AAPA is seeking experienced PA leaders to nominate for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force for a four year term (2026-2030). The deadline to apply is Thursday, February 27, 2025. A completed application is not a guarantee for nomination. APPLY HERE.
What is the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force? The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is an independent, volunteer panel of national experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine. The Task Force works to improve the health of people nationwide by making evidence-based recommendations about clinical preventive services such as screenings, counseling services, and preventive medications. All recommendations are published on the Task Force’s Web site and/or in a peer-reviewed journal.
Task Force members come from the fields of preventive medicine and primary care, including internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, behavioral health, obstetrics and gynecology, and nursing. Their recommendations are based on a rigorous review of existing peer-reviewed evidence and are intended to help primary care clinicians and patients decide together whether a preventive service is right for a patient’s needs.
Since 1998, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has been authorized by the U.S. Congress to convene the Task Force and to provide ongoing scientific, administrative, and dissemination support to the Task Force.
Current recommendations and procedures of the USPSTF may be found at www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org.
What Are USPSTF Member Responsibilities? USPSTF members meet three times a year for two days in the Washington, DC area. A significant portion of the USPSTF’s work occurs between meetings during conference calls and via email discussions. Member duties include prioritizing topics, designing research plans, reviewing and commenting on systematic evidence reviews, discussing and making recommendations on preventive services, reviewing stakeholder comments, drafting final recommendation documents, and participating in workgroups on specific topics and methods. Members can expect frequent emails, to participate in multiple conference calls each month, and periodic interactions with stakeholders. AHRQ estimates that members devote approximately 200 hours a year outside of in-person meetings to their USPSTF duties. The members are all volunteers.
What Qualifications Does a USPSTF Candidate Need?
To qualify for the USPSTF and support its mission, an applicant or nominee should, at a minimum, demonstrate knowledge, expertise, and national leadership in the following areas:
- The critical evaluation of research published in peer-reviewed literature and in the methods of evidence review;
- Clinical prevention, health promotion and primary health care; and
- Implementation of evidence-based recommendations in clinical practice including at the clinician-patient level, practice level, and health-system level.
Additionally, the Task Force benefits from members with expertise in the following areas:
- Public Health
- Health Equity and The Reduction of Health Disparities
- Application of Science to Health Policy
- Decision modeling
- Dissemination and Implementation
- Behavioral Medicine/Clinical Health Psychology
- Communication of Scientific Findings to Multiple Audiences Including Health Care Professionals, Policy Makers, and the General Public.
Candidates with experience and skills in any of these areas should highlight them in their nomination materials.
Applicants must have no substantial conflicts of interest, whether financial, professional, or intellectual, that would impair the scientific integrity of the work of the USPSTF and must be willing to complete regular conflict of interest disclosures.
Applicants must have the ability to work collaboratively with a team of diverse professionals who support the mission of the USPSTF. Applicants must have adequate time to contribute substantively to the work products of the USPSTF.