April 2008 - Posts

Another PA Conference Note
April 30, 2008 4:33 PM by Stephen Cornell

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

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2009 Emergency Medicine PA Conference
April 30, 2008 4:24 PM by Stephen Cornell

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. Link Read More...

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Claiming to be a PA
April 30, 2008 11:13 AM by Stephen Cornell

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 Read More...

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Dental Therapists
April 28, 2008 5:57 PM by Stephen Cornell

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 Read More...

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Civilian PA Program in Canada
April 28, 2008 5:40 PM by Stephen Cornell

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 Read More...

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Idaho's PA of the Year on TV
April 28, 2008 2:02 PM by Stephen Cornell

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 Read More...

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PA Practice Ownership
April 25, 2008 2:58 PM by Stephen Cornell

The AAPA is actively lobbying in support of PA practice owners , according to the April 30 issue of AAPA News . 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 Read More...

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PA in USA Today
April 25, 2008 11:54 AM by Stephen Cornell

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 Read More...

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Louis R. Rocco, PA and Medal of Honor Recipient
April 24, 2008 5:14 PM by Stephen Cornell

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 Read More...

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Media-Friendly PA
April 24, 2008 4:12 PM by Stephen Cornell

Los Angeles Valley College PA Sonia Nodal is featured in two articles in the April 23 issue of the the Valley Star , the independent newspaper of LAVC. One of the writers spelled Nodal's name correctly and described her as a physician assistant. "Patients Read More...

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Grant Will Help Train PAs and Other Assistants
April 24, 2008 12:35 PM by Stephen Cornell

The Cleveland Plain Dealer published an article about a $2.5 million health care grant. The grant will help fund many health care assistants . The Department of Labor grant, which will be allocated over three years, will financially help students to become Read More...

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Building a Successful Practice - with PAs
April 23, 2008 3:53 PM by Stephen Cornell

Wyoming physician Kurt Hunter wrote an article for Medical Economics titled, "How I build a successful medical practice in under seven years." Four PAs are a huge part of Hunter's practice. Instead, I added midlevel providers. I hired a PA, an excellent Read More...

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The Countdown to San Antonio
April 23, 2008 3:40 PM by Stephen Cornell

By my rough calculations, the general session at the annual PA conference in San Antonio begins in 737 hours and 16 minutes. Link Read More...

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Is PA Really Recession-Proof?
April 23, 2008 10:43 AM by Stephen Cornell

Is the PA profession really protected from a recession? Conventional wisdom is that health care providers don't have to worry too much about losing their jobs during an economic downturn. People always need health care, right? People always need health Read More...

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PA-to-Physician Bridge Revisited
April 22, 2008 1:57 PM by Stephen Cornell

I have been covering the PA profession for more than 11 years. When I first started, people talked a little bit about the possibility of a PA-to-physician bridge program. It always made a lot of sense to me. Why should PAs with years of medical education Read More...

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Kentucky PA Honored
April 21, 2008 4:09 PM by Stephen Cornell

University of Kentucky PA program faculty member William Grimes will receive a 2008 Algernon Sydney Sullivan Medallion next month. Grimes, a faculty member in the UK College of Health Sciences Division of Physician Assistant Studies, of which he is an Read More...

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DFAAPA Profile
April 21, 2008 3:52 PM by Stephen Cornell

The Borger News-Herald of Borger, Texas, published a profile of DFAAPA Scott Gordon. Local physician assistant Scott S. Gordon, MPAS, PA-C has been nationally honored for going “above and beyond” in service to his community and profession. The Distinguished Read More...

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PA Pay
April 21, 2008 12:16 PM by Stephen Cornell

The AAPA recently added a new PA compensation report to its Web site. This report breaks down by specialty the types of compensation received by PAs from their primary employers. As part of the 2007 AAPA Physician Assistant Census, respondents were asked Read More...

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ADVANCE for PAs on Facebook
April 18, 2008 3:42 PM by Stephen Cornell

ADVANCE for Physician Assistants has a page on Facebook . Visit the page and become a Fan of ADVANCE for PAs . Click here for the ADVANCE for Physician Assistants Facebook page Read More...

