Five Things for New PA Students

Although his university’s PA program matriculates in January each year, Kristopher Roy Maday, MS, PA-C, Associate Professor and Program Director at University of Tennessee Health Science Center, thinks about things he wishes he would have said or done early on with his students that would have saved some difficult conversations later on.

AAPA CEO, Jennifer L. Dorn, MPA, Appointed to Dept. of Veterans Affairs Veterans’ Family, Caregiver, and Survivor Advisory Committee

Jennifer L. (Jenna) Dorn, CEO of AAPA, has been appointed by Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary David J. Shulkin to serve as a member of the newly formed VA Veterans’ Family, Caregiver, and Survivor Advisory Committee. The Committee will advise the Secretary on matters related to Veterans’ families, caregivers, and survivors, with a focus on gaining a better understanding of the use of VA care and benefits services.

AAPA Responds to NCCPA PANRE Alternative Pilot Process

The National Commission on the Certification of PAs (NCCPA) announced its upcoming pilot program to test an alternative to the Physician Assistant National Recertifying Exam (PANRE) set to begin in January 2019 for PAs who otherwise would be required to take the PANRE in 2018 or 2019.

Flashback Friday: Optimal Team Practice

Can you believe it’s been nearly five months since AAPA’s House of Delegates approved new AAPA policy, often referred to as Optimal Team Practice? Maybe you didn’t hear about it in May, so we’re using “Flashback Friday” to revisit this new policy, which will make a profound difference in expanding access to care and aligning the PA profession to meet modern healthcare needs.

Eliminating Key Practice Barriers Associated with Higher PA Salaries

The American Academy of PAs has released the 2017 AAPA Salary Report, the only PA salary resource that provides detailed information about base salary, base hourly wage, bonus, and benefits. One of the significant findings in this year’s report is that PA base salaries are higher in states that have eliminated one of two key barriers to PA practice.

Mental Health Curriculum Benefits Community and Students

Approximately one in five adults in the U.S. – 43.8 million, or 18.5 percent – experience mental illness in a given year.1 When considering a project that might benefit her community and her students, Jennifer Forbes, MHS, PA-C, former assistant professor at Idaho State University (ISU), felt that improving mental health was an important area to pursue.

What You Always Wanted to Know About EMPAs, But Were Afraid to Ask

In this article written for the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians, the Society of Emergency Medicine Physician Assistants (SEMPA) provides a brief history of emergency medicine PAs (EMPA), gives a primer on PA training and discusses EMPA onboarding and utilization.