The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) and the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) recently announced a set of 16 recommendations to promote the growth of the PA workforce. The task force, developed in October 2010, was charged with addressing future opportunities and challenges associated with expansion ...

A provocative commentary by Bettie Coplan, MPAS, PA-C, and James E. Meyer, MD, both on the faculty of the Midwestern University PA program in Glendale, Ariz., was published in the June 22/29 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Under the headline, ''Physician Assistants — One Less Doctor(ate) in the House,'' the article lays ...

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 ...

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 the meeting: The summit participants came to consensus on the following set of ...

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

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...