January 2008 - Posts

DFAAPA and $600K
January 31, 2008 1:56 PM by Stephen Cornell

Two unrelated short PA items: Kansas PA Clay Shaw is a brand new DFAAPA. Clay Shaw, a physician assistant with the Sumner County Family Care Center in Mulvane, has been recognized as an AAPA Distinguished Fellow for his service to the community and the Read More...

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Soldier Suicides
January 31, 2008 1:34 PM by Stephen Cornell

The Washington Post has a feature about the dramatic increase in suicide and suicide attempts in the Army. Suicides among active-duty soldiers in 2007 reached their highest level since the Army began keeping such records in 1980, according to a draft Read More...

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Leaked Study Results?
January 30, 2008 5:27 PM by Stephen Cornell

This is seamy. According to the New York Times , one of the New England Journal of Medicine 's physician manuscript reviewers is accused of leaking confidential results of an Avandia study to GlaxoSmithKline. A key member of the Senate said Wednesday Read More...

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BLS + PA = ????
January 30, 2008 4:22 PM by Stephen Cornell

To me, the new Bureau of Labor Statistics projection for the PA profession does not add up. The BLS forecasts a 27% increase in PA jobs from 2006 to 2016 and projects 83,000 PA jobs in 2016. That's only about 15,000 more PA jobs eight years from now than Read More...

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PA Facts
January 29, 2008 5:09 PM by Stephen Cornell

The AAPA's PA " Facts at a Glance " Web page has been freshly updated for 2008. Link Read More...

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PA: No Longer a White-Hot Profession?
January 29, 2008 4:04 PM by Stephen Cornell

Physician assistant fell out of the top 10 in the newest Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) job growth projection report, according to the Jan. 30 issue of AAPA News (not available online yet). The PA profession dropped from No. 4 last year to No. 30 in Read More...

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The Dysfunctional and Stable U.S. Health Care System
January 28, 2008 6:33 PM by Stephen Cornell

Is major health care reform inevitable? Don't bet on it. The New England Journal of Medicine looks at " The Amazing Noncollapsing U.S. Health Care System " and pronouces it "disturbingly stable." For roughly 40 years, health care professionals, policymakers, Read More...

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Synthetic Biology
January 28, 2008 6:20 PM by Stephen Cornell

Researchers have reportedly manufactured the complete DNA of a bacterium in the laboratory. While scientists had previously synthesized the complete DNA of viruses, this is the first time it has been done for bacteria, which are much more complex. The Read More...

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PA Mention in NY Times Letter
January 28, 2008 2:24 PM by Terri Schaefer

A doctor who wrote a letter in response to a New York Times article on delays in the emergency department suggested PAs as part of the solution: If every American had a local primary care center that was open until 8 p.m. and opened on weekends, and staffed Read More...

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Don't Mess with the PA Forum!
January 25, 2008 11:30 PM by Stephen Cornell

An online business Web site got some facts wrong--really, really wrong--about PAs (see previous blog post, see " Worst PA Description Ever "), and the online PA Forum really let the site have it in the story's comments. Way to respond PA Forumites! Remind Read More...

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PAs and Derm
January 25, 2008 12:45 PM by Stephen Cornell

Florida PA Krystie Lennox, a recent addition to the ADVANCE editorial advisory board, wrote an article about dermatology PAs for the November 2007 issue of Skin & Aging . Physician assistants can provide a vast array of traditional and non-traditional Read More...

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Even More DFAAPAs
January 23, 2008 11:36 AM by Stephen Cornell

The ADVANCE Blog for PAs investigative team has identified two more Distinguished Fellows of the American Academy of Physician Assistants: Florida PA Larry Collins and Washington PA Jim Davidson . Read More...

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Is Now the Time to Discuss a PA-to-Physician Bridge Program?
January 22, 2008 4:51 PM by Stephen Cornell

Many of the opponents to the new PA clinical doctorate degree echo a similar sentiment: “If you want to be a doctor, go to medical school.” It’s impossible to deny that wisdom. But there’s a problem, of course. PAs can’t go to medical school without going Read More...

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Immigrants and Medical Care
January 22, 2008 3:49 PM by Stephen Cornell

Maryland NP Lois Wessel wrote an article for today's Washington Post about some of the challenges of providing health care to immigrants. A 42-year-old political refugee from Sierra Leone, trained as a chemist in France, recently showed up -- desperate Read More...

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New ARC-PA Commissioners
January 22, 2008 3:38 PM by Stephen Cornell

Three new commissioners joined ARC-PA this month. Hank Lemke, MMS, PA-C, Phillip Marcus, MD,MPH, FACP, and James Van Rhee MS, PA-C began their first terms as commissioners on the ARC-PA January 1, 2008. Mr. Lemke was nominated by the American Academy Read More...

