My journey with ADVANCE began July 7th 2008 as I wrote about my days leading up to physician assistant school. I was excited, yet nervous, about what I was getting myself into. There were PAs in my life that encouraged me with words of hope and peace. They said the road would be hard, but each day would make me stronger. I remember feeling ...

If you have applied for any job, they always ask for your résumé. Prior to PA school, it may have been a straightforward task to create your file packed with every possible job and accolade to impress. You may have not been in a field where it mattered what was on your résumé, as long as there was something. Now we are in the medical field ...

Do you remember the time when you were applying to PA school? What was the one thing you really wanted to do but found it more difficult than expected? You looked for PAs to spend the day with so you could better understand what the life of a PA was really like. You would have been happy with just about any setting, whether clinic, hospital or OR. ...

Our country is blessed to have medical regulatory boards that serve to protect patients and their providers. Some other parts of the world do not require a license or special privileges. Those countries just want help from anyone willing, and it does not always end well. So, the United States has a blessing and a curse. Since ...

When a PA graduates from school, passes the PANCE and gets a state license, it would seem like starting work would be the immediate next step. This is not the case for every new grad. Some of my classmates are not able to start until August or September because of the 90-day credentialing process. Some had a paperwork mishap with the state medical ...

This week I've been scheduled on nights, and it's been a completely different ER experience. While many of the chief complaints are the same as what I've seen during the day in the ER, the pace has been different. There is no doubt that things can get just as hectic at night as they do during the day, but for the most part, things usually tend to ...

The first semester of PA school, I read a book called How Doctors Think. I remember a story that told of a young physician trying to find the source of infection for a hospitalized patient. He mentioned how everything was done, but the source could not be found. The problem was that no one had thoroughly examined the patient’s buttocks. He had a ...

Last weekend and into early this week, I had the opportunity to travel to Atlanta for the AAPA annual PA Conference with my classmates and a few of my professors. Aside from getting the chance to bond with my peers and connect with my mentors on a personal level outside of the classroom, I was able to attend several seminars and conference events ...

ATLANTA—Here at IMPACT 2010, the 38th annual PA conference, the AAPA House of Delegates voted on a number of important PA policy issues that stand to have a significant effect on the academy and the profession. A showdown between the HOD and the AAPA board of directors (BOD) was averted with a compromise reached between the board and the house ...

This weekend, several of my classmates and I are making the trip down to Atlanta, Geor., for the start of the AAPA's 38th Annual PA Conference. As Saturday approaches, I'm finding myself more and more excited to have the opportunity to get out of the classroom and learn about so many different and interesting topics from a variety of knowledgeable ...