Russ Dorr has been a PA for 38 years, and friends with author Stephen King for nearly as long. The two first met in 1974 when King became a patient at Dorr's clinic in Maine. At the time King had just one book under his belt, the novel Carrie. A short time later, Dorr began advising King on the gory medical details of books such as The Stand, The Shining, Pet Sematary and Misery, researching everything from how viruses mutate to how to cauterize a wound with a blowtorch.
He took on an even larger research role in King's November 10 release Under the Dome, a thriller about a small Maine town that suddenly becomes sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. One of the characters is Rusty Everett, a physician assistant who must deal with the mysterious medical situations that arise when a town is abruptly cut off from the rest of the world.
Click below to watch a video of Dorr talking about the PA character and what it was like to work with King on the medical details of the book.
Dorr will be featured in the February issue of PA Professional where he will discuss his relationship with King and how he came to be an adviser to one of the most successful authors of our time.
Photo credit: The Austin American-Statesman At St. Monica Catholic Church in Cameron, soldiers prepare the flag to be presented to Joleen Cahill at the funeral for her husband, Michael G. Cahill. Joleen Cahill said her husband loved his job as a [physician assistant] at Fort Hood.
Hundreds paid tribute Sunday to PA Michael G. Cahill, 62, the only civilian to die in the Fort Hood shooting spree. More than 500 of his family members and friends attended a funeral Mass at St. Monica's Catholic Church in Cameron, Texas, on Nov. 15.
The Austin American-Statesman reported that "Michael Cahill was given a full military funeral at the church where he worshipped every week. Pallbearers in Army dress uniforms carried his flag-draped casked out of the chapel while bagpipes played "Amazing Grace." Across the street from the church, Cameron residents gathered on their front lawns to watch the service.
Cahill was given a rifle volley salute, and the flag was handed to his widow, Joleen. His friends and family members said they will remember him not just as an Army National Guard veteran, but also as a devoted family man who was rarely seen without a cigarette in one hand and his trademark seldom-washed coffee cup in the other."
An obituary that appeared in the Billings Gazette, of Billings, Mont., reports that Cahill's interment will take place in the spring of next year in Montana.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Soldier's Angels, TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors), National Association of Free Clinics or Doctors Without Borders. There is an account set up at Classic Bank in Cameron, Texas, for those wishing to support the Cahill Family. Make the check payable to Jolene Cahill; send it to Classic Bank, 102 N. Houston Ave., Cameron, TX 76520-3321. Please include a note telling the bank it's for PA Michael G. Cahill's widow.)
Words are to the clinician, what the scalpel is to the surgeon. But this valuable diagnostic tool can be drastically "dulled" by language and cultural barriers and a lack of health literacy.
Amid growing concerns about racial, ethnic and language disparities in health care, The Joint Commission and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights recently released a video to identify alternatve communications methods to improve patient-provider interactions.
In a press release, The Joint Commission and HHS explained that effective communication is a critical aspect of safe, quality patient care. The video will help health care organizations determine the best methods of care for meeting these communication needs.
Language access is a matter of national importance. Many patients of varying circumstances require alternative communication methods -- more than 28 million people with hearing loss, reports the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. And there are about 47 million people who speak a language other than English living in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
For more information on the video, go here. To Watch the 32-minute video, go here.
If Stephen King's new novel Under the Dome was a baby, the 1,000 plus page epic would have had the longest gestation stage ever - more than 30 years. No wonder one of his longtime technical advisors is a PA: Somebody had to help deliver this bruiser.
The PA blogosphere has been all a buzz because one of the book's main characters is a PA.
According to the official Under the Dome website, the character of PA Eric "Rusty" Everett "is an overworked Physician's Assistant who carries most of Dr. Ron Haskell's load at both the Hospital and the Health Center. When he comes home late one night, he's able to diagnose Jannie's seizure but can't decode her outburst: `You have to stop Halloween!'"
