News Archives - 2002

Laura Carlson, Larry Nilsson and Paul Talarico, students in the Physician Assistant Program at Augsburg College, co-authored the winning paper in the J. Peter Nyquist Student Writing Competition, a national student physician assistant competition. The paper titled "Polypharmacy: A Prominent Yet Preventable Geriatric Problem," began as a collaborative writing assignment for a class, and after a little "tweaking" the students submitted it to the national contest where it received first place among the nearly 70 submissions from across the nation.

The paper discussed how polypharmacy, the use of many medications, is a problem in geriatric medicine. They also sited examples in which adverse effects have resulted from using too many medicines. The purpose of the paper was to increase awareness of the importance to re-evaluate a patient's profile before prescribing more medication.

"It's nice when one's hard work is recognized, and fun to collaborate on a paper with classmates," Talarico said. "It is even more rewarding to be recognized for our team effort. I'm proud to represent Augsburg College and its PA program."

The students received cash prizes and funding to attend the American Academy of Physician Assistants Semiannual Meeting in Boston on May 25, where they presented their winning research project. All three students will graduate in August.