Jessie Ehrisman PA '21 has been named one of three recipients of the Association of Physician Assistants in Oncology 2020 Student Scholarship, a $2,500 award for PA students with strong interest in pursuing careers in oncology.
The Association of Physician Assistants in Oncology has recognized a member of Elon’s Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies Class of 2021 with a national award.
Jessie Ehrisman PA ’21 has been named one of three recipients of the APAO 2020 Student Scholarship, which offers a $2,500 award to PA students across the country who show a strong interest in pursuing a career in oncology.
“I’m not doing this for the accolades, but having another something on my CV to demonstrate my passion and curiosity and willingness to work hard, something concrete to show future employers or academic centers, it means a lot to me as I prepare to begin my career,” she said.
Ehrisman already has plenty to show future employers. Prior to beginning PA school, she spent eight years at Duke University Medical Center – she worked as a clinical research coordinator in the center’s Gynecologic Oncology Division for six of those years. While there, Ehrisman contributed to numerous publications and served as first author on a prospective study of sentinel lymph node dissection and patients with high-risk uterine cancers.
During her didactic year in the Elon PA program, Ehrisman designed a survey for her master’s project, which focused on direct-to-consumer genetic testing and how users feel about the results of genetic predisposition reports that accompany their results. Ehrisman has since conducted recruitment and submitted preliminary data for the project to the American Society of Human Genetics and will present a poster of her early results at the society’s national conference in October.
Ehrisman has two more six-week clinical rotations in primary and emergency medicine before graduating in February. After receiving her degree, the Miami native hopes to soon pursue a career in either women’s health or gynecologic oncology. Ehrisman enrolled in the Physician Assistant Studies program because it offered the perfect combination of academic rigor and the ability to work directly with people, which she says is her passion.
“Getting to be a PA where my first and primary concern will be patients who are going through one of the most significant events of their lives – cancer and births are significant events – it matters a lot to me to be around people and to be able to help them through those significant events in their lives,” she said.
Ehrisman will officially be honored with the APAO 2020 Student Scholarship during the association’s virtual conference this weekend.
The Elon Physician Assistant Studies program, housed in the School of Health Sciences, is a 24-month, full-time program that aims to prepare graduates to think critically and act skillfully to meet expanding health care needs in local and global communities. The Elon curriculum is based on active learning strategies through collaborative work with Elon’s faculty, scholars and practitioners in the field. Students emerge from the program ready to employ the most current knowledge to care for patients’ physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs.