Penn College

Physician assistant alumnus honored by Penn College

Penn College President Davie Jane Gilmour presents the Alumni Achievement Award to Kevin A. Hickman, a 2008 physician assistant graduate. Credit: Pennsylvania College of Technology / Penn StateCreative Commons

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — A 2008 graduate of Pennsylvania College of Technology’s physician assistant major was honored with the college’s Alumni Achievement Award at summer 2017 commencement ceremonies, held Aug. 5 at the Community Arts Center in Williamsport.

Kevin A. Hickman, of Avon, Connecticut, and a Luzerne County native, received the award in recognition of his contributions to the physician assistant field and his alma mater.

Hickman serves as director of Physician Assistant Services for Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, in Hartford, Connecticut. The medical center employs more than 200 physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses, and is part of Trinity Health of New England, a regional health system serving Connecticut and western Massachusetts.

In his role, Hickman focuses on strategic planning for recruitment, retention, engagement and empowerment of physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses, as well as compliance with state and national regulations. He has presented at national and international conferences on health care management and value-based patient care.

He serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Saint Joseph, in Hartford, and on its physician assistant program advisory committee. He also dedicates time to a number of leadership committees at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center. His professional memberships include the American Academy of Physician Assistants, the Connecticut Academy of Physician Assistants, American College of Healthcare Executives, and Advanced Practice Provider Executives.

Hickman holds a master of health administration from Ohio University and is working toward a master of jurisprudence in health law, with a concentration in compliance, from Loyola University’s School of Law. He has earned health care leadership training certificates from Harvard University and Cornell University. In addition to his bachelor of science degree in physician assistant from Penn College, Hickman earned an associate degree in radiography in 2004.

Hickman began his clinical career by completing a general surgery residency at Montefiore Hospital, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in the Bronx, New York. He then spent six years at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, practicing pediatric cardiothoracic surgery, abdominal transplant surgery and neurosurgery, and he served as director of the Advanced Practice Neuroscience Residency.

The Alumni Achievement Award is presented to a graduate from the past 10 years whose postgraduate life includes noteworthy professional accomplishments or dedicated volunteer service to the college or community. Recipients also must demonstrate the importance of their Penn College education and continually support the mission of the college.

Hickman was an adjunct faculty member for Penn College’s physician assistant program from 2010-15. He participates in alumni outreach activities for the college, including college fairs. As a Penn College student, he volunteered at the Little League Baseball World Series, taking shifts with other physician assistant students in the infirmary.

The son of Kent and Mary Ann Hickman, of Red Rock, Hickman graduated from Northwest Area High School, Shickshinny. He and his wife, the former Leah Kirchner, also a Penn College graduate (class of 2007, surgical technology), have three sons.

For more about alumni relations at Penn College, visit www.pct.edu/alumni.

For more about Penn College, a national leader in applied technology education, visit www.pct.edu, email admissions@pct.edu or call toll-free 800-367-9222.

Last Updated August 7, 2017