Luda Davies, clinical instructor in Surgery in the out-patient surgery clinic at the Nashville campus of the Veterans Affairs Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, has been named Physician Assistant of the Year by the Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants.
Davies, who has worked at the Nashville VA for most of her career as a physician assistant, is supervised and was nominated for the award by John Tarpley, M.D., professor of Surgery and Anesthesiology and director of the General Surgery Residency Program at Vanderbilt and the VA.
“I feel very privileged to get this award,” said Davies, who received numerous recommendations from patients, staff, faculty, surgery residents and the PA students she teaches. “I so enjoy working with the veterans,” she said. “It’s such a rewarding job and a privilege.”
“Luda has been a ‘provider of choice’ at the VA for the last 20 years,” Tarpley said. She “has made ‘continuing medical education’ a lifestyle. She talks to patients. She provides instruction, education and hands-on care. She has taught scores of PA students …
“The (Vanderbilt) appointment evolved from her years of teaching incoming interns the basics of clinic-based practice,” he continued. “Ms. Davies provides excellent patient care, teaches continually, and supervises the smooth running of the Surgical Officer of the Day Clinic at the VA. She is indispensable to VA Surgery and to our residents in training.”
“Ms. Davies exemplifies what it means to be a PA in Tennessee,” added Frank Warren, president of the Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants.