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PA Profession on ReachMD and XM Radio
January 21, 2008 5:59 PM by Stephen Cornell

Illinois PA Lisa D'Andrea hosts a national radio show about PAs, NPs and nurse midwives on ReachMD and XM Satellite Radio channel 157. On this week's show, D'Andrea's guests are North Carolina PA and practice owner Bob Hollingsworth and ADVANCE for Physician Read More...

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AAPA Responds to Diabetes Study
January 21, 2008 3:52 PM by Stephen Cornell

AAPA president Gregor Bennett responded to the recent Annals of Family Medicine study, " Quality of Diabetes Care in Family Medicine Practices: Influence of Nurse-Practitioners and Physician’s Assistants ," with a letter to Annals editor Kurt D. Stange, Read More...

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PA Clinical Doctorate Degrees and the Army
January 18, 2008 4:39 PM by Stephen Cornell

After reading the Army Times article cited in the previous blog post, I wanted to make what I think is an important point that has been overshadowed a bit by the controversy about the U.S. Army’s PA clinical doctorate program. The U.S. Army and Baylor Read More...

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Army Times: No One Earns as Much Respect as PAs
January 18, 2008 4:13 PM by Stephen Cornell

"On the battlefield, no one earns as much respect as the physician assistants assigned to line units to ensure everybody comes home," according to an Army Times article about the Army's shortage of qualified PAs. The Army needs about 150 more PAs, according Read More...

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The Morgellons Mystery
January 17, 2008 11:33 AM by Stephen Cornell

The CDC is funding a study of Morgellons by Kaiser Permanente. ATLANTA -- It sounds like a freakish ailment from a horror movie: Sores erupt on your skin, mysterious threads pop out of them, and you feel like tiny bugs are crawling all over you. Some Read More...

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ReachMD on PA Forum
January 17, 2008 10:13 AM by Stephen Cornell

The online PA Forum has created a specific forum for PA Lisa D'Andrea's radio show on ReachMD and XM satellite radio. Read more about D'Andrea in ADVANCE 's profile at http://physician-assistant.advanceweb.com/editorial/content/editorial.aspx?cc=103939 Read More...

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Doctor Assistants
January 16, 2008 11:18 AM by Stephen Cornell

The Charlotte Observer , the 44th largest newspaper in the United States and the largest in North Carolina, ran this headline today in a short article about Wingate University's new PA program : Wingate features doctor assistant classes Link UPDATE: The Read More...

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Do NPs Provide Superior Diabetes Care?
January 15, 2008 3:02 PM by Stephen Cornell

Nurse practitioners performed well in an Annals of Family Medicine study that looked at the quality of diabetes care in family medicine practices. PAs? Not well at all. RESULTS: Compared with practices employing PAs, practices employing NPs were more Read More...

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PA Salary Movers
January 15, 2008 2:28 PM by Stephen Cornell

Here are the top 10 states for 2007 in mean total income from primary employer for full-time clinical PAs, according to the individual state reports from the annual AAPA census. In parentheses are their rankings from 2006. Rhode Island jumped all the Read More...

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Rod Moser Collects Antique Laxatives
January 14, 2008 1:35 PM by Stephen Cornell

California PA and WebMD blogger extraordinaire Rod Moser writes about personal connections --and antique laxatives--in his latest post. It is a very sad state of affairs when your medical provider doesn't know your name, or remember that they just saw Read More...

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Medical School Boom
January 14, 2008 11:29 AM by Stephen Cornell

American Medical News reports on the growing number of new medical schools . Officials who accredit medical schools are busier than usual these days. The creation of new campuses and the expansion of existing ones has accreditation agencies hopping as Read More...

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Charlene Morris, Distinguished Fellow
January 14, 2008 9:50 AM by Stephen Cornell

North Carolina PA and ADVANCE editorial advisory board member Charlene Morris is a brand new Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Physician Assistants. (Alexandria, VA) – Charlene McClure Morris from Stonewall, NC has been recognized as a Distinguished Read More...

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Vaccines and Autism
January 11, 2008 3:16 PM by Stephen Cornell

Results of a new California suggest that autism rates continued to rise even after manufacturers removed thimerosal from vaccines. The prevalence of autism in California children continued to rise after most vaccine manufacturers started to remove the Read More...

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PA Programs Everywhere
January 11, 2008 1:51 PM by Stephen Cornell

There are a lot of PA programs in the Philadelphia area. On the way to a meeting at the University of Pennsylvania yesterday, I drove right past Philadelphia University . Following my meeting at Penn, I walked to my sister’s office at Drexel University Read More...

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Historic Graduation for Barry PA Program
January 10, 2008 1:28 PM by Terri Schaefer

The Barry University PA program held its ninth convocation on Dec. 15, marking the first graduation for classes in both of the program’s locations—Miami Shores, Fla., and St. Petersburg, Fla. Sixty-six graduates from the BUPAP class of 2007, including Read More...

