The Texas Academy of Physician Assistants recently named D. Shane Harper, a clinical physician assistant with Texas Tech Physicians of Amarillo, its Outstanding Physician Assistant of the Year for 2017. Harper has been with TTUHSC since 2014 working in trauma and critical care. He currently serves as the medical director for the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Northwest Texas Hospital.

In addition to the time he dedicates to patient care, Harper also helps educate TTUHSC students as a faculty associate for third- and fourth-year medical students and as a clinical associate professor for the Texas Tech Physician Assistant Program. 

In addition, the Sid W. Richardson Foundation awarded Harper a $40,000 grant for tele-trauma services in the Texas Panhandle, a program he expects to kick off in the next few months. He is on track to earn his Doctor of Medical Science (DMS) degree in 2018 from Lynchburg College. A DMS degree allows someone who is not a physician to practice clinical medicine with all of the privileges afforded to a medical doctor in the primary care discipline.

M. Haris Nazim, M.D., interim chair for the TTUHSC Department of Surgery, said Harper is working hard to advance to the next level in his career despite his busy schedule at TTUHSC and Northwest Texas Hospital.

“Shane is highly praised by his colleagues, patients and students,” Nazim said. “He has been a significant asset to both TTUHSC and the trauma services at Northwest Texas Hospital.”