Advocacy & Policy Committee

Amy Liang

Pace University

Amy Liang is a second-year student at Pace University- Pleasantville where she currently serves as the AOR representative for her student society. Prior to PA school, Liang earned her bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences with a minor in Exercise Science and Wellness Management from the University of the Sciences. Four years ago, she joined the CPR Leadership Team at the University of the Sciences to bring her a step closer towards her goal of finding strategies to improve the health of her underserved community. Through the CPR Leadership Team, she has been able to certify hundreds of individuals in BLS each semester. She continues to volunteer her time to certify members of her community during PA school. In her free time, Liang enjoys being outdoors, baking, and going to Zumba and indoor spin classes.

Kaci Hardsock

Monmouth University

Kaci Hardsock is third-year student at Monmouth University in Long Branch, New Jersey, where she has served two years as a member of her student society’s executive board.

Hardsock initially became involved with the House of Delegates (HOD) in 2018 volunteering as a teller and reference committee secretary. This past year, she served as a student delegate of the 2018-2019 Student Academy delegation as well as student representative of Reference Committee D. Hardsock’s passion for advocacy skyrocketed after attending AAPA’s Leadership and Advocacy Summit in Washington, D.C. in March 2019.

Prior to PA school, Hardsock attended Virginia Tech where she earned her Bachelor of Science and studied human nutrition, food, and exercise with a concentration in health professions. During her undergraduate education, Hardsock began her leadership journey as a supervisor of the Fitness Leadership Team. She then facilitated a student-led grassroots happiness project. She also worked as a tutor and freshmen mentor, and developed an interest in education. Upon graduation, Hardsock worked as the chief scribe of several outpatient facilities before pursuing a Master of Science in Kinesiology with a concentration in clinical exercise physiology at James Madison University. During this time, she was the graduate student director of a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the well-being of women and children, assistant varsity cheerleading coach of a Division I program, and a lifestyle coach for a diabetes prevention program.

Hardsock enjoys weightlifting, boxing, attending sporting events, reading, and spending quality time with family and friends as well as her beloved dog, Piper Chase.

Jacob Gooden

Thomas Jefferson University

Jacob Gooden is a second-year PA student at Thomas Jefferson University – East Falls campus located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Gooden is originally from North Carolina where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in exercise science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In preparation for PA school, he worked for the Charlotte EMS system and as an allergy specialist in a primary care office.

Gooden’s goal for the Mid-Atlantic region is to challenge students to be proactive in setting their careers up for maximum success. He believes in empowering individuals to collaboratively strengthen the PA profession to ensure the standard for patient care will continue to rise and for the continued successful transition to Optimal Team Practice.

In his free time, Gooden enjoys quality time with friends, exercising with his husky, Jaxx, cooking new food, and cheering on the Chicago Bears!

Carly Moss

George Washington University

Carly Moss is a second-year PA student at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. where she serves as her student society’s Student Academy Representative.

She and several of her classmates attended the AAPA’s Leadership and Advocacy Summit in Washington, D.C. in March 2019. On Hill Day, they collaborated with other advocates from across the country to discuss legislation affecting PAs with members of congress. Moss was struck by the impact that a group of passionate advocates could make and left the experience with a goal to encourage advocacy amongst her fellow PA students.

Prior to PA school, Moss graduate from Winthrop University where she studied human nutrition and competed on the cross country and track teams. Upon graduation she completed the Meredith College Dietetic Internship and a master of science in nutrition at Auburn University. She worked for four years as a clinical dietitian and volunteered as a preceptor for dietetic interns.

In her free time Moss enjoys playing tennis, running, visiting the museums in D.C., and spending time with her family in the Carolinas.

Colin Jenks

University of Colorado

Colin Jenks is a second-year PA student at the University of Colorado CHA/PA Program.

Prior to PA school, he attended Carleton College and graduated in 2010 with a degree in biology. He then spent a year volunteering in Peru and traveling throughout South America before moving to Colorado. Once in Denver, Jenks began working at the University of Colorado as a clinical research coordinator in the division of hepatology and later in the division of transplant surgery.

