POCN Announces 2025 America’s Top Physician Associates to Celebrate National PA Week

Annual award program recognizes the physician associates driving excellence, innovation, and leadership in patient care across the U.S.

BOONTON, N.J. – October 9, 2025 – Physician Associates (PAs) are integral to the healthcare landscape, delivering high-quality care and overseeing nearly 600 million patient interactions each year, according to the AAPA. Their contributions extend beyond traditional roles, encompassing leadership, innovation, and advocacy within the medical community. POCN, a trusted resource for nurse practitioners (NP) and physician associates (PAs) across the U.S., today announces the winners of its 2025 America’s Top PA Awards, honoring the clinicians making an exceptional impact in healthcare, health outcomes, and in PA-peer support.

This annual award recognizes PAs who go above and beyond in patient care as well as peer support and leadership within the PA/NP community. The winners were nominated by their peers for their significant contributions to healthcare and their profession. The 2025 recipients represent a cross-section of the profession’s best, including providers in leadership roles, vocal advocates for the PA profession, and past or present leaders of prestigious medical organizations.

“We are honored every day to work with and support our network of physician associates and nurse practitioners – the healthcare heroes whose work often goes unsung,” said Linda Garcia, SVP of NP/PA Relations & Engagement at POCN. “This year’s winners are true leaders in the PA profession. We are thrilled to recognize them for their impact on their peers, community, and patients. Congratulations to this year’s winners on this well-deserved award.”

POCN and the PA community at large are thrilled to honor this year’s recipients:

  • Jeremy A. Adler, DMSc, PA-C (Pain Medicine)
  • Sonia Bahroo, MMS, PA-C (Endocrinology)
  • Diraine Glanville, MS, PA-C, WCC (Geriatrics)
  • Lianne Hahn, PA-C (Aesthetic Medicine)
  • Joshua Hockaday, PA-C (Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery)
  • Kathy Howard, DMSc, MSPAS, PA-C, DFAAPA (Administrative Medicine)
  • Viet Le, DMSc, MPAS, PA-C, FACC, FAHA, HF-Cert (Preventive Cardiology)
  • Deepa Mani, MPAS, PA-C (Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Liver Transplant)
  • Sarah Sagorsky, MPAS, PA-C (Medical Oncology)
  • Ashlyn Smith, MMS, PA-C, DFAAPA, LSC (Endocrinology)
  • Hardik Thakkar, MSPAS, PA-C (Internal Hospital Medicine, Hematology/Oncology)

To learn more about America’s Top PA and NP Awards, visit: www.pocn.com/pocn-americas-top-np-and-pa.

POCN’s mission is to bring PAs and NPs together to network, share ideas, and create a strong foundation of providers. To learn more about POCN and its programs, visit: www.pocn.com.

About POCN

Founded in 2014 to address the need for peer-led resources, POCN is an organization committed to supporting nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician associates (PAs) across specialties. Guided by input from the NP and PA community, POCN delivers trusted education, clinical resources, and career support that help NPs and PAs learn, earn, care, and connect — empowering clinicians to advance professionally and deliver exceptional patient care. Learn more at www.pocn.com.

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