Graduate Student Wins National Physician Assistant Award

Victoria Ho earns recognition for her commitment to diversity in the PA profession

Sacred Heart University graduate student Victoria Ho, who is in the physician assistant (PA) program, has been named PA Student of the Year by the American Academy of PAs (AAPA). The national organization represents a more than 150,000 PAs across all medical and surgical specialties.

According to the AAPA, “The PA Student of the Year Award honors a PA student who furthers the image of PAs and PA students; gives self-sacrificing time and effort in service to community; demonstrates leadership and professionalism; and exemplifies the PA profession’s philosophy of providing accessible and quality healthcare and/or health education.”

Ho, 26, of Suffield, expects to graduate in December. During her time as a student, she has committed to promoting social justice and increasing diversity in the profession, so it better reflects the patient population. In fact, she was attracted to SHU because of its mission statement. “I saw that SHU was committed to both diversity and social justice while giving back to the community as well,” said Ho, who is passionate about both.  

Before attending SHU, Ho earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Connecticut, where she worked as a residential assistant for social justice education.

During her PA studies, she made time to serve as liaison to the diversity chair of her class and later applied for and was named a fellow for the AAPA’s Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Transgender (LGBT PA) Caucus. In this one-year role, she has been a panelist for multiple presentations to help educate other providers, educators, and students about LGBT health. Topics included, “Teaching Sexual & Gender Minority (SGM) Content in the PA Education” and “It Takes a Village: Leveraging Diverse Skill Sets for LGBTQ+ Health Advocacy.”

“I made a lot of connections and mentorships while attending many events, lectures and panels,” Ho said.

For her fellowship project with the LGBT PA Caucus, Ho co-founded a pre-PA support group for LGBTQ students. Created with the mission of diversifying the PA profession, the group has worked to increase awareness of the field, as well as the acceptance rate of PA students who identify as LGBTQ.

Ho and her mentor, Jonathan Baker, a PA in New York, offered guidance to LGBTQ students interested in applying to PA school or students already enrolled in PA school. “We gave them advice on the application process, read over their personal statements, and provided support along the way,” Ho said.

All of Ho’s work did not go unnoticed. Baker nominated her for the AAPA’s Physician Assistant of the Year Award, after which Ho filled in various forms and waited a few months for the outcome.

Ho said she was honored just to be nominated for the award, so when she learned she won, “I couldn’t believe it. It was such a surreal experience when I got the phone call and took a few minutes to process exactly what was being told to me.”

She said she found a community of other PAs and PA students who have helped her navigate school and shape her professional career. “I plan to give back to diverse PA students through similar outlets when I become a PA,” said Ho. “My background has motivated me to find ways to make the PA profession a more inclusive and welcoming place for everyone.”

“We are so proud of Victoria for being honored for her work on diversity,” said Maura Iversen, dean of the College of Health Professions. “She fully embraces the SHU mission regarding social justice and diversity. We are hopeful all of our students embrace and promote the mission as they deliver health care.”

Looking to the future

After Ho receives her undergraduate degree, she wants to gain some real-world experience. She already has worked various health-related jobs in Massachusetts, including a patient care technician at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield and a clinical research coordinator at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and Harvard University, Cambridge. She also was an emergency department technician at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford. Those experiences convinced her that the next step in her career was to apply to a medical based program. “I knew I wanted to work in the medical profession, because I was also curious about science and the complexity of the human body,” she said.

Ho sees medicine as a puzzle; it is about putting pieces of information together to find out what is ailing a patient. Asking questions, studying lab results, and performing tests will lead the medical provider to an answer, Ho said. “It’s a mystery, and it’s always evolving and changing. It’s never stagnant.”

She said she chose to pursue a PA degree because the idea of working on a team alongside physicians, nurses, and technicians to tend to patients appealed to her. She wanted to work in a team-based setting, while having a direct impact on the people she treated.Of course, when Ho started SHU’s PA program in August 2019, she never expected to work through a pandemic. However, the experience—while frustrating and unprecedented—enabled Ho and her peers to bond.

After classes went virtual, Ho and her classmates never lost touch. They continued to communicate–not just about their classes, but about life, mental health, and what they were experiencing day to day. “Everyone was so supportive of each other because we were experiencing this pandemic while in PA school,” she said.

Only her classmates could understand the long hours in front of computer screens and the pressure they were feeling, she said. “Having to go through the pandemic made us closer. We really connected and I’ve made lifelong friendships though PA school.”

Faculty also helped students get through those difficult times. “Our professors adapted to the changes and did not skip a beat. They understood the importance of continuing our rigorous curriculum even in the midst of a global pandemic.” Ho said. “It was a great experience overall.”

In June, Ho was at Norwalk Hospital for her clinical rotation in general surgery. She said being in the operating room was an opportunity to learn about the human body’s complexities. Though students see photos of surgeries and operations in class, said Ho, everything “clicks” when they see an operation in action. All the classroom learning comes into play.

Once she graduates, she has some decisions to make, such as a specialty and whether she will stay in Connecticut or seek a job elsewhere. “I have enjoyed all of my clinical rotations, which makes it harder to choose a specialty,” Ho said.

Though she is looking forward to starting the next phase of her career after graduation, she is a bit sad that she’s close to completing the program. It was a long, hard effort, especially with the pandemic, but she also found it rewarding. “I’ve grown a lot since day one,” Ho said. “It has been an amazing journey.”