Health Equity and DEI

Jade O. Norman, MHS, is the 2024 recipient of the PA Student of the Year Award. A PA student at Meharry Medical College, Norman is passionate about health equity and is Director of Community Engagement for the nation’s first medical concierge service for lower socioeconomic families

Leticia Bland, DHSc, MPAS, PA-C , is the 2024 recipient of the Military Service Award. A U.S. Air Force veteran, Bland volunteers her time to care for underserved communities. In her role as an educator, she helps her students learn to treat diverse populations.

Paola Gonzalez, MPAS, PA-C, is the 2024 recipient of the Diversity Award. A PA for more than 20 years, Gonzalez is passionate about helping communities who face diminished resources and healthcare disparities. She is the current president of PAs for Latino Health.

As an educator and mentor, PA Carl Frizell focuses on creating equitable educational environments so students, faculty, and staff feel safe and have the resources they need to meet their goals. It’s a framework that Frizell also encourages his PA students to consider using in their future clinical environments.

PA Teresa Lowe grew up in Mountain Village, Alaska, a rural community where about 97% of the population is Alaska Native or American Indian. Today, as the Anchorage campus coordinator for the MEDEX Northwest PA Program, Lowe aims to help future PAs provide more compassionate care for these populations.

After her personal experience with obesity, PA Ledyenska “Ledyi” Baez Ballesteros launched an obesity medicine program to serve her primarily Hispanic patient population in San Antonio, Texas. Ballesteros talks about how the way we look at obesity medicine has changed, how she structures her program, and the adaptations she makes to better serve her patients.