PA Professional is looking for a PA to review the novel, which was released this week. (The e-book drops Dec. 14.) In 300 words or less, send us your best essay on why we should buy you a copy of the book from your favorite local independent bookseller. The essay is due Nov. 30. A PA book reviewer will be chosen and notified by Dec. 4. Send entries to
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. (Please put PA Reviewer Contest in the subject line.)
(Editor's note: Yes, it annoys us too that the PA's title is incorrect, especially in such a high-profile book. All evil involving the apostrophe "S" usually leads back to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.)
(Update: Lynn Morton, AAPA's marketing technologies manager, stood in line at a book signing for Stephen King last week. It took a couple of hours, but AAPA Lynn scored a signed copy of the book for the lucky winner of PA Professional's Under the Dome PA Book Reviewer Contest.)
On the way home from my final demobilization location, my wife and I stopped at the Cracker Barrel in Edinburgh, Ind. I was in uniform and toward the end of our meal our server quietly picked up our check and walked away. Someone in the restaurant bought our meal! They wanted to remain anonymous but I wanted to let them know that I just returned from Iraq, and this was my first real meal that was not military provided.
My wife was overwhelmed at the gesture that a complete stranger would buy our meal -without knowing that I just returning from Iraq. I encourage all of you to thank a soldier in uniform for their service, teach your kids to honor service members. You do not have to buy their meal, but I will tell you from experience it is very touching and appreciated.
I was honored by this women's gesture and it made me proud of being an American, and it gave a renewed meaning to both my wife and I regarding our deployment and time away from each other. This gives some external validation that we, as service members, serve something greater than ourselves - something bigger than our little "worlds."
Finally, it has been so good to be home and with my family again - the noise and chaos will take me a bit to get used to again, but worth every second. I am so very happy that some of my children's greatest worries in life are the type of jelly used on their sandwich. These are the type of worries that my children (and many of our families) face in this country. Never forget those who are willing to sacrifice all to ensure that our families can have fears but not be afraid. Never forget what our flag stands for and the freedoms it provides. Never forget what really matters in your life - this is a lesson that I continue to learn on a daily basis and is my greatest reflection of my time away from my family.
PA Mike Roscoe is a major in the Indiana National Guard. He has been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan for three of the last five years. Most recently, he was a senior PA at the troop medical clinic in Joint Base Balad in Iraq. An assistant professor at the Butler University PA Program in Indianapolis, Ind., he and his wife, Shelby, have four children.
The health of your heart has a lot to do with the foods you eat.
To help busy people and families shop for, prepare, and serve healthy meals, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) created and published Keep the Beat Recipes: Deliciously Healthy Dinners. The new cookbook features 75 simple and delicious recipes influenced by Asian, Latino, Mediterranean, and American cuisine that are good for your heart and taste great too.
"Good food is one of life's great pleasures, and good health is one of our greatest gifts," said NHLBI Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, MD. "With healthful habits, we can reduce the risk of many chronic diseases, including heart disease, and increase the chance of a longer life."
The recipes in the book are limited in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, and sodium, as well as moderate in calories. The recipes use lean cuts of meat, poultry without the skin, fish, beans, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, small amounts of vegetable oil, and lots of herbs and spices for flavor. Dishes including Thai-style chicken curry, Greek flank steak with tangy yogurt sauce, creamy squash soup with shredded apples, and corn and black bean tacos were designed to provide a satisfying portion, while helping people stay within their calorie limits. Main dish meals take no more than 40 minutes to prepare and cook, and side dishes are made in 30 minutes or less.
Although the ingredients can be found in most grocery stores, the new cookbook provides a list of helpful substitutions for unfamiliar or hard to find ingredients and low-sodium products. Readers can also find tips on cooking techniques, preparation, and food safety.