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PAs Get Plenty of Credit Outside of U.S.
April 18, 2008 2:54 PM by Stephen Cornell

The PA profession is getting a ton of attenting during health care reform debates in Canada and Australia. Those countries have embraced the PA concept as a way to deal with shortages of physicians. This is the pro-PA conclusion from a health research Read More...

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PA Videos!
April 18, 2008 11:10 AM by Stephen Cornell

The AAPA Facebook page led me to the video of the Quinnipiac University PA program's 5K road race and cow chip raffle (see VIDEO 1 below). Stick around to the end for the cow chips. For a few minutes, I considered the Quinnipiac video to be the most entertaining Read More...

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PTSD and TBI are Widespread in Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan
April 17, 2008 3:39 PM by Stephen Cornell

Post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury are epidemic in veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a study published by the RAND Corporation. Only a fraction of these people receive treatment. A recently completed survey Read More...

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Michigan PA Talks about Iraq Experiences
April 17, 2008 10:52 AM by Stephen Cornell

Michigan PA Todd Kreykes talked to the Traverse City Record-Eagle about serving in Iraq. Kreykes, who was with the 1171st Area Support Medical Company most of 2007, manned the Troop Medical Clinic on Camp Victory, a sprawling base near Baghdad International Read More...

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DNP Backlash
April 16, 2008 4:29 PM by Stephen Cornell

National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners president Carolyn Jaramillo de Montoya takes issue with the Wall Street Journal 's recent article about doctoral degrees for NPs. The recent article in the Wall Street Journal on “Making Room for ‘Dr. Read More...

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Bethel Bounces Back
April 16, 2008 4:20 PM by Stephen Cornell

The McKenzie Banner newspaper of McKenzie, Tenn., has an article about the Bethel College PA program . Bethel's program lost its ARC-PA accreditation in 2006, but ARC-PA recently accredited Bethel's new, larger program. MCKENZIE, TN – Bethel College’s Read More...

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AAPA Sponsors Reggae and World Music Award
April 15, 2008 3:15 PM by Stephen Cornell

There are some interesting items on the 879-member AAPA Facebook page. This is one of them: AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS IS A SPONSOR OF THE PRESTIGIOUS 27th INT’L REGGAE AND WORLD MUSIC AWARDS (IRAWMA) AT APOLLO THEATER IN NEW YORK CITY ON Read More...

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Checking in With PA Bloggers
April 15, 2008 11:52 AM by Stephen Cornell

The ADVANCE for PAs blog enjoys checking in with the PA profession's other prominent bloggers once in a while. Today, we find that: Homeless Heidi can't get ice cream at the South Pole: Invariably someone pushes the wrong button and the whole thing freezes Read More...

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Advanced-Practice Nurses on the Move
April 14, 2008 2:54 PM by Stephen Cornell

American Medical News has an article about advanced-practice nursing bills in 24 states this year. At least 24 states are already considering bills or are expecting measures to be introduced this year. Measures address issues such as independent practice, Read More...

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PA Conference Housing Update: Two Left
April 14, 2008 2:23 PM by Stephen Cornell

Eleven of the designated conference hotels for May's annual PA conference in San Antonio are sold out . Crowne Plaza Grand Hyatt — SOLD OUT Hilton Palacio del Rio — SOLD OUT Holiday Inn Riverwalk — SOLD OUT Homewood Suites — SOLD OUT Hyatt on Riverwalk Read More...

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PAs Provide Medical Care in Iraq
April 14, 2008 12:17 PM by Stephen Cornell

There are some photos of PAs Kenneth Smith and Michael Chambers providing medical care in Iraq on the Web site NewsBlaze.com. CAMP TAJI, Iraq - Capt. Kenneth Smith, a native of Phoenix, inspects an X-ray during a Combined Medical Effort in Nahala Village, Read More...

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PAs in New Zealand?
April 11, 2008 3:04 PM by Stephen Cornell

At least one New Zealand physician thinks the country needs PAs . St Andrews Medical Centre doctor Leo Revell said physician's assistants were becoming increasingly common in the US. But such a move would mean thinking more laterally about how to provide Read More...

