The American Association of Medical Assistants Recognizes Outstanding Medical Assisting Groups and Individuals for Their Outstanding Dedication to Health Care

CHICAGO, November 23, 2022 (Newswire.com) - The American Association of Medical Assistants® (AAMA), the only organization in the world devoted exclusively to the medical assisting profession, announced the winners of the 2022 Excel Awards at the 66th AAMA Annual Conference. Award sponsors include McGraw Hill and PSI Services LLC (PSI).

The Excel Awards bring recognition to outstanding publications, websites, promotions, community service projects, employers and individuals who demonstrate leadership, innovation and exceptional work. The award winners were chosen by the AAMA Awards Committee.

Full List of 2022 Excel Award Winners

The Awards of Distinction recognize individuals for their professional contributions and national AAMA service:

• 2022 Golden Apple Award (sponsored by PSI) winner: Melanie Shearer, MS, CMA (AAMA), MT(ASCP)PBT^CM — for displaying outstanding dedication to and accomplishments in the field of medical assisting education
• 2022 Leadership and Mentoring Award winner: Rebecca Walker, BS, CMA (AAMA) — for promoting the professional identity and stature of AAMA members and the medical assisting profession by having displayed outstanding leadership and mentoring abilities on the national level

The 2022 Student Essay Award (sponsored by McGraw Hill) winner: Tasha Siaosi, CMA (AAMA) — for writing the winning essay that answered, "As health care continues to have increasing demands and staffing shortages, providers are looking for medical assistants to fill important roles and provide excellent quality care to their patients. What opportunities do you think this offers to the medical assisting profession and how will you utilize those opportunities?"

The 2022 Medical Assistant Employer of the Year Awards were given to the medical practices, facilities or health systems that employ medical assistants and are strong supporters of professional growth, particularly in the areas of certification, recertification, professional membership and networking:

• Fairview Hospital's "Westown Physician Center" Lakewood Teams
• Nationwide Children's Hospital School-Based Health Services
• Avera Health

State Society Awards:

• 2022 Publishing Award winners:
  • SDSMA Messenger, published by South Dakota, Maggie Olson, BS, CMA (AAMA), editor
  • Texas Tidbits, published by Texas, Donna Gibbins, CMA (AAMA), and Dina Harrett, CMA (AAMA), editors
  • PSMA WAVE, published by Pennsylvania, Diana Rogers, CMA (AAMA), editor
  • Helping Hands, published by Ohio, Diana Rogers, CMA (AAMA), editor
  • The Michigan Medical Assistant Journal, published by Michigan, Tracy Hardy, CMA (AAMA), editor
• 2022 Website Development Award winners:
  • South Dakota, Maggie Olson, BS, CMA (AAMA), web chair
  • Nebraska, Debra Potratz, CMA (AAMA), web chair
  • Michigan, Mistie Atkins, CMA (AAMA), web chair
• 2022 Marketing, Promotion and Recruitment Award winners:
  • "2022 State Convention and Online CEU Opportunities," conducted by South Dakota, Erica Arends, CMA (AAMA), and Maggie Olson, BS, CMA (AAMA), campaign directors
  • "Medical Assistants in Pink," conducted by Texas, Lisa Connelley, CMA (AAMA), Donna Gibbins, CMA (AAMA), and Dina Harrett, CMA (AAMA), campaign directors
  • "WE Are the Future of FSMA: Let's Make a Positive Influence," conducted by Florida, Deniece Jozefiak, CMA (AAMA), and Kathryn Panagiotacos, CMA (AAMA), campaign directors
• 2022 Community Service Award winners: 
  • "Red Cross Blood Drive 62nd Conference," conducted by Connecticut, Rebecca V. Parry, CMA (AAMA), campaign director
  • "Fostering the Fosters," conducted by South Carolina, Stephanie Pruitt, CMA (AAMA), campaign director
• 2022 Excel Membership Retention winners: Montana, Colorado, Maine, Iowa — for AAMA state societies with the greatest retention rate​
• 2022 Excel Membership Recruitment winners: Hawaii, Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois — for AAMA state societies with the greatest percentage increase in members
• 2022 Excel Student Membership Recruitment winners: Oklahoma, Alabama, California, Minnesota — for AAMA state societies with the greatest percentage increase in student members
• 2022 CMA (AAMA)® Certification winners: Alaska, Alabama, California, Florida — for greatest percentage increase of member CMAs (AAMA)

For the full list of 2022 Excel Award winners, please visit https://www.aama-ntl.org/news/conference/excel.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MEDICAL ASSISTANTS®

The American Association of Medical Assistants®, the only organization in the world devoted exclusively to the medical assisting profession, was established in 1956 and serves the interests of more than 92,000 medical assisting professionals. The American Association of Medical Assistants provides quality resources and educational opportunities for medical assistants by offering certification, advocacy for quality patient-centered health care, credential acknowledgment and scope-of-practice protection. For more information, visit www.aama-ntl.org. 

Source: American Association of Medical Assistants®