Jenks also serves as the student member on the CHA/PA clinical committee. Additionally, he created and implemented a program designed to allow current PA students to host interviewees for the night before their interview. This program is designed to offset some of the cost of applying to PA school while allowing interviewees to interact with current students.

In his free time, Jenks can be found trail running, climbing Colorado’s 14,000-foot mountains, and spending time with his wife, Corey.

Emily Nettesheim

Butler University

Emily Nettesheim is a first year PA student at Butler University. Prior to PA school, Nettesheim graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish. In her undergraduate career, Nettesheim valued research participating in neurobiology research, as well as completing an honors thesis in behavioral psychology. As a result of her research experience, she participated in the Council on Undergraduate Research’s Council on the Hill conference where she developed a passion for advocacy.

Emmaline Mauritson

University of Southern California

Emmaline Mauritson is a first-year PA student at the University of Southern California’s Primary Care PA program. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nutrition and a minor in biology from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. As an undergraduate student, she worked as a medical scribe in a busy pediatric office and developed a passion for primary care. Mauritson helped pioneer the reinstallation of her university’s PA and nursing club, assisting fellow students in their preparation for these programs. After graduation, she became a certified emergency medical technician and phlebotomy technician.

Most recently, Mauritson worked alongside PAs providing mobile wound care to housebound and bedbound patients in Los Angeles County, Ventura County, and Orange County. A majority of patients lacked access to routine medical care, despite debilitating health conditions. Because of her experiences, she wants to serve vulnerable patient populations as a clinician, particularly those with limited or no access to healthcare. She looks forward to contributing to USC’s Street Medicine program as a PA student. She also resumed her work as a medical scribe in specialties including infectious disease, OB-GYN, and gynecologic oncology. She oversaw the team of scribes at these clinics as well, and was responsible for interviewing, hiring, and fully training all new scribes.

Involvement in leadership remains one of Mauritson’s greatest interests. She looks forward to attending USC’s annual PA Advocacy Trip to Washington, D.C. She is eager to share her enthusiasm for advocacy with others and inspire more students to take an active role in professional leadership.

Hanna Kluth

University of Oklahoma

Hanna Kluth is a second-year PA student at the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City Program. Prior to PA school, she graduated from the University of Oklahoma with her degree in health and exercise science, where she was a member of OU’s All-Girl Cheerleading Team and involved in leadership roles within the OU Pre-PA Club and Kappa Alpha Theta Women’s Fraternity. She was also a nutrition, anatomy, and physiology tutor in the OU athletic department. Kluth currently serves as president of the A. William Horsley Student Society, Chair of the Student Committee on the Oklahoma Academy of Physician Assistants Board of Directors, as well as the PA program’s SGA Executive Board Member for the OU Health Science Center. Through these positions she attended both AAPA’s Leadership and Advocacy Summit as well as the 2019 AAPA Conference. These experiences helped foster her passion for the PA profession and advocacy for both the profession and patients. Kluth will graduate in October of 2020 and hopes to pursue a career in either pediatrics, women’s health, or orthopaedics.

Jeniece Montellano

George Washington University

Jeniece Montellano is a second-year student at the George Washington University PA/MPH joint degree program in the health policy track. She currently is the PA/MPH liaison of the Tolton PA Student Society for 2018-2019. Prior to PA school, Montellano completed her undergraduate degree in chemical biology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. After graduation, she worked as a nursing assistant at the Cleveland Clinic on the colorectal surgery floor.

Moving to Washington, D.C. has shown Montellano the importance of advocacy and how policy drives change. She completed an internship last fall at the Global Liver Institute, where she worked as the nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) policy intern and had the opportunity to learn from key change leaders in the liver health policy field. Montellano completed her health policy thesis in the spring semester, where she drafted a policy recommendation analyzing the effectiveness and utility of implementing an obstetric hemorrhage safety bundle in D.C. She attended the AAPA Leadership and Advocacy Summit this past March and learned firsthand how important it is to lobby for PA legislation. She believes that encouraging more PAs to be involved in local and state politics is the key to ensuring that the language of laws does not leave PAs out inadvertently, decreasing access to care.

