Physician Assistant Program Student Spotlights
History of the PA Olympics
The PA Olympics has become a renowned cross-cultural event for PA students, faculty, alumni, and guests of Greater Philadelphia Physician Assistant Programs. The event affords participants to come together and work collectively in service to raise awareness of a community-based organization.
PA Olympics was started in 2003 by Michael Huber, MMS, PA-C, DFAAPA. Each year, PA programs in the Greater Philadelphia region go head-to-head to raise money for a selected local charity organization in the Delaware Valley region. This year marks the inaugural partnership with Special Olympics as its continual recipient of the event. This event aims to unite the leadership and service engagement talents of PA faculty and students from local PA programs to raise funds for Special Olympics.
PA Olympics celebrated its 24th year this April. The Special Olympics’ mission is to use sports to help people with intellectual disabilities develop physical fitness, confidence, and joy. The organization also aims to create more inclusive communities. The Special Olympics offers more than 30 Olympic-style sports for athletes ages 2 to 99. The organization’s approach is to deliver high-quality training and competition in an inclusive
culture.
The PA Olympics was recognized at the 2016 Physician Assistant Education Association Education Forum when Michael Huber accepted the Partnership Award on behalf of the participating Physician Assistant Programs and their fundraising and collaboration efforts under his leadership in developing the PA Olympics. This national award is given each year to recognize an individual or institution that supports one or more PA programs and has made a noteworthy contribution to PA education.
Fundraising is accomplished in only three short months each year (January – April). Each PA Program raises money by running individual charity events and participating in combined program fundraisers. The inaugural PA Olympic fundraising event consisted of only three PA programs (Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Drexel University, and Philadelphia University) and has now grown to ten participating programs and twelve university campuses. The ten PA programs participating this year are Arcadia University, Delaware Valley University, Drexel University, Drexel at Salus University, Saint Joseph’s University, Temple University, Thomas Jefferson University, East Falls, NJ and Thomas Jefferson Center City, and West Chester University.
Two combined program fundraising events were held this year. The first was with Special Olympics participating in their annual Polar Plunge at Citizen Bank Arena. The second was at Lucky Strike where students, faculty, and guests come together for a fun night of bowling, table games, gift baskets raffled off from each school, food, and drinks. Lucky Strike supports the event with a donation of 3 bowling parties to the top three winning teams of PA Olympics. The PA program that raised the most funds per student from their individual and combined fundraising efforts is awarded a trophy for their outstanding fundraising efforts.
The competition culminates each year in April with “The Great Race,” where each program competes in a race with entertaining challenges throughout the city of Philadelphia. Each participating PA program will have teams consisting of 10-12 students per team. The teams then race through the streets of Philadelphia, by solving riddles and completing challenges at each landmark stop designed by each PA program. The team with the best overall time wins The Great Race. The race ends with a closing party generously supported by Moriarty’s Restaurant and Irish Pub.
The current history of past to present charity recipients and fundraising totals are below:
| Year | Organization | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Shriner’s Hospital of Philadelphia | $1,400 |
| 2004 | Maria De Los Santos Health Center | $1,800 |
| 2005 | Camp Dreamcatcher | $1,950 |
| 2006 | Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House | $2,000 |
| 2007 | Esperanza Health Center | $2,250 |
| 2008 | Philabundance | $2,300 |
| 2009 | Philadelphia Police Athletic League | $2,425 |
| 2010 | The Red Shield Family Residence | $3,000 |
| 2011 | The B+ Foundation | $3,100 |
| 2012 | Philadelphia Chapter of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation | $3,250 |
| 2013 | The Philadelphia Chapter of ALS Association | $4,100 |
| 2014 | Fred Footsteps | $5,665 |
| 2015 | Marfan Foundation | $11,581 |
| 2016 | The Mazzoni Center | $15,500 |
| 2017 | Valley Against Sex Trafficking (VAST) | $20,000 |
| 2018 | Miracle League of Northampton Township | $25,500 |
| 2019 | IM ABLE | $20,650 |
| 2020 | For Pete’s Sake Cancer Respite Foundation | $19,645 |
| 2021 | The Krueger Hat Trick Foundation | $24,541 |
| 2022 | METAvivor | $24,179 |
| 2023 | The Block Gives Back | $24,265 |
| 2024 | For Pete’s Sake | $26,350 |
| 2025 | Special Olympics | $30,172 |
| 2026 | Special Olympics | $39,127 |
Since the PA Olympics’ inception in 2003, this annual event has donated over $314,000 to local charities.
2026 Special Olympics Fall Festival
Faculty and students from Arcadia University’s College of Health Sciences (CHS) joined athletes, coaches, families, healthcare professionals, and other volunteers from institutions across the state at Special Olympics Pennsylvania’s 37th annual Fall Festival.
Taking place Nov. 7-9 at Villanova University, the Fall Festival is recognized as the largest student-run Special Olympics in the world, bringing together athletes and coaches from across the state for competition in bocce, flag football, long-distance running and walking, powerlifting, soccer, and volleyball. Over 50 members of CHS’s Physician Assistant (PA), Physical Therapy (PT), and Public Health departments supported the festival by providing free, on-site medical services and healthcare education throughout the weekend.
