The American Academy of Physician Assistants named Kathy A. Kemle, M.S., PA-C, as its 2008 Outstanding Physician Assistant of the Year. Kemle teaches geriatric medicine at the Mercer University School of Medicine and practices in Macon. She has held several leadership positions in various medical societies, including AAPA, and is a widely-published authoritative figure in the field of geriatric medicine. She will be presented with the award on Friday, May 23, in San Antonio at AAPA’s 36th Annual Physician Assistant Conference. 

The Outstanding Physician Assistant of the Year is a physician assistant who has demonstrated exemplary service to the PA profession and the community and has furthered the image of physician assistants. 

With a career that spans nearly three decades, Kemle has touched the lives of countless patients, students and colleagues. Her impressive achievements as a clinician tell only part of her story; her accomplishments as an educator, author of peer-reviewed articles, and organization leader are equally impressive.

After graduating as a physician assistant from the University of Texas Southwestern Dallas in 1979, Kemle joined the ob/gyn department at the University of Texas Medical Branch, where she worked as a staff physician assistant for the next six years. The native of Fort Wayne, Ind., spent more than a decade at UTMB, including two years as a staff PA in the Department of Medicine and three more as a geriatrics coordinator.

In December of 1989, she left Texas and joined the staff at Albany Area Primary Health Care, Inc., in Albany, Ga., specializing in geriatrics and long-term care.

Her academic career, as described by her colleagues at Mercer, is “stellar.” In addition to her years at UTMB, she currently holds academic appointments at the Medical College of Georgia, Emory University, South University and Mercer University. She has been a visiting scholar in pain management at Ohio State University. Her work has been published in several medical journals, including Annals of Long Term Care, Annals of Emergency Medicine, and Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. She has been a featured presenter at dozens of national, regional and state medical conferences.
 
Her ability to inspire and educate her own students is evident in the words of one such PA student from Emory: “I am now on my second clinical rotation with Kathy, this time as an elective. She never tires of teaching or sharing her knowledge with others. When I graduate this March, I will begin looking for a position that allows me to practice my love for geriatrics and palliative care that was inspired by Kathy.”

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