I'm back in Pennsylvania after two days at the AFPPA Fall CME Conference and Exhibition at the Arizona Grand Resort in Phoenix. Upon my arrival at the conference, I was excited to hear the organization had broken all previous attendance records, with nearly 600 registered attendees. And with speakers, exhibitors and guests, there are more than 600! This was my fifth AFPPA conference, and they're always exciting. ...

In PA school, especially during finals week, it seems as though I've found myself frantically cramming all of the information studied throughout the semester into my brain yet again. I have to admit that even though I knew this program was going to be intense, it's hard to ...

A.T. Still University Arizona School of Health Sciences (ATSU-ASHS) alumnus Geoffrey Hoffa, PA-C, was recently named to the Arizona Regulatory Board of Physician Assistants (ARBoPA) by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. He will replace Randy Danielsen, PhD, PA-C, dean of ATSU-ASHS, who has just completed his maximum two terms on the board.

"When completing a term on an important regulatory board, it is always great ...

Since early 2009, Slava Makler, PA-C, BS, and Nadia Fakira, RN, BA, MA, have dedicated their time to improving patient care on the neurosurgical floor where they work at Florida Hospital in Orlando.

With the goal of inspiring passion and reigniting a love of learning in their colleagues, Makler and Fakira created an educational board that displays models and descriptions of the most common ...

Editor's Note: Below is a blog post from Glen E. Combs, MA, PA-C, on the subject of PA specialty certification. Check back each Monday for a new post, and please feel free to leave comments. If you would like to contribute a blog entry, e-mail assistant editor Heather Simons at hsimons@advanceweb.com. Thanks.

When NCCPA's specialty ...

In honor of Halloween, we share with you today a spooky medical anomaly courtesy of the NPR Health Blog. "Ghost in the Brain: An 'Apparition Hemorrhage'" features a CT scan of a 68-year-old man in a deep coma. Though the doctors suspected brain hemorrhage, they were unprepared for what they saw--a "spectral image" ...

As one can imagine, knowing about certain diseases ...

There seem to be two general methods of dealing with a problem: the initial, emotionally-driven reaction or a careful, thought-out response. It is natural to internalize emotions when we are either hurt or ...

Editor's Note: Below is a blog post from Jeff Trimble, PA-C, on the subject of PA specialty certification. Check back each Monday for a new post, and please feel free to leave comments. If you would like to contribute a blog entry, e-mail assistant editor Heather Simons at hsimons@advanceweb.com. ...

Ralph W. Rice, MPAS, PA-C, associate professor and associate director of the Wake Forest University PA program in Winston-Salem, N.C., recently told ADVANCE that the university's board of trustees has approved its proposed MMS-PhD program.

The program, which would combine the PA program's master of medical science degree with a PhD in clinical and population translational science, would accept three ...

In an article posted today, orthopedic surgeon and TIME Magazine writer Scott Haig discusses the nation's shortage of surgical assistants--and slights PAs as overly expensive and potentially inadequate "alternatives" to a surgical resident or fellow. 

In ...

Lately, I have noticed how confident and trustworthy a clinician ...

Editor's Note: Below is a blog post from Paul S. Fogel, DPM, PA-C, on the subject of PA specialty certification. Check back each Monday for a new post, and please feel free to leave comments. If you would like to contribute a blog entry, e-mail assistant editor Heather Simons at hsimons@advanceweb.com. Thanks.

After ...

Michigan PA Todd Chisholm resigned from his position at Hiawatha Behavioral Health on Monday morning as an apparent protest to the way that patients are being dropped, which is due to the source of funding rather than lack of need.

He addressed the ...

"The cost of medical care for inmates in Westmoreland County Prison is going up."

But only in the short term, and to the benefit of PAs. The Pennsylvania prison has made a one-year deal with Naphcare, Inc., the facility's Alabama-based, longtime health care provider, which will increase what the county is expected to pay in 2009 by 5%. According to an article in The Tribune, "the additional money ...

The Georgia Association of Physician Assistants is extending PA week to last the entire month of October. To that end, GAPA has recently placed billboards in the state to raise awareness of the personal attention patients receive from Georgia's PAs.

In addition, GAPA has created a public service radio message and contacted media outlets throughout the ...

In a letter to editor Michael Gerchufsky, Todd Bruce, PA-C, FAPACVS, writes that he is "very concerned about the path the NCCPA is taking our profession down." In response, Bruce sent a letter to the NCCPA, voicing his concerns about PA specialty certification. "I hope that it is not too late to reverse this dangerous process," he says. Below is a copy of the letter Bruce sent to the ...

An article in today's Times Leader, a newspaper serving northeast Pennsylvania, focuses entirely on physician assistants. In honor of PA Week, which starts today, "The PA is in" tells ...

Editor's Note: Below is a blog post from Michael C. Doll, MPAS, PA-C, DFAAPA, FAPACVS, president of APACVS, on the subject of PA specialty certification. Check back each Monday for a new post, and please feel free to leave comments. If you would like to contribute a blog entry, e-mail assistant editor Heather Simons at hsimons@advanceweb.com. ...