Providing Strength in the Wake of Trauma

Self-defense instructor Katie Thompson worked as an emergency medical technician for several years in South Central Los Angeles, but she always felt she needed to do more. She began shadowing PAs and quickly realized it was the perfect career for her. Soon after graduating from MEDEX Northwest, the PA program at the University of Washington, Thompson accepted a position as a forensic examiner at the Center for Assault Treatment Services (CATS) in Van Nuys, Calif.

October 19, 2017

What PAs Want in the Workplace: Effective Conflict Management

Bianca Belcher, PA-C, senior advisor at the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) Center for Healthcare Leadership & Management (CHLM) spoke with Larry Herman, PA-C, MPA, DFAAPA, former president and chair of AAPA, about effective conflict management in the workplace.

October 17, 2017

Breaking Ground as Hawaii’s First PA in Rheumatology

Christina Starks, PA-C, saw a job listing on Craigslist in 2016 for a PA at a rheumatology private practice in Honolulu. The job turned out to be a perfect fit. She became the first PA in rheumatology in the state of Hawaii. Since then, Starks has made an impact on both the profession and her patients.

October 12, 2017

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.

October 9, 2017

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.

October 4, 2017

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.

September 28, 2017

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.

September 28, 2017

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.

September 27, 2017

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