PAs Go Beyond

This year, the United States hosted 78 games across 11 cities as part of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. On July 9, during the match between France and Morocco in Foxborough, MA, six PAs in emergency medicine worked the game, ready to provide care as needed to the 65,000-plus players, staff, and fans in attendance—and to experience the exuberant energy and camaraderie of a World Cup match.

PA Ravyn Williams created Taki2Go, a reusable food container system paired with onsite sanitization to cut single-use plastic waste and reduce microplastic health risks. Originally designed for restaurants, the system has found strong traction in schools, with hospitals as a long-term goal.

PAs Joe Ciavarro and Patti Cuartas, along with 18 PA students, traveled thousands of miles to provide care in Cusco, Peru. Over the course of five days, they transformed community spaces into temporary clinics, treating predominantly indigenous farming communities.

Jill Nelson recently spent two weeks trekking to Everest Base Camp in Nepal with the Wilderness Medicine Society. There, Nelson visited EverestER, as well as nearly hospitals and clinics, to learn about common conditions in wilderness medicine and treatment techniques, as well as how clinicians provide quality care with limited resources in the region that is home to Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world.