ADVANCE Blog for PAs : PAEA

PA-to-Physician Bridge Concept Gets Attention

Stephen Cornell — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:26:00 GMT

The fourth recommendation from the PA Clinical Doctorate Summit was particularly interesting. 4. The PA profession should explore with physician education groups the development of a model for advanced standing for PAs who desire to become physicians...(read more)

Physician Assistant Clinical Doctorate Summit News

Stephen Cornell — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:35:00 GMT

The American Academy of Physician Assistants and the Physician Assistant Education Association have posted a statement on last week’s PA Clinical Doctorate Summit. Forty-five people participated in the summit meeting. Here’s a set of recommendations from...(read more)

Physician Assistant Clinical Doctorate Degree Summit Participants

Stephen Cornell — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:44:00 GMT

The three-day physician assistant clinical doctorate degree summit began today in Atlanta. PAEA posted a list of the summit's 46 participants on its Web site. Link...(read more)

Physician Assistant Doctorate Summit

Stephen Cornell — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:49:00 GMT

The long-awaited PAEA-AAPA physician assistant doctorate degree summit meeting finally begins March 25 in Atlanta. One interesting note, PAEA's online message board about doctorate degrees has a lot of talk about a PA-to-physician bridge program. It'll...(read more)

Physician Assistant Doctorate Survey

Stephen Cornell — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:28:00 GMT

The American Academy of Physician Assistants and Physician Assistant Education Association are conducting an online survey about clinical doctorate degrees and the PA profession. The survey also asks about PA-to-physician bridge programs.

Is the clinical doctorate appropriate to the PA profession as an entry-level degree, as a postgraduate degree, or not at all? How should the PA profession approach the emerging issue of the clinical doctorate?
To help answer these questions and others AAPA and PAEA have partnered to explore the role of the clinical doctorate in the PA profession. As part of that exploration we have created a survey to assess the opinions of physician assistants on the issue.

I think it's an important step forward for the AAPA and PAEA to ask PAs about their views.

Access the survey at the AAPA Web site.

Link

Physician Assistant Doctorate Degree Debate

Stephen Cornell — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 21:03:00 GMT

There's a very active debate about physician assistant doctorate degrees going on at the Physician Assistant Education Association Web site.

I like this comment from one PA educator.

There is no clear answer. We MUST acknowledge the degree creep in our health profession peers and our competition in the workplace (NPs). We must acknowledge that there is no clear upside or downside to the PA doctorate. We must look forward and not back (of course not ignoring lessons of hx). The profession must clearly understand that they do not control the educational institutions who tend to respond to the marketplace, perceptions of need (or what) and other factors. Rather than attempting to dictate the direction; it may wise to provide synthesis of the literature, new research and guidance for decision making.
Best wishes to my colleagues who will be leading the process and outcomes.

Go over there to read the rest, including comments by Seymour Butts, PA-C. Isn't the Web great?

Link

Physician Assistant Clinical Doctorate Update

Stephen Cornell — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:50:00 GMT

The American Academy of Physician Assistants posted on its Web site an update about its investigation of a possible physician assistant clinical doctorate degree.

Is the clinical doctorate appropriate to the profession as an entry-level degree, as a postgraduate degree, or not at all?
How should the PA profession approach the emerging issue of the clinical doctorate? Many health professions, including physical therapy, nursing, audiology, and pharmacy, have implemented or are making plans to implement the clinical doctorate as a part of their profession. These professions have cited leadership skills, higher pay, and patient acceptance as reasons why a doctorate education is needed. The PA community has for the most part been officially silent on this issue but recognizes that this position will not serve the profession well in the long run.

The AAPA and PAEA will invite 40 to 50 people from within the profession and outside the profession to a three-day summit meeting in Atlanta from March 25-27.

Link

Physician Assistants Should Not Be A 'Silent Partner'

Stephen Cornell — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:03:00 GMT

Physician Assistant Education Association executive director Timi Agar Barwick and associate executive director Steven Lane published an article in the Jan. 2009 issue of the Association of America Medical College's AAMC Reporter, titled, "PAs Not a Silent Partner."

The article points out that the PA profession has much to offer to medical education.

With provider shortages projected in almost every health profession and significant changes likely to come to the health care arena in the near future, now is the time for unity and collaboration among health care providers, and for the development of a game plan for the future. In particular, while physician assistants (PAs) and physicians have worked closely together for 40 years, considerable potential exists to improve the coordination of educational and workforce planning activities between the two professions.

It's interesting that as the AAPA has stepped back from the public eye a bit during its internal transition to new leadership, PAEA has noticeably stepped forward and taken on a more prominent role within the PA profession and externally.

Link

Some Support for a Physician Assistant-to-Physician Bridge Program

Stephen Cornell — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 22:14:00 GMT

There's some support for a physician assistant-to-physician bridge program on the Physician Assistant Educaiton Association's Web site.

The ongoing discussion is in the comments section below PAEA's resources about PA doctorate degrees.

From PA educator Ken Harbert:

One of the first PAs in the country Vic Germino recently stated he hoped the future PAs would find passion in their lives for primary care and return to the roots of our history, if we really want to be change agents why not challenge medical schools to establish and offer a Primary Care Bridge Program as a MD/DO/Phd in Primary Care - that would offer more for us all.

Link

Movement on Physician Assistant Doctorate Issue

Stephen Cornell — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:27:00 GMT

The PAEA-AAPA summit to consider an entry-level doctorate degree for the profession is scheduled for March 25-27.

The organizations have created a sponsor group "to oversee the planning, research, and educational process that will support the final recommendation."

There seems to be a lot of bureaucracy going on, but I guess that's not always a bad thing. At least they are beginning to address the issue.

