Ana Eliza Souza Cunha, PA-C
Ana Eliza, a December 2023 graduate of the Yale PA Program, and recently certified PA, was bestowed PA Student of the Year for her extraordinary commitment to the community and profession throughout her time as a PA student at the Charter Oak Conference on March 25, 2024.
Quickly into her student tenure, Ana Eliza developed a passion for advocacy for patients and the profession. As a PAEA Fellow, she organized an advocacy series for her program, inviting PAs that are experts in the space and a Connecticut state legislator to engage her classmates on many advocacy related topics.
She has served the profession through her engagement with the AAPA as a student delegation representative to the House of Delegates, where she has helped craft several resolutions of professional importance. Ana Eliza has also met with legislators in Washington D.C. to speak to issues of importance to the profession.
Ana Eliza is passionate about health equity and has spent time studying internationally in underserved locations. She will surely be an impactful member of the PA community. As her nominator noted, “Ana Eliza a superior student leader who fully embodies the spirit of the PA Student of the Year award, and is a most deserving individual for this honor.”
Congratulations Ana Eliza!!!
Alec Williams, PA-S
Alec, who will graduate from the Quinnipiac PA Program in August 2024, was bestowed PA Student of the Year in recognition for his many contributions to his profession and community at the Charter Oak Conference on March 25, 2024.
Throughout his time as a PA student, his program faculty note that he has consistently been a standout advocate for his classmates and his future profession. He has motivated multiple students to be involved in the profession and philanthropic activities.
He has distinguished himself as a student with a perfect academic record while finding ways to be a leader and volunteer to the community around him. In addition to numerous on-campus activities, he has worked as a physical therapy aid and emergency department technician, as well as a contact tracer for the Department of Public Health during the COVID-19 emergency.
He has served as one of his program’s student representatives to ConnAPA, has arranged media events to promote the profession and has become involved at the national level. Alec currently serves on the AAPA Student Academy’s Board of Directors as the Chief Delegate for the student delegation to the House of Delegates.
As his nominator notes, “…it is his humble nature and pleasant demeanor that is most likeable for a young man who has accomplished so much….” Alec has already contributed so much to the profession and there is no doubt that there is much more to come.
Congratulations Alec!!!