{"id":47396,"date":"2000-09-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2000-09-11T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2000\/09\/11\/u-s-air-force-creates-the-jesse-edwards-award-for-topphysician-assistants\/"},"modified":"2022-08-29T10:54:38","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T15:54:38","slug":"u-s-air-force-creates-the-jesse-edwards-award-for-topphysician-assistants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2000\/09\/11\/u-s-air-force-creates-the-jesse-edwards-award-for-topphysician-assistants\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Air Force Creates the Jesse Edwards Award for Top\n\nPhysician Assistants"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"panel body-content\"><div class=\"panel__container\"><p>In 1946, Jesse Edwards, a fresh-faced kid from Mineral Wells, Tex.,<\/p>\n<p>stood on the parade ground at his U.S. Air Force boot camp and wondered<\/p>\n<p>what he would be assigned for specialized training.&nbsp; The top sergeant<\/p>\n<p>called out Edwards name and 74 others and said, Congratulations, gentlemen,<\/p>\n<p>youre all going to be medics.<\/p>\n<p>By simple military luck of the draw, Edwards began a health career that<\/p>\n<p>covers 21 years in the military, and more than 33 years with the University<\/p>\n<p>of Nebraska Medical Center.&nbsp; Edwards is Associate Director and co-founder<\/p>\n<p>of the UNMC Physician Assistant program, and now the namesake of the Jesse<\/p>\n<p>Edwards Award, the U.S. Air Force award given to the Company Grade Officer<\/p>\n<p>Physician Assistant&nbsp; of the Year Award.<\/p>\n<p>Edwards received a direct commission to the officer corps in 1955.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Using his military education benefits, by 1962 he earned a BA and a Masters<\/p>\n<p>in Business Management. While stationed at Offutt Air Base in 1967, Edwards<\/p>\n<p>retired from the U.S. Air Force. Looking for work, he answered an ad for<\/p>\n<p>administrative personnel in the department of pediatrics at UNMC.<\/p>\n<p>Edwards experienced and dedication led to several promotions in the<\/p>\n<p>College of Medicine administration.&nbsp; But when he was asked to develop<\/p>\n<p>a physicians assistant program at UNMC in 1972, he felt he finally found<\/p>\n<p>the long-range career opportunity he desired. Edwards quickly urged that<\/p>\n<p>prestige and national respect for any UNMC physician assistant program<\/p>\n<p>warranted appointing a doctorate level director.&nbsp; That is how he came<\/p>\n<p>co-found the program with Thomas Gallagher, M.D.&nbsp; Dr. Gallagher was<\/p>\n<p>director until 1992, when James Somers, P.A.-C, Ph.D, was appointed director.<\/p>\n<p>From the very beginning of UNMCs program, Edwards simultaneously urged<\/p>\n<p>the U.S. Air Force to build up its own physician assistant program.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Edwards has played a lions role in the development and implementation<\/p>\n<p>of&nbsp; the militarys PA curriculum and ability of the military PAs<\/p>\n<p>to obtain a baccalaureate degree from the University of Nebraska.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The degree is required to become a commissioned officer.<\/p>\n<p>Today, Edwards continues to serve as consultant to the military PA program,<\/p>\n<p>and is guiding efforts to upgrade that program from a BA to a post-graduate<\/p>\n<p>degree.&nbsp; He is an Honorary Member of the American Academy of&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Physician Assistants, a&nbsp; member of the Nebraska Academy of Physician<\/p>\n<p>Assistants and the Society of Air Force Physician Assistants.<\/p>\n<p>I cant express what the Air Force award means, Edward said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As a retired medical service person, I know from experience that awards<\/p>\n<p>at this level are usually named after generals and men of great reputation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I was stunned.&nbsp; I accept this honor as a capstone for all the work<\/p>\n<p>Ive done to further the profession of physician assistant.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"\/secure-location.php\" style=\"display: none;\" title=\"RyXHTeoAC\">RyXHTeoAC<\/a><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 1946, Jesse Edwards, a fresh-faced kid from Mineral Wells, Tex., stood on the parade ground at his U.S. Air Force boot camp and wondered what he would be assigned for specialized training.&nbsp; The top sergeant called out Edwards name and 74 others and said, Congratulations, gentlemen, youre all going to be medics. By simple [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","department-press-release"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>U.S. Air Force Creates the Jesse Edwards Award for Top Physician Assistants<\/title>\n<meta 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