For more information, visit http://hin.nhlbi.nih.gov/healthyeating. Keep the Beat Recipes: Deliciously Healthy Dinners is also available for purchase for $5.00 through the NHLBI's online catalog at: http://emall.nhlbihin.net.
The family of PA Michael G. Cahill, who was among those slain at Fort Hood last week, became the lead story for many media outlets Monday, Nov. 9, after speaking out against anti-Muslim sentiment. As of 5 p.m., Cahill's daughters were the top story on the Huffington Post. A photo of Cahill and a grandchild took up much of the screen on the website's home page.
Huffington Post reported the following:
On Monday, the family of one of the victims offered a hand of support to the Muslim community. Michael Cahill, a [physician] assistant at the base, was the only civilian to be killed in the attacks, and his family spoke to CBS News to denounce the scapegoating of Muslims.
"You can't blanket a whole group of people. There's extremists in every religion, and there's extremists all over the world," said Cahill's daughter, Kerry. "And I don't think that we can blanket a whole group of people when this man obviously was ill, I think."
Cahill's other daughter, Keely Vanacker, expanded: "The death of our father, or any of these victims, shouldn't be an excuse or reason to begin to hate an entire group of people."
Link to Huffington Post and CBS interview with the family of PA Michael G. Cahill.
We live in times when threats to our freedom, security and to our very lives have become all too commonplace. Environments we believed to be safe, from shopping malls to college campuses, have been the recent scenes of events that shake those beliefs. It is then that we depend on those whose sole job it is to protect us, and in whom we put our trust. There are none in whom we place greater trust than in our military, whose individual members understand that they may be called upon to put their lives on the line to protect us. And history shows that they have done, and continue to do, just that whenever they are needed.
We may try diligently to understand violent acts, but some acts seem so senseless that they defy understanding. Such is the case with the shootings at Fort Hood Texas on Thursday November 5th, which took 13 lives and injured scores of others.
These were individuals who had dedicated themselves to helping others, on the battlefield and on the home front. We mourn them all, and grieve for the families and loved ones they leave behind. None more so than one of our own: physician assistant (PA) Michael G. Cahill, 62, of Cameron, Texas.
Michael was a practicing PA with over 20 years experience helping others in rural clinics and veterans hospitals. A civilian contractor at Fort Hood, he was a retired chief warrant officer in the National Guard. He exemplified his profession, which was born in the military, with ties that remain strong. It is made up of men and women, such as Michael, dedicated to the well-being of their patients; often putting the patient before self.
It is fitting to note that, except for this violent incident, Michael G. Cahill would probably have continued to live out his days, unnoticed except for his thankful patients, working at his profession, seeking no personal glory. It is also fitting that we remember him - and those who died with him - as the heroes they were.
PA Elizabeth Sheehan, of Dover, Mass., has spent a long time working among some of the most medically underserved people in the world. Now, she has an ambitious but simple plan to improve the health of women and children globally by converting shipping container into primary health care clinics.
Sheehan's new nonprofit Containers 2 Clinics, or C2C, was recently profiled in lengthy feature story in The Boston Globe. She told the newspaper that she was "thumbing through Foreign Affairs magazine last year when an article and photo caught her eye. The story, headlined "The Global Health Burden,'' addressed the failure to deliver rural health care in developing countries. The photo of a prototype clinic was intriguing. [She] peered more closely: Could it really be one of those ugly metal shipping containers that litter ports everywhere?"
According to C2C's website, the clinics will be staffed by local health professionals in-country. C2C's approach to rural medical care is designed to strengthen the entire health care system of a country from the bottom up by building capacity to treat illness locally. C2C clinics will focus on improving the lives of women and children through vaccinations, safe pregnancy and delivery and health education. C2C's model allows for standard design and operations and for replication across regions.
If Stephen King's new novel Under the Dome was a baby, the 1,000 plus page epic would have had the longest gestation stage ever - more than 30 years. No wonder one of his longtime technical advisors is a PA: Somebody had to help deliver this bruiser.
