{"id":4021,"date":"2018-12-17T14:34:39","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T19:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/?p=4021"},"modified":"2018-12-17T14:45:41","modified_gmt":"2018-12-17T19:45:41","slug":"physician-assistant-studies-celebrates-second-ever-commencement-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/2018\/12\/physician-assistant-studies-celebrates-second-ever-commencement-ceremony\/","title":{"rendered":"Physician Assistant Studies Celebrates Second-Ever Commencement Ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Physician Assistant Studies<\/a> program, housed in the Department of Allied Health Sciences, held its second-ever commencement ceremony on December 15, 2018.<\/p>\n

\"Drs.
Drs. Paul Chelminski, Stephen Hooper, and Timothy Daalman during the second-ever commencement ceremony for Physician Assistant Studies graduates.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Paul Chelminski, MD, MPH, FACP, and the program\u2019s director, welcomed and thanked the graduates\u2019 supporters, their families, and the commencement speaker, Lawrence Kim, MD, FACS.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone\u00a0here is witnessing and celebrating the remarkable, habitual, and predictable ability of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to translate the power of education into a public good,\u201d Chelminski said.<\/p>\n

Stephen Hooper, PhD, the department\u2019s chair and an associate dean in the UNC School of Medicine, said it is gratifying to see graduates begin their careers as PAs.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve been well prepared to accept these clinical challenges and puzzles head on,\u201d Hooper said. \u201cWe look forward to great accomplishments you will go on to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 40 percent of the graduation class are veterans; the fourth class of PA students will begin coursework\u00a0in January 2019.<\/p>\n

Kim, a recognized expert in the endocrine system and professor of surgery in the UNC School of Medicine Department of Surgery, has championed the PA program since its inception.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis program has already proven itself an incredible institution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Chelminski encouraged graduates to seek the road ahead of them, asking them to remember a phrase in Bambara, the national language of Mali, the country in which he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1980s. The phrase is spoken as a\u00a0cultural courtesy\u00a0to hosts in Mali.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis translates as \u2018I want the road,’\u201d Chelminski said. The host, Chelminski explained, responds with \u201cI give you the road,\u201d also in Bambara. \u201cToday, we are applying this to your passage to becoming a PA, which is a social and professional transition.\u201d<\/p>\n

He encouraged graduates to be ready for gratitude, profound conversations, generosity, disappointment, and to respond with resiliency. \u201cBe ready. Readiness will bring you joy and fulfillment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program, which welcomed its first class of students in January 2016, is a result of a public-private partnership that includes support from Blue Cross NC, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, and several charitable foundations.<\/p>\n

Students and preceptors received the following awards:<\/p>\n

Scholastic & Leadership Impact Award<\/h4>\n

Jeanette Elfering<\/em><\/p>\n

Making a Difference Award<\/h4>\n

Kendra Potter<\/em><\/p>\n

Excellence in Education<\/h4>\n

Ed Kernick, DPM,<\/em>\u00a0associate professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology<\/p>\n

Preceptor of the Year<\/h4>\n

William Mills, Jr., MD,\u00a0<\/em>PhD,<\/em>\u00a0associate professor of pediatrics with UNC Health Care<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Physician Assistant Studies program, housed in the Department of Allied Health Sciences, held its second-ever commencement ceremony on December 15, 2018. Paul Chelminski, MD, MPH, FACP, and the program\u2019s director, welcomed and thanked the graduates\u2019 supporters, their families, and the commencement speaker, Lawrence Kim, MD, FACS. \u201cEveryone\u00a0here is witnessing and celebrating the remarkable, habitual, … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55977,"featured_media":4018,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPhysician Assistant Studies Celebrates Second-Ever Commencement Ceremony | Department of Health Sciences<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/2018\/12\/physician-assistant-studies-celebrates-second-ever-commencement-ceremony\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Physician Assistant Studies Celebrates Second-Ever Commencement Ceremony | Department of Health Sciences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Physician Assistant Studies program, housed in the Department of Allied Health Sciences, held its second-ever commencement ceremony on December 15, 2018. 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