OUR CANDIDATES FOR UPCOMING BOARD OF DIRECTOR ELECTIONS

PALH is excited to announce the candidates for the upcoming PALH Board of Director Elections! 

Elections will take place at our General Session Meeting on 05/22/2023 at 9am. You can join us in person or register for the virtual option here.

President-Elect

• Melissa Rodriguez, DMSc, PA-C

Melissa Rodriguez is a Physician Associate (PA) practicing Obstetrics and Gynecology (Ob-Gyn). She graduated in 2010 from Rutgers University, receiving her Master of Science degree in PA Studies. In 2019, she earned her Doctorate in Medical Science from the University of Lynchburg. In addition to clinical work, she is an adjunct professor for Adventhealth University and Florida State University.

Research interests include the healthcare workforce and utilization of PAs in Ob-Gyn. She has written several articles and blog posts regarding the role of the Ob-Gyn PA and a chapter on Labor and Delivery in the journal entitled Obstetrics and Gynecology, An Issue of Physician Assistant Clinics (June 2022). Melissa also serves as president of the Association of Physician Associates in Obstetrics and Gynecology, secretary of the Florida Academy of PAs, and member of the education committee for PAs for Latinx Health, the American College of Ob-Gyn CREOG interprofessional committee, the Alliance of Innovation in Maternal Health (AIM), the Society for Ob-Gyn Hospitalists (SOGH) committees on fellowships and Quality/Safety, and the HHS Tri-Regional Maternal Health Alliance. She has also lectured on several related topics to national, state, and local audiences. Her passions are improving maternal health, respectful and culturally competent maternity care, and women empowerment. The pride and joy of her life are her two children.

As president-elect of PAs for Latino Health, I hope to impact an increase in culturally competent care for our patients, increase diversity in the PA workforce to better reflect the population, and support AAMPR in their efforts for PAs in Puerto Rico to increase access to quality healthcare. I will utilize my leadership skills to optimize my reach to PAs and sponsors nationally.

Secretary  

• Melissa Arvide, MPAS, PA-C

Melissa Arvide is an inpatient Physician Assistant at MD Anderson Cancer Center. When she’s not busy at the bedside she is responsible for the Liver Surgery Database for the Department of Surgical Oncology which allows her to collaborate with faculty, trainees, and other APPs on multiple research projects. She is passionate about patient care, mentorship, and giving back to the community. She is the current chair of the APP workgroup within the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (SSAT), a global community of GI surgeons. She is a preceptor at her alma mater, Baylor College of Medicine for Physician Assistant students, where she hopes to impart some wisdom as they are starting out in their career. She also tries to impart wisdom on her four children with the help of her husband.

Melissa is looking for a way to become more involved in PALH. “ I’m organized and believe attention to detail is paramount to any job well done. I have enjoyed being a mentor to a PALH student and I would love to contribute more to this organization”.

Treasurer-Elect

• Karina Arrelucea, MPAS, PA-C

Karina Arrelucea is a Family Medicine PA practicing in New Jersey. She completed her undergraduate studies at Rutgers – The State University of New Jersey at the Newark Campus where she was a double major in Biology and Psychology. After graduation, she joined a non-profit organization called Amazon Health Project (AHP). They traveled to the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest yearly to provide free medical and dental care to indigenous communities. Afterwards, she enrolled in a PA shadowing program abroad completing clinical rotations in Tanzania and the Dominican Republic.

While attending Sacred Heart’s Physician Assistant program in Connecticut, she started developing her leadership skills as the class diversity chair. Later, she became a student delegate in the AAPA House of Delegates, where she voted on the Title Change and worked as part of a reference committee overseeing resolutions being brought to the House. She was also part of the New Jersey State Society of Physician Assistants’ (NJSSPA) student committee and a pre-PA mentor, the PAs for Latino Health (PALH) student outreach director, the African Heritage PA Caucus student director, part of the National Society of Black PAs student diversity initiatives group, and a founding member of PAs for women empowerment. In addition, she was a student member of the LBGT PA Caucus, Connecticut Academy of PAs, Association of PAs in Obstetrics and Gynecology (APAOG), PAs for Global Health, the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA), and Street Medicine Institute. She states one of her biggest achievements was being a co-founder and director of Physician Assistant Students for Leadership, Equity, Anti-Racism, and Diversity (PA-S LEAD), a student-led organization with the mission to increase diversity and equity efforts within PA academia.

“I am so thankful to have reached this point, as a Latin provider, so my patients can have the option to see someone that looks like them, can speak to them directly in their native language, and who understands their cultural beliefs. She is completing her current term as the Membership and Public Relations Director at Large and is seeking to continue her involvement in PALH as Treasurer Elect. My goal is to create a larger and stronger community for pre-PAs, PA students, and PA-C. Also, to have an increase in Hispanic representation within the profession and bilingual providers.” Her hobbies include traveling, eating (not to be confused with cooking), scuba diving, social justice, and enjoying life with family and friends.

Director at Large Membership/Public Relations

• Aimee Lamb PA-C, MMSc

Aimee Lamb is a physician assistant with over two decades of experience in many areas of clinical medicine, leadership and academia. Most recently she was the program director and assistant professor of the LTU inaugural PA program, helping to create the program from its inception. She graduated with her bachelors in biology with a minor in cultural anthropology from EMU in 1991. She and her husband traveled extensively before attending Emory University and graduating with her MMSc (Masters of Medical Science) in 1998 and has dedicated her practice since to rural and urban underserved populations. She helped launch the Migrant Worker Project at Emory while a student there. She has lectured extensively both here and abroad in a variety of topics and has precepted PA students for almost two decades.

She has had several leadership roles including having created and led an inpatient team in glycemic management, was a mentor for the society of hospital medicine providing diabetes management mentoring to inpatient hospital teams, established an infertility service, developed a minor procedures clinic in England and was the advanced practice provider (APP) director at DMC of approximately 70 PAs and NPs of thirteen different specialties. She has published numerous times and is an active member of both AAPA and MAPA. She was one of a group of 12 PAs that established the PA profession in the UK and assisted with the development of the first PA program in England. She has practiced in a myriad of areas including women’s health, family practice, rehab medicine, emergency medicine, interventional cardiology and addiction medicine. She has received numerous accolades for innovative projects and her commitment to excellence. She also has a private consulting LLC that specializes in patient and elder empowerment and assists practices in business strategy and novel approaches to health-care delivery.

She is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion and an active community volunteer in providing both medical services and free healthcare education and has led and participated in many fundraising efforts throughout the years. She recently participated in a medical mission trip to the Galapagos Island of Santa Cruz where she provided primary care, patient education and gynecological care and cervical cancer screening to the local population.

Outside of the professional arena, Aimee loves to spend time with her husband of over 25 years and three children. They have a small zoo of critters at home, and she is a wildlife rehabilitator and enjoys travel, gardening, sharing what she grows and adventures in general.