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Any Sleep on the Campaign Trail?
January 10, 2008 10:25 AM by Terri Schaefer

I know the issues are the important part of a candidate’s bid for a presidential nomination, but sometimes I have to wonder about simpler things—like sleep. The candidates sure all look awfully tired to me now that the primaries have started. The New Read More...

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New Salary Information by Specialty
January 9, 2008 3:32 PM by Stephen Cornell

The AAPA recently released new information on PA salaries from the 2007 PA census. Here are the specialties with the highest mean total annual income from primary employer for full-time clinically practicing PAs. Specialty - MTI 1. Cardiovascular/Cardiothoracic Read More...

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Female PAs and NPs Sue University of Michigan
January 9, 2008 2:35 PM by Stephen Cornell

Thirty PAs and NPs are suing the University of Michigan over gender bias in pay . The group, comprised of U-M Health System employees from the cardiology, oncology and radiology departments, claims in the suit that the university discriminated against Read More...

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AAPA News Spotlights Cleveland Clinic PAs
January 9, 2008 1:25 PM by Stephen Cornell

The Jan. 15 issue of AAPA News has a front-page feature on PAs at the Cleveland Clinic . Today, 222 PAs work at CCF, in nearly all specialties: 152 on the main campus east of downtown and 70 in the system’s seven other hospitals and clinics. And the presence Read More...

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Worst PA Description Ever
January 8, 2008 2:21 PM by Stephen Cornell

PAs - Answering Phones Since 1967. For $24,000 a year. Representing the No. 3 on the list, AAPA (The American Academy of Physician Assistants) will experience the largest amount of increase, growing 59% according to the survey. Their job is to fulfill Read More...

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New PA Salary Information by State
January 8, 2008 10:54 AM by Stephen Cornell

The AAPA recently released new information on PA salaries from the 2007 PA census. Here are the 10 states with the highest mean total annual income from primary employer for full-time clinically practicing PAs. State - MTI 1. Nevada - $102,522 2. Mississippi Read More...

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Physician vs. Physician
January 7, 2008 4:13 PM by Stephen Cornell

Interesting American Medical News article about Florida physicians running against each other for a seat in Congress. Washington -- The race for Florida's 15th Congressional District is adding new meaning to the term "physician choice." Rep. Dave Weldon, Read More...

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On PAs and MAs
January 7, 2008 3:05 PM by Stephen Cornell

The suburban Philadelphia Bucks County Courier Times does a pretty good job describing the PA profession in an article about nonphysician providers titled, " Who's Treating You? " WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE? A physician assistant (PA) is a mid-level medical Read More...

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Are Cell Phones Safe?
January 4, 2008 5:53 PM by Stephen Cornell

Does long-term cell phone use pose a health risk? Maybe . Experts say the concern over cell-phone use stems from a form of radiation that's produced when the devices communicate with their base station. Wireless phones transmit via radio frequency (RF), Read More...

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'Leisure Sickness'
January 4, 2008 5:45 PM by Stephen Cornell

Does not working make some people sick ? Ad Vingerhoets, an associate professor of clinical health psychology at Tilburg University in the Netherlands, calls it "leisure sickness." Just when you take a break from your busy schedule to enjoy a little relaxation, Read More...

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Alderson-Broaddus Memories
January 3, 2008 2:57 PM by Stephen Cornell

In his latest WebMD blog post, Rod Moser reminisces about snowy winters in Philippi, W. Va. Since Alderson-Broaddus has produced roughly two out of every three PAs in the United States (or maybe it just seems that way sometimes), many readers probably Read More...

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Fla. DFAAPA
January 3, 2008 12:21 PM by Stephen Cornell

Florida Academy of PAs immediate past president Michael Funk is using the DFAAPA . Link Also, I like the new look of the FAPA Web site. Registration is open for FAPA's 2008 Winter Symposium in Orlando from Feb. 6-10. Join FAPA for their 2008 Winter Symposium Read More...

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PA Returns to ER Tonight
January 3, 2008 11:07 AM by Stephen Cornell

HIV-positive PA Jeanie Boulet returns to ER tonight. TV Guide has a Q&A with actress Gloria Reuben. TVGuide.com: So how is it you're returning as HIV-positive Jeanie Boulet to ER? Gloria Reuben: [Longtime executive producer] John Wells and I reconnected Read More...

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Alabama PA Featured for Work in Iraq
January 2, 2008 7:05 PM by Stephen Cornell

The Birmingham News featured Alabama National Guard PA Maj. Benjamin S. McCurdy in this article last week. About 170 soldiers with Dothan-based Headquarters Company have been based near Balad, Iraq, about three months, working on projects with about 900 Read More...

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Utah Medical Association Honors Pedersen
January 2, 2008 5:23 PM by Stephen Cornell

The Utah Medical Association honored PA Don Pedersen with a Distinguished Service Award in September. This year the Utah Medical Association (UMA) presented its Distinguished Service Award to Don M. Pedersen, PhD, PA-C for his many years of service to Read More...

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