Touro University Nevada PA Program Finishes as One of the Nation’s Top Schools in the AAPA’s Medical Challenge Bowl

May 25, 2021

The Touro University Nevada School of Physician Assistant Studies finished as one of the top schools in the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) Medical Challenge Bowl as PA schools from across the country competed in the virtual, Jeopardy!-style, quiz competition.

Typically held in-person during the AAPA’s annual conference, this year’s Medical Challenge Bowl was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 60 universities across the country competed in this year’s Challenge Bowl.

To compete in the Challenge Bowl, each university’s PA program must have at least 75% of its students registered as AAPA members. Each team consisted of three students and an alternate. Touro Nevada was represented by Max Caudle (PA21), Tonya Saiki (PA21), Kyle Lefevre (PA22), and Dustin Randy (PA22).

Assistant Professor Lindsey Reynolds, a Touro alumna from the Class of 2012 and a past Challenge Bowl participant, served as faculty advisor.

“Taking part in the Student Challenge Bowl is not only fun for students and a chance to test their knowledge, but it is also good for our program,” she said. “It is also exciting when our team does well against other schools, which helps to elevate our program against more well-known PA programs. Showing that our students can compete with other programs can be extrapolated to show that our smaller program is just as capable of creating competent PAs in the workforce.”

The competition included a timed session where students answered multiple choice questions, and the teams that answered correctly and the fastest, received the most points.

Questions included myriad subjects, including physical diagnosis, microbiology, anatomy, OB/GYN, pulmonary, cardiology, primary care, emergency medicine, and surgery.

Touro Nevada won the Western Region and competed in the final round against five other PA programs in the Championship round.

“I’m really glad that we were still able to compete virtually in the Challenge Bowl,” Tonya Saiki said. “It was also fun to bring back some competition between us and Touro California since we didn’t have our volleyball or basketball games this year.”

“I was really looking forward to establishing connections within the PA community and other programs in-person this year, but I’m glad we were still able to compete virtually,” Lefevre said. “As a team, we strategized accordingly and worked well together despite the challenges of COVID-19. We look forward to being there in-person next year.”