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 ...

When you taste the food at the banquet table, all other delectables pale. That is how I feel coming back from the AAPA conference. Not to say school is inferior, but I now view it in a different light. When you see the big picture, the finer details do not seem as intimidating. At the 37th annual AAPA conference, I learned about the intricacies ...

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 (sometimes called a ''bridge program.'') Not long ago, the mention of a PA-to-physician bridge ...

This past weekend I had the opportunity to participate in the Texas Academy of Physician Assistants (TAPA) conference. It was made up of various informative lectures, workshops and town hall meetings. The conference was a place where PAs from all over Texas could come together to talk about issues that uniquely involved them. I have never seen so ...

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 ...

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 ...

This is the 448th and final post to the ADVANCE Blog for PAs in 2008. Check back on Jan. 2 for the first blog post of 2009. Until then, here's a quick look back at some of the notable PA stories of the last year.  ***  JanuaryAnnals of Family Medicine publishes a study that concludes, “Family practices employing ...

The number of practicing physician assistants will be 73,893 on Wednesday, according to AAPA estimates. Link That represents an increase of 116% in only 10 years, from 34,192 on Dec. 31, 1998. But the physician assistant explosion is just getting started. The number of PA programs is at an all-time high of 142. Many schools are developing ...

The American Academy of Physician Assistants sent a post-presidential election e-mail to members yesterday congratulating President-elect Barack Obama and pledging to “put health care reform at the top of the national agenda.” We plan to meet with the Obama transition team and his newly appointed officials, as well as new and returning members ...

The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant invites PAs to suggest changes to the accreditation standards for entry-level PA education programs. The ARC-PA is soliciting comments on the standards as part of its regular updating and revision process. Provide your thoughts on changes that would improve the ...