Physician Assistant
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Alumni News
Although she has previously worked with individuals with intellectual disabilities, Alexandra “Lexie” Moss ‘26PA wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when she volunteered for the recent Physician Assistant (PA) Olympics.
But it ended up being a tremendous experience for her.
“Honestly, it changed the way I look at people and ability,” said Moss, who along with Olivia Oligny-Leggett ‘26PA were the Salus at Drexel University PA team captains for the event. “It was powerful. We worked together as a team to raise money and contribute to such a great cause and event.”
The Physician Assistant (PA) Olympics has become a renowned cross-cultural event for PA students, faculty, alumni, and guests across the Greater Philadelphia Physician Assistant programs. The event allows participants to come together and work collectively in service to raise awareness of a community-based organization.
This year marked the inaugural partnership with Special Olympics Pennsylvania (SOPA), establishing it as the ongoing beneficiary of the event. Designed to unite the leadership and service-driven spirit of PA faculty and students from local programs, the event focuses on raising funds in support of SOPA.
In addition to individual teams representing both Salus/Drexel and Drexel University, the other PA programs participating this year were Arcadia University, Delaware Valley University, Saint Joseph’s University, Temple University, Thomas Jefferson University, East Falls and New Jersey, Thomas Jefferson Center City, and West Chester University.
The Salus/Drexel team had 27 members participating and the 10 schools combined raised a total of $30,172 for Special Olympics, which was a new fundraising record for this event. Each PA program raises money by running individual charity events and participating in combined program fundraisers.
“The PA students were able to interact with each other and find out more about each other’s programs and opportunities,” said Moss.
The competition culminates each year with “The Great Race,” where each program competes in a race featuring entertaining challenges throughout the city of Philadelphia. Each participating PA program had teams of 10 to 12 students. The teams then raced through the streets of Philadelphia solving riddles and completing challenges at each landmark stop designed by the participating PA programs.
