At the Awards Dinner for the graduates held the night before at The 1818 Club in Duluth,
Robert Cuzzolino, EdD, vice president for graduate programs and planning at PCOM,
called the graduates pioneers, quoting Alfred Sloan, the architect of the company
that became General Motors. “There has to be this pioneer, the individual who has
the courage, the ambition to overcome the obstacles that always develop when one tries
to do something worthwhile, especially when it’s new and different.” He added, “There
can only be one founding class and that is you.”
PCOM President and CEO Jay Feldstein, DO, addressed the graduates at the commencement ceremony. “You now join the ranks of
the college’s proud physician assistant alumni–nearly 1,000–engaged in practice across
the nation. We are so excited that, beginning with you, we are adding competent, caring
physician assistants to the workforce with our southern communities’ best health interests
at heart.”
Brian Maloney, MD, FACS, the founder of The Maloney Center for Facial Plastic Surgery
in Atlanta whose daughter graduated from the Philadelphia-based PA program in 2016, delivered the keynote address. He said, “As a physician assistant
you will be assuming one of the greatest roles in the field of medicine. Some of you
will be the first point of contact for patients and some may be the last. You will
have the unique opportunity to see the whole spectrum of life.”
“Your learning has not ended today, but has just begun,” he said. “You are the one
that charts your course... Congratulations on your great achievement and be all that
you can be.”
Rebekah Thomas, PharmD, PA-C, the site director for the PA program at GA-PCOM, borrowed a line from Will Foster,
the vice president of advertising and sales at Borden Cheese Company. She said, “Quality
is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent
direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”
She added, “Today the faculty would like to congratulate you on the high level of
quality you demonstrated throughout these past 26 months... You have made many people
proud.”
At the Awards Dinner, two students were recognized. Anna Cauthen, PA, received the Provost Award which is given to one student in each program with the
highest grade point average. She has accepted a position with an oncology group in
Athens, Georgia. Alanna Viken, PA, received the Clinical Achievement Award which is
given to a top performer during the clinical year. She has accepted a position in
emergency medicine in the metro Atlanta area.
Established in 2005, PCOM Georgia is a private, not-for-profit, accredited institute of higher education dedicated
to the healthcare professions. The Suwanee, Georgia, campus is affiliated with Philadelphia
College of Osteopathic Medicine, a premier osteopathic medical school with a storied
history. PCOM Georgia offers doctoral degrees in osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, and
physical therapy and graduate degrees in biomedical sciences, medical laboratory science,
and physician assistant studies. Emphasizing "a whole person approach to care," PCOM
Georgia focuses on educational excellence, interprofessional education and service
to the wider community. For more information, visit pcom.edu/georgia or call 678-225-7500. The campus is also home to the Georgia Osteopathic Care Center,
an osteopathic manipulative medicine clinic, which is open to the public by appointment.
For more information, visit pcomgeorgiahealth.org.
For more information, contact: Barbara Myers Senior Public Relations Manager Email: BarbaraMy@pcom.edu Office: 678-225-7532 | Cell:
770-309-0613