Each year, during the Charter Oak Conference, CTPAF announces its scholarship recipients for the current year. Since 1980, CTPAF has awarded over $160,000.00 in scholarships to deserving PA students. Applications are sent to all PA programs throughout the country for Connecticut residents attending out of state programs and all CT PA program students. The applications are reviewed by the scholarship committee and are judged on community service, quality of a narrative response, and resume. In 2020, we received 36 applications from 6 PA programs and awarded a total of $7,500.00.
2020
Since we were not able to honor our recipients in person due to the postponement of the Charter Oak Conference because of the Covid-19 situation, we wanted to share a little bit about who this year’s recipients are to our ConnAPA members.
Drew Morten Scholarship
Delilah Dominguez is this year’s Drew Morten Scholarship awardee.
Delilah Dominguez is a third-year student in Quinnipiac University’s physician assistant program. She was recently named the AAPA 2020 Student of the Year. She is president of her class, a two-term student delegate for the AAPA House of Delegates, a committee member on the AAPA Joint Task Force on PA Burnout, a member of the AAPA Student Leadership Committee, a University of Connecticut/Area Health Education Center Network Program Scholar, Student Director of PAs in Hospice and Palliative Medicine, and a PAEA Health Policy Fellow. She is dedicated to volunteer work and has completed over 260 hours of community service during PA school.
Joseph L. Kaplowe, Jr. Memorial Scholarship
William Eisenhart is the recipient of the inaugural Joseph L. Kaplowe, Jr. Memorial Scholarship.
William Eisenhart was born in South Korea and immigrated with his mother to the United States. He joined the military after 9/11 and served in the Navy as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal tech, disarming Improvised Explosive Devices overseas and then as a Special Operations Medics. He decided to pursue a career as a Physician Assistant and was accepted to the Yale PA Online program. William is active in several non-profits that work with veterans trying to transition to medical programs and a non-profit that is working to increase the medical professionals in Sierra Leone. He intends to return to the military to treat service members, their family members, and veterans, as well as work with the underserved in the United States and overseas after graduation.
The J. Jeffrey Heinrich Scholarship
Briana Stockdale is this year’s Jeffrey Heinrich Scholarship recipient.
Briana Stockdale is a third year PA student from Quinnipiac University. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences in 2018 from Quinnipiac. Briana currently serves as the president of Graduate Student Council, foot clinic coordinator, and cow chip bingo committee member. She is active in community service, which includes favorites such as Loaves and Fishes, Skiers Unlimited, and volunteer firefighter and EMT for the North Haven and Campville fire departments.
Connecticut Orthopaedic Institute Scholarship
The Connecticut Orthopaedic Institute at Midstate Medical Center supports 100% of this scholarship. The Connecticut Orthopaedic Institute is proud to support the PAF and PA education. The institute recognizes the critical role PAs serve in a healthcare team. At Connecticut Orthopaedic Institute, PA team members are leaders and assist in providing the highest of quality and safe orthopaedic care while providing patients an exceptional experience.
Amanda Chicoine is this year’s Connecticut Orthopaedic Institute Scholarship recipient. .
Amanda Chicoine is from South Dakota and started her healthcare career working as a registered dietitian. After being accepted into PA school, she was selected for the Health Services Collegiate Program Naval Scholarship. Upon completion of PA school, she will commission as a Navy PA and is looking forward to serving our nation’s heroes. Her favorite community service experience throughout PA school has been the foot clinics at the men’s homeless shelter in New Haven, CT.
Other CTPAF scholarship recipients in 2020 were:
Rochelle Wang is a Quinnipiac University PA student from the class of 2020. During her time at Quinnipiac, she has served as a committee member of the volunteer food drive Midnight Run and the annual Cow Chip Bingo event. In addition, she was the AAPA Student Academy Representative of her class. She is eager to begin her professional career as a clinician who is dedicated to providing quality patient care and improving health care access in underserved communities.
Christina Jacobson is a second-year student in the Yale Physician Associate Program, Class of 2020. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Quinnipiac University with a BS in biomedical science, where she was a member of the Alpha Eta Allied Health and Phi Sigma Biological honor societies. She developed an interest in the PA profession throughout her time attaining over 4,000 direct patient care hours working as a CNA in a variety of settings, most recently on medical/surgical and postpartum units at Hartford Hospital. During her time at Yale she has served as CT PA Foundation class representative and received the Yale Club of New Haven scholarship. She hopes to pursue a career in hospitalist medicine or a medical subspecialty upon graduation this year.
Adrien Chan is currently a 2nd year PA student at Quinnipiac University who graduated from the Entry Level Masters PA Program in 2019. She is currently the secretary of the PA Student Society and was chosen to represent Quinnipiac’s PA program in the Challenge Bowl at the AAPA Conference in Nashville. She is passionate about getting involved with her community and has most recently been writing notes of encouragement to her senior pen pals during quarantine. As a New Hampshire native, Adrien enjoys hiking and skiing during her free time. She is committed to making a difference in the healthcare industry and strives to demonstrate how essential the roles of PAs are in the medical field.
Erin Schirra is a third year PA student from Quinnipiac University, with plans to pursue a career in obstetrics and gynecology. Her time at Quinnipiac has been enhanced by opportunities to give back to the community, with some of my favorite events through my participation in Urban Service Track, an interprofessional student cohort with a focus on community service and care for the underserved. Sher also enjoys volunteering at Hartford Correctional Center with my family and advocating alongside those with intellectual and developmental disabilities for inclusion through friendship. She was selected to present my research at the 2020 AAPA conference and looks forward to virtually doing so.
2019
Stephanie Cyphers from Case Western University’s PA Program
Jaron Graeber, Nicholas Patino, Julia Vanasse, Quinnipiac University
Paxton Stein, Elena Sullivan, Meghan Burns, Yale University
Ashton Ogle from Sacred Heart University’s PA Program – Drew Morten Memorial Scholarship
Jared Walsh from Quinnipiac University’s PA Program – Connecticut Orthopaedic Institute Scholarship
2018
Pamela Jackson, Sacred Heart University
Yukari Suzuki, Catherine Schwing, Stephanie Baluka, Yale Univsersity
Lucy Hopko, Kelsey Bestall, Collin Dimler, Anthony Boguslawski, Rachel Guketlov, Quinnipiac University