New AAPA executive vice president and CEO Bill Leinweber addressed the academy's fellow membership numbers in his recent AAPA News editorial.

As an example of the challenges the AAPA currently faces, the first thing he listed was:

We have yet to demonstrate sufficient value to engage a large percentage of our professional ...

Former California PA Karen Bass was sworn in today as the first African-American woman to serve as speaker of California's General Assembly.

The Sacramento Bee has a short Q&A with Bass-and an apostrophe in the profession's name.

Bass, a 54-year-old former nurse, physician's assistant and Los ...

Are all generation gaps this large? Or does the looming Internet-related generation gap just seem particularly huge because I am now old?

From the Los Angeles Times:

Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between a person LOLing and crying -- but I am definitely weeping. The cause for my earth-shattering depression is an April 25 Pew Research Center study that polled ...

Are there going to be changes at the American Academy of Physician Assistants? Sure looks like it.

Ever since new AAPA executive vice president and CEO Bill Leinweber arrived at the academy in February, a common catchphrase for academy staff and PA leaders has been "It's a new day at the AAPA."

In the May 15 issue of AAPA News, an editorial by Leinweber appears under exactly that headline: ...

ARC-PA has created a page to list accredited clinical postgraduate PA programs. There are currently two.

The surgery residency at Johns Hopkins and the oncology residency at MD Anderson Cancer Center received ARC-PA accreditation in March.

The National Association of PAs launched its redesigned Web site last week, and it look really good.

Nevada PAs Brian Sady and Steve Engelberg created NAPA in 2006 for the sole purpose of promoting the PA profession to the public, health care professionals and the pharmaceutical industry.

NAPA asks: "It's been almost 40 years. Aren't you getting a little tired of explaining just what it is ...

Wisconsin PA Paul Robinson is officially the next president-elect of the AAPA. The academy announced the results of its election for board of directors on Thursday.

The following were elected by 14.8% of the eligible AAPA fellow members:

President Elect - Paul Robinson
Treasurer ...

The headline of this Idaho State Journal article about Idaho PA of the Year Nicole Manning says it all about public awareness of the PA profession.

Content to Assist

The AAPA has a cover story on retail-based health clinics in the May 15 AAPA News. 

If in-store health clinics were a stock, should you buy, sell, or hold?

Industry watchers predict that the number of walk-in retail medical clinics nationwide will jump to nearly 8,000 by 2011 and earn ...

Interesting news today from the National Human Genome Research Institute-the genome sequence of the duck-billed platypus has just been published. A mix of reptile and mammal, the genome sequence of Glennie, a female platypus from Australia, was analyzed by a group of scientists from around the world. According to the scientists, Glennie's genome reveals clues ...

My in-laws hail from New York City, and as such, have eaten many a hot dog at the Nathan's Famous in Coney Island. Once a year, I am required to take a break in our 4th of July festivities to sit down with my husband and watch the International Hot Dog Eating Contest on TV.

The 2007 event offered much drama. Will Joey Chestnut set a ...

The New York Times today published a profile and photo album of PA John C. Welton, a polio survivor who works in the palliative care unit at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

Now 60, he has survived polio. In 1953, he and two of his brothers contracted the virus on the same ...

Nova Southeastern University is planning a fourth PA program in Florida, this one in Jacksonville. Nova Southeastern already has PA programs in Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Naples.

JACKSONVILLE -- A new Jacksonville physician assistant graduate program will save prospective students a ...

It looks like health care businesses could be in for a rough time. The international law firm of White & Case sent out an e-mail today about looming hospital bankruptcies.

Hospitals in the US are suffering along with the national economy. Those that depend on alternative funding and philanthropic contributions to help finance their operations, or that are facing rising debts due ...

Students and faculty from four PA programs in the Philadelphia area will compete in the PA student olympics on May 17 to benefit the hunger-relief agency Philabundance.

Students raise money at each of their institutions prior to the Games and utilize participation fees for the Games as another source of revenue. Several thousand dollars are raised each year and representatives of Philabundance ...

The Washington Post published an interesting story today about Army medic and Silver Star recipient Monica Brown.

KHOST, Afghanistan -- Pfc. Monica Brown cracked open the door of her Humvee outside a remote village in eastern Afghanistan to the pop of bullets shot by ...

The AAPA conference in San Antonio begins in less than 571 hours.

The Society of Emergency Physician Assistants will hold its 2009 conference at the Marco Island Resort and Spa in Marco Island, Fla., from April 5-9.

Four hundred emergency medicine PAs attended SEMPA's recent 2008 conference in Tucson.

I find it curious that former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona still tells reporters that he is a former PA. Carmona's possible PA connections were mentioned here and there during his term, but I could never find any verification that he ever practiced as a PA.

Here's what he told the Orange County ...

One of the most popular articles on The New York Times Web site today is about dental therapists, who have a lot in common with PAs. Except that they knew not to call themselves dentist assistants.

UNALAKLEET, Alaska - The dental clinic in this village on the edge of the Bering Sea looks like ...

The University of Manitoba will accept up to 12 PA students into its new two-year program this fall, according to the Winnipeg Sun.

WINNIPEG - The University of Manitoba says it will become the first school in Canada outside of the military to train physician assistants.

Physician ...

KPVI-TV of Pocatello, Idaho, did a really nice feature story on Nicole Manning, who is the Idaho Academy of Physician Assistants PA of the Year.

She was nominated for the award by two of her co-workers. They said she was their first choice to receive this honor.

Mark Mansfield, nominated Nicole for the award: "She came into our office as a student and she was great to work with. ...

This seems like a bit of a change for the academy, which has never been particularly outspoken in its support of PA practice owners.

AAPA has initiated a lobbying effort aimed ...

Maryland PA Peter Womack is pictured on the front page of USA Today's health section today. The actual story, which is about emergency departments located away from hospitals, doesn't mention PAs.

Womack is also identified as a physician's assistant ...

While researching an article about PAs in the military, one source talked about Louis Rocco, who received the Medal of Honor in Vietnam and went on to become one of the first Army PAs.

This is from the Office of the Surgeon General's Office of Medical History Web site.

Rank and organization: Warrant Officer (then Sergeant First Class), U.S. Army, Advisory Team 162, U.S. Military ...