The sponsor group members are:

Matt Dane Baker, PA-C, DHSc
Dawn Morton-Rias, EdD, PA-C
Donna Sewell, MS, PA-C
Patricia Guerra, PA-C, MPAS
Timi Agar Barwick
Ayeshia Ellington Pompey
Bob McNellis, MPH, PA
Cheryl Homes

Link

PAEA's New Online Look

Stephen Cornell — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:47:00 GMT

The Physician Assistant Education Association has lauched its redesigned Web site. The site looks great, has a ton of information and seems easy to navigate.

Front and center at the new Web site is a section titled, "Informing the Clinical Doctorate Debate."

How should the PA profession approach the emerging issue of the clinical doctorate?
Many health professions, including physical therapy, nursing, audiology, and pharmacy, have implemented or are making plans to implement the clinical doctorate as as apart of their profession. These professions have cited leadership skills, higher pay, and patient acceptance as reasons why a doctorate education is needed. The PA community has for the most part been silent on this issue but recognizes that this position will not serve the profession well in the long run. At the 2007 PAEA Annual Education Forum, the membership passed a motion asking the PAEA board to establish a mechanism to consider the clinical doctorate issue and its implications for the profession.
PAEA and AAPA have partnered to conduct an investigation which will look at the pros and cons of an entry-level clinical doctorate for the PA profession. Research gathered over the next four months will be used to consider the issue at a culminating summit scheduled for March 25-27, 2009.

Kudos to PAEA for taking the lead on the doctorate degree issue and for providing this much-needed information.

Link

Physician Assistant Doctorate Degree Summit Planned for March

Stephen Cornell — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:16:00 GMT

The Physician Assistant Education Association and the American Academy of Physician Assistants will participate in a summit meeting in March 2009 to discuss the issues surrounding PA-specific doctorate degrees.

Details about the summit are still to be determined.

Physician Assistant Education Association News

Stephen Cornell — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:29:00 GMT

The Physician Assistant Education Association does an outstanding job with its monthly PAEA Networker.

The November issue includes a wrap of PAEA’s Annual Education Forum, which set a new attendance record.

Although the formal evaluations are not yet in, the 2008 PAEA Annual Education Forum appears to have been one of the Association’s most successful meetings in its history. Attendance numbers were at an all-time high, with 465 registrants representing 117 member programs. The restructured format put together by the Education Committee and meetings staff seemed to strike a good balance among different kinds of sessions each day and created additional time for unopposed poster presentations and other educational sessions. As President Dana Sayre-Stanhope put it in her report at the board meeting, “The biggest complaint we have had is that rooms are too full.”

Ted Ruback, MS, PA-C, who is the PA program director at the Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine, is PAEA’s president-elect for 2009.

Link

At the conference, faculty awards went to:

New Faculty Award: Bettie H. Coplan, MPAS, PA-C, of Midwestern University College of Health Sciences PA program in Glendale, Ariz.

Rising Star Award: Anthony E. Brenneman, MPAS, PA-C, of the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine PA program in Iowa City, Iowa.

Master Faculty Award: Carl Fasser, PA, of the Baylor College of Medicine PA program in Houston.

Research Achievement Award: Meredith Davison, PhD, of the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine-Tulsa PA program.

Partnership Award: Allentown Rescue Mission of Allentown, Pa.

Excellence Through Diversity Award: The San Joaquin Valley College Primary Care PA program in Visalia, Calif.

Outstanding Service Award: Michael “Rocky” Rackover, PA-C, MS, the director of the Philadelphia University PA program in Philadelphia.

Click here for more information about the award winners

Comments on ARC-PA's Standards

Stephen Cornell — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:47:00 GMT

On the topic of ARC-PA’s standards for PA programs, I have two questions.

One, why does a PA program director need to be a PA or a physician? It certainly should be a consideration, but not a requirement.

At least two terrific PA educators were not PAs: PAEA immediate past president and University of Colorado Child Health Associate PA program interim director Anita Duhl Glicken, MSW, and former Northeastern University PA program director and APAP past president Suzanne Greenberg, MS.

In fact, a review of past APAP/PAEA presidents reveals several non-PAs: Ronald D. Garcia, Jesse Edwards, Denis Oliver, Stephen Gladhart and David Lewis.

Isn’t the pool of talented medical educators shallow enough? Why exclude qualified people simply because they are not PAs?

Also, why must PA program directors be currently certified? Many program directors do not remain in clinical practice. Current certification is seems irrelevant to the ability to run a quality PA program.

Link

Considering the Physician Assistant Entry-Level Doctorate

Stephen Cornell — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:40:00 GMT

The Physician Assistant Education Association and the American Academy of Physician Assistants have partnered to look at the issue of entry-level doctorate degrees for the PA profession. The following is from PAEA president Dana Sayre-Stanhope's 2008 annual report.

The PAEA board is acting upon the October 2007 membership charge to investigate the appropriateness of an entry-level doctorate for the PA profession by engaging in a doctorate investigation process. In pursuing this charge we are committed to moving the discussion from one based on emotion to a more thoughtful discussion in which the Association will

Engage internal and external stakeholders
Learn from the experience of related professions
Provide objective data/information with transparency
Create a knowledge-based dialogue
Act in a timely manner

PAEA, partnering with the American Academy of Physician Assistants, has identified a firm to facilitate a summit that will result in recommendations to the profession. Under the proposed format, both internal and external stakeholders will engage in a six-month process that will explore multiple alternatives, including: an entry-level doctorate as the entry-level credential, an entry-level doctorate as an entry-level credential, and not pursuing the entry-level PA doctorate in any way.

Link