Sunayana Chopra Pydah was born and raised in Galveston, Texas. She was drawn to the health care field because she wanted to not only help people, but through a systematic approach, improve the healthcare being provided in today’s society. She was interested in becoming a PA because she not only wanted to help diagnose and treat patients, but also educate them. She truly wants to become a leader in the PA profession by improving the quality aspects of medicine and have the opportunity to give back to the community by sharing her experiences.
She attended Texas A&M University where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and later a Masters of Health Administration and a Masters of Business Administration. She is currently studying for a Masters in Physician Assistant Medicine from the University of Lynchburg and a Doctorate of Health Sciences from Jefferson College of Health Sciences.
Pydah has worked in the healthcare field in various positions, always remaining focused on quality of patient care. As Point Health Information Assistant at Texas ENT and Allergy Associates, College Station, TX she worked side-by-side with the otolaryngologists to assist around 40 to 60 patients a day. She assisted in implementing a new office procedure to help patients who were suffering from breathing difficulties and chronic sinusitis. She performed Videonystagmography tests working side-by-side with audiologists. She also worked with the supervisor on several projects involving improving clinical processes.
In her role as a Perioperative Services Administrative Intern at Emory University Hospital, Pydah created a strategic plan using Deming’s PDCA (plan-do-check-act) cycle to standardize the protocol for the use of the surgical safety checklist in the operating room. She assisted with retraining the OR nurses on how to successfully implement the checklist. In this position, Pydah also monitored strategic plans with the Wound Infection Group to decrease the odds of surgical site infections to less than 1 for colorectal cases.
While getting her Masters of Business Administration degree, Pydah kept her focus on her goal to improve quality patient care working as a Lead Project Coordinator in the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX. She helped in developing new innovative processes in the clinical setting and strategies to improve Press Ganey scores among the providers. Most recently, Pydah was the manager of the Pain Management Division at Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, Virginia.
Pydah was the founder and first president of the Healthcare Finance Association School of Public Health Student Chapter at Texas A&M University. She is currently a member of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, the Virginia Academy of Physician Assistants, the Students without Boarders Society at the University of Lynchburg, and the Polloway Student Society at the University of Lynchburg. In the past, she has actively been involved with the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), the American College of Healthcare Executives, the Medical Management Group Association, and the Association of Academic Surgical Administrators. She serves as a member of the AAPA Leadership Committee and student delegate of the AAPA House of Delegates. She is a 2019 Student Trustee on the Physician Assistant History Society Board of Trustees.
Pydah has received numerous awards and recognitions during her tenure as a student: Outstanding Academic Performance in Immunology Recognition (2017); recipient of the Academic Excellence Scholarship of Texas A&M University and of the Arden Jean Biggar Scholarship sponsored by HFMA Texas Gulf Coast Chapter (2016); membership in the Upsilon Phi Delta Honor Society for her success and dedication towards healthcare administration (2015); first place at the Annual George McMillan Fleming Center for Healthcare Management Case Competition sponsored by the University of Texas School of Public Health (2014); among many others.
Acknowledgments: This biography was written by Michelle Schabowski, with the assistance of Sunayana Chopra Pydah, and was submitted to the Society in January 2019.
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