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ADVANCE for Physician Assistants welcomes you to our online community. Our PA blog offers daily posts about your profession. We have provided tags to assist in locating topics of interest, a profile page to make uniquely your own and a list of our most active posts to keep you abreast of the latest discussions. We look forward to hearing your voice.
LATEST POSTS FROM EACH BLOG
November 18, 2009 9:57 AM by Jenna Lombardi of Confessions of a PA Student

In the last few weeks, I have been a patient, rather than a provider-in-training, on a few separate occasions. As it is the start of a new semester, I've recently caught up on all my doctor appointments and, in doing so, have faced an important reminder about what it's like to be a patient.

Because I am in school and learning how to become proficient at working in health care, I enjoyed experiencing the same ...


2 comments  
November 17, 2009 8:20 AM by Timothy Loerke of Reflections of a PA Student

Last week I attended a meeting in which students discussed how our school, the University of Northern Texas Health Science Center, is perceived in the community. I sat with a few student leaders from other campus programs. We all realized how many components of the health care team are represented at the Health Science Center but are underappreciated due to the predominant local idea that this is only a "medical school." ...

4 comments  
November 16, 2009 9:25 AM by Heather Simons of PA Specialty Certification

Editor's Note: Below is a blog post from Miquel Valdez, 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.

I've been putting off making ...


6 comments  
November 13, 2009 12:05 PM by Heather Simons of ADVANCE Blog for PAs

A recent article in The New York Times discusses how "Primary Care's Image Problem" is leading the vast majority of med students into specialties over primary care and how the


1 comments  
November 11, 2009 11:04 AM by Jenna Lombardi of Confessions of a PA Student

Last week in my community service course, my classmates and I each made presentations on an organization of our choice that we were able to focus on this semester. Every student chose a different organization and topic of focus based on a past experience with the group, a personal connection to whatever condition the agency supports, or simply because it's something they are interested in pursuing in the medical field ...

 
November 10, 2009 2:29 PM by Terri Schaefer of ADVANCE Blog for PAs

Physician assistant Michael G. Cahill, 62, of Spokane, Wash., was one of 13 victims of the attack at Fort Hood on Thursday. He worked as a civilian PA in the clinic where the shooting occurred.

From an AAPA statement:

Michael was a practicing PA with over 20 years ...

 
November 9, 2009 2:09 PM by Timothy Loerke of Reflections of a PA Student

Students in PA school encounter many opportunities to participate in community outreach events. Participation varies due to perceived or actual time constraints (see my previous post).

Last week I spoke with a medical student who is highly involved in community outreach programs. ...


8 comments  
November 9, 2009 8:59 AM by Heather Simons of PA Specialty Certification

Editor's Note: Below is a blog post from Bob Blumm, MA, PA-C, DFAAPA, 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. ...

 
November 6, 2009 10:57 AM by Terri Schaefer of ADVANCE Blog for PAs

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. ...


 
November 5, 2009 1:50 PM by Jenna Lombardi of Confessions of a PA Student

Finals week is here again. I've spent all semester learning an enormous amount of information, and now it's time to test how well I know it.

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 ...


 
November 4, 2009 3:07 PM by Heather Simons of ADVANCE Blog for PAs

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 ...


 
November 3, 2009 11:32 AM by Timothy Loerke of Reflections of a PA Student

One of my roles at school is to be a student ambassador. I team up with a couple of my classmates to host prospective students on their interview day. We take them out to lunch and lead them on a tour across campus. Along the way, they ask me questions and I do my best to answer. Recently, an applicant told me a story of a third-year PA student who was married with kids. She asked me, "In PA school, ...

6 comments  
November 3, 2009 10:42 AM by Heather Simons of ADVANCE Blog for PAs

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 ...


5 comments  
November 2, 2009 9:47 AM by Heather Simons of PA Specialty Certification

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 ...


2 comments  
October 29, 2009 12:15 PM by Heather Simons of ADVANCE Blog for PAs

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" ...


 
October 28, 2009 4:08 PM by Jenna Lombardi of Confessions of a PA Student

Recently in class we have focused on the utility of screening tests and how to determine whether or not the test will benefit or harm a specific patient. Before taking this class, I would have assumed that, in any case, knowing you have a disease or are at risk for a disease is beneficial. But after our recent discussion I can see that this is not always the case.

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


2 comments  
October 26, 2009 3:41 PM by Timothy Loerke of Reflections of a PA Student

PA school provides many opportunities for students to test their character and develop a sense of what it means to be a professional. Recently, I have observed how conflict can be a refining fire for us. 

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 ...


 
October 26, 2009 2:31 PM by Heather Simons of PA Specialty Certification

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. ...


 
October 26, 2009 10:43 AM by Terri Schaefer of ADVANCE Blog for PAs

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 ...


 
October 23, 2009 12:28 PM by Heather Simons of ADVANCE Blog for PAs

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 ...


2 comments  
October 20, 2009 11:08 AM by Timothy Loerke of Reflections of a PA Student

In clinical practice, we will work with health care professionals who confidently make a treatment decision based on their own experience. On the other hand, we will work with health care professionals who move forward with treatment on the basis of proven data. Experience- and evidence-based medicine are constantly at odds in clinical practice. 

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


 
October 19, 2009 3:49 PM by Heather Simons of ADVANCE Blog for PAs

On Tuesday, October 13, in honor of Physician Assistant Week, PA students at Hofstra University held a day-long bone marrow drive. In partnership with the Be the Match program, the school's Society of Physician Assistant Students encouraged faculty, staff, students and community members to get tested for potential bone marrow compatibility with patients around the world who have been diagnosed with blood disorders, according ...

 
October 19, 2009 11:53 AM by Jenna Lombardi of Confessions of a PA Student

Before I started school, and even after I was only a few weeks in, there was much talk from the older students and professors about how my new peers would eventually become like a second family to me. Without a doubt, I was excited to meet new friends in PA school, but it was hard for me to understand how a class of 54 unfamiliar people could become such an important support system. It was hard to see in the beginning ...

 
October 19, 2009 9:21 AM by Heather Simons of PA Specialty Certification

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 ...


8 comments  
October 15, 2009 10:55 AM by Terri Schaefer of ADVANCE Blog for PAs

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 ...


1 comments  

ABOUT OUR BLOGS

ADVANCE for Physician Assistants brings you daily coverage of the PA profession.

Tim Loerke is blogging about his experiences as a PA student.

By reflecting on her own experiences as a PA student, Jenna hopes to reach others interested in the day-to-day life of a PA student.

What are your thoughts on PA specialty certification?