West Liberty University’s first class of physician assistant students brought home an academic trophy recently by winning the West Virginia Association of Physician Assistants (WVAPA) Academic Challenge Bowl.
From left, Joelle Kidder, Philip Kruseman and Enza Tsouris display WVAPA Academic Challenge Bowl winning trophies.
“We are proud of our students who competed in the academic bowl and happy that one of our teams won this annual competition. It clearly shows how hard our students work,” said Program Director Dr. Allan Bedashi (PA-C).
WLU’s team consisting of students Joelle Kidder, Pittsburgh, Pa., Philip Kruseman, Coon Rapids, Minn. and Enza Tsouris, Steubenville, Ohio, won the 2014 competition. Kidder and Kruseman will graduate this May. Tsouris will return next fall for her final year in the PA program.
WLU also fielded a second team in the competition consisting of PA students Sarah Brammer, Wheeling, Paige Bruning, Alpena, Mich. and Brittany Burkhart, Wheeling.
This is the second year that the West Liberty has participated in the event. Teams from Alderson-Broaddus and University of Charleston also competed in the April 12 bowl held at Oglebay Resort during the annual WVAPA Conference.
“The WVAPA Academic Challenge Bowl offers a fun opportunity for students to compete against one another and test their medical knowledge,” said Kidder.
The competition is done in a “Jeopardy” format where two teams, each comprised of three students, compete against one another until there are only two final teams left to compete for the top prize.
The PA program is in its third year of instruction at WLU and will graduate its first class on May 10, 2014. Seventeen students make up this inaugural class of earning the Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies degree.
Bedashi and the other faculty members in the program just finished the process of selecting the students for the incoming class of the PA program. A total of 19 students are chosen from approximately 1,000 applicants.
Those 19 students will begin the program on June 30. For complete information on the PA program, please click here or call 304-336-5098.