austin, To Do, Alexandra French, Stevie Lamb, Alec Larson, Kory Lord, Brooke O’Neill, Haylie Szabo, Lauren Wirdzek, Terasina Zaragoza
- 2023 – Hannah Davis, Alexandra Martin, Amanda Navarro
Inductees to Pi Alpha — The National Honor Society for Physician Assistants
- 2020 — Emily Clyma, Megan Culberson, Donald Vertrees, Chelsea Payne, Angela Stroman, Brandon Wong
- 2021 — Michael Benaron, Kendall Daasnes, Courtney Grayson, Jena McCall, Zachary Reese, Kristin Woodworth
- 2022 — Julia Beck, May Chhun, Garrett Couchman, Shelby Greenelsh, Alec Larson, Jenna Leech
- Faculty — Tracey DelNero, PA-C, Jed Grant, PA-C, Jessica Garner, PA-C, Jacie Touart, PA-C, Curtis Fowler, PA-C
- 2023 — Anabel Ingwerson, Paige Maberry, Jennifer Miller, Connor O’Keefe, Emily Orwig, Kelsey Thayer
- Faculty — Nancy Hamler, PA-C
- 2024 — Shelby Frans, Trevor Lightner, Megan Miller, Pavel Mudrenko, Julian Rasco, Cheyenne Rees
Alumni of the Year Award
This award recognizes a graduate of the MPAS program at the University of the Pacific for their significant contributions to the PA Program and the PA profession.
- 2020 — Makenzie Saxe, PA-C, Class of '19
- 2021 — Nicola Juri, PA-C, Class of '19
- 2022 — Brendan Lucas, PA-C, Class of ‘19
- 2023 — Jordan LeMasters, PA-C, Class of ‘20
- 2024 — Tatiana Mudrenko, PA-C, Class of ‘19
