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For more information, contact:
Carly Sharec, Communications Coordinator
O´Neill Communications
(direct) 678-384-7840, or (main) 770-578-9765
carly@oneillcommunications.com
Georgia-based PA student returns from Beijing Olympics
The Summer Olympics are finished, and the heroes and legends are slowly making the publicity rounds through the United States. Johnson. Liukin. Phelps.
But while certain athletic superstars took the spotlight, the real heroes of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing typically stayed in the shadows, tending to the various medical needs of the athletes. Harris Patel of the Georgia Association of Physician Assistants was one of the athletic trainers, and the only medical representative from the state of Georgia, that traveled to Beijing.
Patel, PA-S, ATC is a senior PA student at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., and is active in GAPA as a senior student representative. He has served as an athletic trainer for a variety of sports teams throughout his 12-year career, with his path to the Olympics beginning in 1996 when he provided care for the University of Georgia Athletic Association in the sports medicine/athletic training department. From there, Patel expanded his health care experience through involvement with the University of Alabama, NFL´s Indianapolis Colts and New York Jets, 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as well as many other major sporting events. His involvement in the 2008 Summer Olympics was his first time at an event of that grand scale.
"Working at the Olympics not only utilized the skills I´ve acquired throughout my career, but also provided great lessons needed for my future career as a physician assistant," Patel said. "This was an ultimate life experience, and I was honored to represent our country, the PA and athletic training professions and my family at the 2008 Summer Beijing Olympic Games."
After a long career as an athletic trainer, Patel chose to become a PA because he wanted more out of medicine. "I want to help others and have the ability to broaden my skills set with more medical privileges," he explained. "I also love the flexibility of the PA profession to move from one field to another field, and the MD-PA model of work as a team."
To learn more about Harris Patel and his unique experience as Georgia´s only medical representative at the 2008 Olympics, as well as to set up an interview, please contact:
Carmel Hearn
678-384-7833 or Toll free 1-877-610-9013
carmel@oneillcommunications.com
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*See video from NBC TV Station 11 Alive about Harris
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