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New PA Special Interest Groups
April 10, 2008 5:16 PM by Stephen Cornell

The April 15 issue of AAPA News includes a report on three new PA special interest groups : The Association of Physician Assistants in Hospital Medicine Physician Assistants for Health Freedom Physician Assistants in Infectious Diseases On the surface, Read More...

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Duke Plans PA Program Expansion
April 10, 2008 2:52 PM by Stephen Cornell

Duke University is working with Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina to expand the university's PA program . Durham, N.C. — Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina is leasing its former office space in Durham to Duke University, which plans to use Read More...

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PAs To Receive ATLS Cards
April 9, 2008 7:03 PM by Stephen Cornell

The AAPA announced that beginning on 2008 PAs will receive cards for completing the American College of Surgeons' ATLS course. Between now and this fall, ACS will work to restructure the rules, design the cards, and inform ATLS course managers of the Read More...

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PA Education Article in Top Three
April 9, 2008 1:52 PM by Stephen Cornell

Via the April issue of the PAEA Networker , Gene Jones's article " Physician Assistant Education in the United States " is listed as one of the top three articles of 2007 by the journal Academic Medicine . Imagine Gene Jones’s surprise as he logged on Read More...

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141 PA Programs
April 8, 2008 1:24 PM by Stephen Cornell

There are actually now 141 PA programs accredited by ARC-PA. That is an all-time high, according to this excellent ARC-PA graphic . PA program No. 141 is at Bethel College in Bethel, Tenn. The previous Bethel College PA program had lost its ARC-PA accreditation Read More...

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No. 140
April 7, 2008 5:54 PM by Stephen Cornell

Wingate University is PA program is No. 140. ARC-PA granted provisional accreditation to the Wingate program in March. Our goal is not to just develop a good program—but to help nurture outstanding mid-level health care providers. Our stated mission is Read More...

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Is a PA “America’s Favorite Mom”?
April 7, 2008 9:54 AM by Terri Schaefer

Army PA Rosanna Vasquez Brown is featured in the latest issue of Redbook as a nominee for “America’s Favorite Mom.” The full-page article features an interview and three photos. From page 196 of the April issue of Redbook : This month, for the second Read More...

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A PA and her ‘Schneezle Monster’
April 4, 2008 1:22 PM by Michael Gerchufsky

Physician assistant KC Lovin was showcased in an article in the Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette about a medical screening and immunization clinic held at a local elementary school. Four-year-old Bradley Belcher got a tip Thursday about dealing with the sniffles Read More...

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The Need for Disclosure
April 3, 2008 11:19 AM by Terri Schaefer

The Wall Street Journal today reported on a correction, a clarification and an editorial published by The New England Journal of Medicine after recently learning of financial links between authors of a controversial 2006 lung cancer study and two large Read More...

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Vote
April 2, 2008 2:19 PM by Stephen Cornell

AAPA members can vote now in the academy's 2008 board of directors general election . Nonmembers can join in time to vote. Link Read More...

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Lunch With Elizabeth Edwards
April 2, 2008 12:45 PM by Terri Schaefer

I had the privilege to join nearly 600 journalists at the Health Journalism 2008 conference this past weekend in Arlington, Va. Organized by the Association of Health Care Journalists, the conference was crammed with helpful information and tips for journalists Read More...

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Dr. Nurse
April 2, 2008 12:44 PM by Stephen Cornell

The Wall Street Journal has a long and really positive article on doctorate of nursing practice degrees . As the shortage of primary-care physicians mounts, the nursing profession is offering a possible solution: the "doctor nurse." More than 200 nursing Read More...

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Title VII Funding Testimony
April 1, 2008 3:03 PM by Terri Schaefer

AAPA has submitted testimony to Congress urging an increase in federal funding for Title VII grants in fiscal year 2009. On behalf of the more than 68,000 clinically practicing physician assistants in the United States, the American Academy of Physician Read More...

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AAPA PAragon Award Winners
April 1, 2008 11:55 AM by Stephen Cornell

The AAPA announced the winners of the annual PAragon Awards this morning. And the winners are: Outstanding PA of the Year: Kathy Kemle, MS, PA-C, of Macon, Ga. Humanitarian PA of the Year: Pamela Burwell, MS, PA-C, of Phoenix Service to the Underserved: Read More...

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