In 2012 MEDEX Section Chief Ruth Ballweg, MPA, PA-C, received the Eugene A. Stead Award of Achievement, the most prestigious award in the physician assistant world. In 2013 the UW School of Medicine further recognized her achievements and promoted Ruth to full Professor.

Ruth has been called “a national treasure” by Reginald Carter, PhD, PA, of Duke University. “She is passionate about the physician assistant profession, its legacy, its accomplishments and its future.”  Ruth’s education includes baccalaureate and master’s degrees.  The PA profession has declared the master’s degree to be the top, final degree for its members, which meant Ruth was eligible for promotion without a doctorate degree.

Anita Duhl Glicken, MSW, and Associate Dean for Physician Assistant Studies at University of Colorado School of Medicine, further assesses Ruth’s contributions to the PA profession: “From creating a new model for the MEDEX program bringing education and service to the Pacific Northwest, to helping to create a new dental therapy health profession in rural Alaska, Ruth’s leadership has been key to creating new programs that are sustainable, scalable and improve the health of the underserved.”

Ruth began her professional career after graduating from MEDEX class 11 in 1979. Her clinical work focused on family practice and public health issues, then expanded into health education when she became part of the MEDEX faculty in 1985. In recent years, Ruth has worked on promoting the PA professional on an international level, advising health policy makers and educators in Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere.

MEDEX Northwest wholeheartedly congratulates Ruth on her promotion to full Professor.