The Best of the Best

Congratulations to the 2022 SDPA Award Winners

SDPA Board President Lauren Miller, MPAS, PA-C, recognized SDPA's annual award winners in a ceremony at the 20th Annual Fall Dermatology Conference in Miami Saturday, Nov. 19. Attendees stood as each winner walked onstage to accept a plaque in recognition of their extraordinary achievements in clinical practice and patient outcomes, volunteer work, education and more. Nominations were open to SDPA members with final selections made by the SDPA Membership Committee. The 2022 winners are:

DermPA™ of the Year: Peter Young, MPAS, PA-C

In less than four years as a dermatology PA, Peter Young’s passion for learning and medical writing has advanced the profession and broken-down barriers within the dermatologic research community. In 2022, Peter became the first PA published without a physician co-author in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, the first PA published as a lead author in JAMA Dermatology (and several other dermatology journals), and the first PA featured on the covers of The Dermatologist and The Journal of the German Society of Dermatology. As of November 2022, he has authored 30 publications in academic dermatology journals. Peter has also been awarded research grants normally reserved for MDs or PhDs, from Kaiser Permanente and the American Contact Dermatitis Society.

While leading the way to new opportunities for PAs in publishing, Peter has taken action to inspire, equip, and mentor others. He recently launched a free service that pairs aspiring authors with experienced scholars, to learn the art of medical writing (The Collaboratory for Interprofessional Authorship in Dermatology). Peter volunteers with SDPA by serving on the Diplomate Fellowship Advisory Panel, Communications Committee, and the Editorial Board of the JDPA.

Peter accomplished all of this during his first four years of practice while working clinically full-time as a dermatology PA at Kaiser Permanente and pursuing additional mentorship at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

New DermPA™ of the Year: Colleen Fairhurst, PA-C

After graduating from PA school in 2016 in Ohio, Colleen began working in emergency medicine with an eye toward following her passion in dermatology. During her time at the Cleveland Clinic’s Emergency Department, she spent her free time training at Summit Dermatology until she was offered a full-time position as the practice’s first PA in 2019.

Since then, Colleen has taken off! She has run a full clinic, helping to expand dermatology access in the area, and has emerged as a leader of the profession in her state, serving as the president of the Ohio Society of Dermatology PAs. She is already an SDPA Diplomate Fellow and a member of multiple dermatology and PA societies. Colleen’s peers cannot speak highly enough of her professionalism, work ethic, knowledge base and for inspiring them to transition into dermatology. Colleen is an excellent example of a new dermatology PA.

Service Award: Cynthia Trickett, PA-C

Cynthia began her military career more than 30 years ago as an air-evac med tech in the United States Air Force Reserves. She earned the rank of staff sergeant before joining the Texas Air National Guard as a first lieutenant physician assistant in 1997. Her service has included responding to Hurricane Katrina and most recently the COVID-19 mission, working for seven months during the testing mission to process more than 2,000 military members!

Cynthia is now back with her Medical Unit in San Antonio, Texas, where her primary duties are as the functional training manager for all PAs and the ambulatory team chief for a mission to serve Texas communities during times of disasters.

We recognize Cynthia’s career of amazing service and are thankful she serves as faculty at some of our conferences.

Educator/Preceptor of the Year: Douglas DiRuggiero, DMSc, PA-C

Douglas DiRuggiero, DMSc, PA-C, has worked as a dermatology PA for over two decades banking nearly 190,000 dermatology patient encounters! He has shared his considerable knowledge and expertise with countless professional peers during that time, having delivered more than 400 medical lectures. Douglas is a nationally recognized medical educator who has received numerous awards for published research, his work as a preceptor, and for his volunteer work.

As a true leader in education, Douglas has not only mentored students and colleagues, but has also encouraged other PA speakers to step up and share their knowledge as conference speakers.

Douglas’ character and hard work in learning new things, and his willingness to share his knowledge with others exemplify him as a role model for all PA educators.

Joe Monroe Lifetime Achievement: Esther Cohen, PA-C

Esther has dedicated her life to the advancement dermatology PAs. She graduated from PA school in 1974 and by 1980 was the one of the first dermatology PAs in the country at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland. She has practiced clinical dermatology for 42 years.

During her long career, Esther served as a vital leader in her state not just of dermatology PAs, but of all PAs. As president of the Maryland Association of PAs in 1993, she lobbied for Maryland’s first PA prescribing bill and actually wrote the first prescription in Maryland as a dermatology PA.

In 2013, Esther founded the Maryland Association of Dermatology PAs and continues to serve as its president. She remains a huge force for all Maryland PAs as they work to introduce new bills to the state legislature for the advancement of Maryland Physician Assistants and Optimal Team Practice.

Esther’s lifetime of dedication to the profession, her patients, her colleagues and community throughout her career has been outstanding.

High Achieving Award Winners

2022 SDPA  Annual Award Winners (from the left): Peter Young, MPAS, PA-C, DermPA™ of the Year; Cynthia Trickett, MPAS, PA-C, Service Award; SDPA Board President Lauren Miller, MPAS, PA-C; Esther Cohen, PA-C, Joe Monroe Lifetime Achievement Award; Douglas DiRuggiero, DMSc, MHS, PA-C, Education/Preceptor of the Year. Not pictured: Colleen Fairhurst, PA-C, New DermPA™ of the Year.

The Call for 2023 Awards Nominations will be Publicized Next Summer.