(picture includes: Richard "Rick" Rohrs, PA-C, DFAAPA, SFHM (Photo attached featuring left to right: Laurarose Dunn O'Farrell, MS, PA-C (2025 MdAPA President), Richard "Rick" Rohrs, PA-C, DFAAPA, SFHM (2025 James Cawley Award Recipient), and Gerald Kayingo, PhD, MBA, PA-C, DFAAPA (Executive Director for PALLA)

Richard (Rick) Rohrs, PA‑C, DFAAPA, SFHM, is a nationally and internationally recognized PA leader with over 40 years of service. A former AAPA President and NCCA President/Chair, he has shaped PA legislation, education, and global workforce development. At LifeBridge Health, he directs hospital medicine and oversees 100+ clinicians. A Distinguished and Senior Fellow, award‑winning mentor, and long‑time Maryland PA advocate, Rohrs has advanced the profession across clinical practice, policy, accreditation, and international development.

(picture includes Steven Cohen, PA-C (2024 MdAPA President), Jennifer (Grover) Beauchamp, DHSc, MMS, PA-C (inaugural recipient of JFC award), and Gerald Kayingo, PhD, MBA, PA-C, DFAAPA (Executive Director for PALLA)

About Jennifer:

A physician assistant and healthcare educator, Dr. Jennifer Grover has transformed medical practice and education through her exceptional leadership. With expertise spanning clinical practice in OB/GYN, Orthopaedic Surgery, and Hospitalist Medicine, she has pioneered innovative healthcare approaches while advancing the physician assistant profession. As a doctoral-level professional and legislative advocate, Dr. Grover has not only improved patient care in Maryland's underserved communities but also reshaped PA education and professional standards, including her pivotal role in the 2024 PA Modernization Law. Her commitment to mentorship and scholarly excellence continues to inspire the next generation of healthcare professionals.

What does this award mean to Jennifer?

“Receiving the James F. Cawley Award for Excellence in the PA Profession is an extraordinary honor.  As a PA student at Anne Arundel Community College in 2009 sitting in class listening to the medical ethics and the PA profession lecture from the man who wrote the textbook Physician Assistants: Policy and Practice, it was quite a humbling experience. Being chosen for this distinction reaffirms how pursuing your goals can have a tremendous impact on the patients we serve and the PA community. This award, named after a true pioneer and advocate for PAs, symbolizes a legacy of compassion, service, and excellence—that I strive to embody in my work every day.”