Susan Kirk, a physician assistant at Texas Children’s Cancer Center, was recently honored with the Dr. Marilyn Hockenberry Advanced Practice Provider (APP) Award for Excellence in Clinical Practice, Education and Research.
Established in 2012, this internal award recognizes an advanced practice nurse (APN) and/or physician assistant (PA) who has made exemplary contributions to the education of clinical fellows, nurse practitioners, PAs or nurses, or has completed a clinical practice improvement project that has significantly impacted patient care in Texas Children’s Cancer Center and Hematology Service.
The hematology faculty at Texas Children’s nominated Kirk for her many contributions, particularly in the areas of hematology education and research.
While Kirk has taken the lead on the development and revision of Clinical Practice Guidelines for several areas in Immune Hematology, she is heavily involved in teaching. She is frequently requested to have trainees shadow her and is passionate about teaching both disease specific and operational aspects of daily practice. Kirk also teaches multiple courses in Immune Hematology to nursing staff and lectures PA students on hematology topics. This year, she has volunteered to precept a Baylor College of Medicine PA student.
In addition to clinical education, Kirk ensures staff in the hematology clinic are up to speed on the latest technology. She teaches her colleagues how to perform tasks in Epic on a daily basis and is an active member of the Beacon Committee for the development of an online chemotherapy ordering program.
Kirk has also made remarkable accomplishments in pediatric hematology research. She is part of the backbone of the immune hematology research program and is involved in the development and operation of multiple research studies, some of which have been published in Thrombosis Research. Kirk has also written abstracts that have been accepted for presentation at the International Society for Thrombosis and Hemostasis annual meeting. She recently presented an educational session on sickle cell disease at Texas Children’s 2016 APP Conference.
Kirk is a member of several professional organizations including the Texas Academy of Physician Assistants, a content expert for the National Commission on Certification for Physician Assistants and an abstract review committee member for the American Academy of Physician Assistants Annual Meeting.