In her free time, Montellano enjoys trying new restaurants, reading, eating ice cream, and hiking. She is originally from the Chicagoland area, and has very strong feelings regarding dee- dish pizza. Montellano hopes to work in women’s health on both the clinical side and the policy side. She wants to use what she learns and sees firsthand clinically to guide policy recommendations, expanding and ensuring care for women in all aspects of their health.

Kiarah Rahamanian

University of Central Florida

Kiarah Rahamanian’s pre -PA school experience was in teaching epidemiology of chronic disease at the University of Central Florida, working as a CNA, and a clinical research coordinator in the UF Department of Community Health & Family Medicine. Currently, Rahamanian is a PA student at Duke University serving as the student representative to the North Carolina Academy of PAs (NCAPA) and a 2019 Paul Ambrose Scholar for the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR). After graduating from PA school, she plans to pursue opportunities in public health research and advocacy for the PA profession.

Laura Abell

University of North Texas

Laura Abell is a second-year PA student at University of North Texas Health Science Center where she has served as Student Academy Representative for her student society over the past year. Currently, she is also PA representative for UNT’s Latino Medical Student Association.

Prior to PA school, Abell earned her Bachelor of Science in microbiology from Auburn University. As an undergraduate, she became interested in the healthcare field while studying cardiovascular disease and diabetes as a research assistant. After graduating, she gained clinical experience by volunteering at her local hospital and working for several years as a scribe in pain management and otolaryngology practices.

Since entering PA school, Abell has found a passion for advancing the PA profession through political advocacy, which led her to author a 2019 AOR resolution about political advocacy awareness among PA students. She looks forward to working with the Advocacy & Policy Committee this upcoming year to hopefully instill this same passion in PA students across the country.

When she’s not studying, Abell enjoys running, trying out new recipes, practicing her Spanish, traveling, being involved with her church, and spending time with friends and family.

Josh Loew

St. Catherine University

Josh Loew is second-year PA student from St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnestoa. He served as the 2017-2018 AOR representative and has served as St. Catherine’s Minnesota Academy of PAs (MAPA) student representative throughout his time in PA school. He developed a passion for PA advocacy early in his education and as the Director of Outreach he hopes to share that passion with other PA students in hopes that more PAs will give back to the profession once they graduate. Loew has a special interest in Optimal Team Practice (OTP) and has worked extensively with MAPA to help promote OTP in Minnesota. He’s participated in PA Day on the Hill in Minnesota and continues to work with MAPA’s Public Relations Committee by reaching out to health care employers in the Twin Cities to promote the PA profession.

Prior to PA school, he attended the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science with a biomedical science concentration and chemistry minor. He worked as a certified nursing assistant (CAN) NA for several years, working in long-term care, memory care, transitional care, group home care and orthopaedic surgery before applying to PA school.

Loew has participated in several mission trips, including a medical mission trip to Guatemala and two medical mission trips with Students Today Leaders Forever, taking a bus across the country to volunteer in underserved communities in 12 different states total.

Loew grew up in the Twin Cities and, in his free time, enjoys camping in different state and national forests, golfing, deer hunting, fishing, coaching baseball, playing hockey, and cheering for his hometown Minnesota Twins, Wild and Vikings.

Paula Miksa

Lincoln Memorial University

Paula Miksa is the director of interprofessional education and an associate professor at the LMU PA Program where she is actively involved in many aspects of program accreditation, teaching, course directing, and promoting interprofessional education. She is also actively involved in the program’s annual international mission trips. Miksa has recently graduated with her doctor of medical science degree in education, and has held the title of both director of didactic education and director of clinical education in the LMU PA Program.

MIksa has worked clinically in emergency medicine, family medicine and gastroenterology and she currently volunteers weekly at her local free clinic. She has served on the Tennessee Association of PAs (TAPA) Board of Directors, on several TAPA committees and most recently served two years as one of the TAPA House of Delegate representatives. Miksa is currently the public affairs chair for the South Carolina Association of PA’s (SCAPA).

MIksa enjoys working with PA students and especially enjoys promoting the PA profession locally and nationally. When she isn’t working, Miksa enjoys hiking, running and camping with her family.