School of Health Professions Faculty, Graduates Earn Prestigious Awards

At the end of their didactic phase of classroom instruction, students in each program scheduled to graduate the following year nominate and select recipients of awards for excellence in didactic instruction. Members of the graduating class who are concluding their clinical instruction nominate and select recipients of awards for excellence in clinical instruction.

This award is given annually to recognize individuals who exemplify the values of Baylor College of Medicine and who have made significant contributions to the clinical education of nurse anesthesia students during the clinical phase of the program. The recipient of this award will demonstrate a commitment to the students’ educational experience in the clinical phase of the program and is nominated by graduating nurse anesthesia students.

Dean’s Excellence Awards are conferred on behalf of the School of Health Professions at the discretion of the dean and with the endorsement of school and program leaders. Recipients are honored for merit in any domain of service benefiting the mission of the School of Health Professions.

This award is given annually to an individual selected for a record of sustained leadership on behalf of health professions education, research, faculty development and scholarship. The award was developed by faculty and students at the School of Health Professions to honor Dr. J. David Holcomb, professor emeritus and dean emeritus, founding dean of the School of Health Professions. The school evolved from the Division of Allied Health Sciences, Department of Family and Community Medicine, which Dr. Holcomb had led for more than thirty years.

This award was established in honor of Carl Fasser for his sustained demonstration of visionary leadership toward the physician assistant profession through education, research, clinical practice and service. The enduring award is given annually to a Baylor College of Medicine physician assistant or program alumni who demonstrates exceptional leadership in these same domains.

The Joan Wilson Appel Award for Excellence in Clinical Research is established to encourage physician assistant students at Baylor College of Medicine to broaden their knowledge of translational medical science and to consider clinical research as part of their future careers. 

The BCM Alumni Association Lehmann Outstanding Student Awards is in honor of ophthalmology resident alumnus and active alumni volunteer, Dr. Robert P. Lehmann. In April 2011, Dr. Lehmann made a donation to establish a permanent endowment. It is the earnings from this endowment that now allow the School of Health Professions to present three scholarships yearly. 

This award is given to the physician assistant graduate who, in the opinion of the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, demonstrated outstanding knowledge and skills in the practice of psychiatry.

This award is given annually to the graduating physician assistant student who has achieved the highest scholastic ranking in the graduating class. The award is in memory of Lewis A. Leavitt, M.D., former professor of rehabilitation, chairman of the Department of Physical Medicine and chairman of the Allied Health Manpower Development committee. His lifelong pursuit of academic excellence and his outstanding contributions to mankind, made by exemplary achievements in the fields of medicine and health professions, did much to provide innovative development of the Physician Assistant Program at Baylor College of Medicine.

This award is given annually to the orthotics and prosthetics student who has achieved the highest scholastic ranking in the graduating class.

This award is given annually to the graduate who achieved the highest during the didactic phase of the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program in Nurse Anesthesia. The award honors Helen Lamb, CRNA (1900–1979), the founder and director of Barnes Hospital School Anesthesia from 1929-1951. She chaired the AANA Education Committee from 1931-1939 that established the curriculum and minimum standards for schools of nurse anesthesia. She performed the anesthetic for the world’s first successful pneumonectomy. She served as AANA president from 1940-1942.

This award is given annually to the graduate who achieved the highest clinical ranking during the clinical phase of the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program in Nurse Anesthesia. The award honors Alice Magaw, CRNA (1860–1928), bestowed the recognition as “the Mother of Anesthesia” by Dr. Charles H. Mayo, cofounder of the Mayo Clinic. Miss Magaw was considered a “peerless” scholar in the drop technique of ether/chloroform anesthetic administration. She was the first nurse anesthetist to publish her vast experiences in anesthesia serving to profoundly advance the art and science of anesthesia.