Recent Pennsylvania College of Technology grad receives award from state professional society
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Bryan M. Bilbao, who earned a combined bachelor's/master's degree in physician assistant studies from Pennsylvania College of Technology in August, recently received a Thomas J. Lemley Award for Health Disparities from the Pennsylvania Society of Physician Assistants.
Competitors were asked to address the topic "Trauma-informed care in health care," the college announced via press release.
In 2020, the Office of the Governor created an initiative to make Pennsylvania a "trauma-informed, healing-centered state." According to the Center for Health Care Strategies, the press release said, the goal of trauma-informed care is to help patients overcome the effects of trauma by considering not only "What's wrong with you?" but "What happened to you?"
Physician assistants and physician assistant students were invited to submit an essay, slideshow, video or other presentation to reflect on the topic. Bilbao received the award for certified physician assistants.
He submitted two video projects he completed as a Penn College student. The first, "Does Healthcare Care? #WHYICARE," shared the story of his late grandmother's care and interviews with 10 other people of diverse backgrounds who discussed the disparities or difficulties they experienced as patients. The second video, "Health Caring," shares the efforts of those who are trying to ensure all receive equitable, respectful health care, according to the release.
"The trauma-informed aspect really came from the mental and physical traumas patients may see when trying to receive health care, which fit perfectly around the realm of what I fight for," Bilbao said. "Especially since the first video was about bad experiences patients felt from their point of view."
Bilbao, of Old Forge, is a physician assistant for ApolloMD. He works in the emergency rooms of Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, Regional Hospital of Scranton and Moses Taylor Hospital.