Stigma and bias can lead to poor patient outcomes for people who have mental health and substance use disorders. So, what can providers do to help patients and limit their barriers to receiving good care? Find out how you can help mitigate bias and stigma in the healthcare setting.

It is essential that providers can connect with patients, recognize signs of mental health and substance use disorders, and holistically approach the treatment of these patients. In this article, you will learn how bias and stigma affect health outcomes for patients with mental illness and substance use disorders, and identify some of the different types of bias and stigma that may affect the care that healthcare providers give to their patients.

The happiest PAs feel like they are part of a vital, mutually supportive team. Read on to learn the most common roots of dissatisfying team relationships and learn the PA Career Coach’s tips for cultivating and maintaining a strong relationship with the physicians on your team.

Relationships are the cornerstone of PA practice. PAs can promote positive connections with colleagues through trust, respect, communication, and clarity.

Make the most of your CME budget and learn how to tailor your clinical education to your individual learning style and needs.

This article is an overview of effective patient communication, from background to benefits to strategies and pitfalls that the clinician should know.

Megan Pinder, MMS, PA-C, is an advocate for psychiatric patients both personally and professionally. She responds to questions about PAs’ role in mental health, how access, socioeconomic status, and stigma impact patient mental health, and how to advocate for mental health patients.

The PA Foundation’s Vital Minds podcast featured a discussion on how health disparities have been exacerbated by COVID-19, the role socioeconomic factors and insurance may play in health disparities, and how PAs – and other allies – can help bridge the care gap.

AAPA invited PAs Lauren Eisenbeis and Jo Rolls to host Huddle’s latest Ask Me session on transgender healthcare. Eisenbeis and Rolls used their expertise from years of experience to provide advice and resources for PAs to provide trans-affirming healthcare to patients.

Pangela Dawson, PhD, MSPAS, PA-C, assistant dean at Morehouse School of Medicine, talks about her career journey and how COVID-19 has highlighted health disparities in Black patients. She also offers advice for bringing more visibility and leadership opportunities to minority women.

AAPA enlisted Katherine Thompson, PA-C, a practicing PA in emergency medicine and urgent care for four years, to respond to Huddle’s Ask Me on interpersonal violence (IPV) and forensic medicine. Read her advice on how healthcare providers can identify and manage IPV survivors.

A small Texas practice’s electronic health records were hacked and held for ransom. For days, while pen and paper kept the practice going, a PA wondered whether she’d face a financial hit from the cyber breach.

Every PA shows up to work ready to take the best care of their patients, and work towards the best patient outcomes. But each of us also contributes to our work environment. How we contribute defines us as a colleague.

As an in-home healthcare provider, Sarah Kaplan, PA-C, is among a rapidly growing number of medical professionals who are revitalizing the once-common practice of bringing urgent and primary care services directly into the homes of their patients.