PAs Go Beyond

After immigrating to the U.S. at four years old, PA Kheira Bettir struggled to fit in. But after extensive studying and pure determination, she excelled. Now, as both an internal medicine PA and social media influencer, she inspires others in the PA profession.

On one late Sunday night, 19 victims of a mass shooting in Baltimore, Maryland came to MedStar Harbor Hospital, a small community hospital, for care. Mohammad Faisal, an emergency medicine PA, walks through the events of the night, reflecting on how he and other providers worked together to stabilize every patient and transfer some of them to trauma centers for further care.

PA Jenna Everett is the clinical lead for the Multi-Visit Patient Program at MedStar Harbor Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, which focuses on providing resources and support to underserved patients who frequently visit the emergency department for care. Everett talks about how she became passionate about providing care to undeserved communities, and how addressing patients’ unmet social needs can ultimately make it easier for them to obtain medical care.

With a remarkable journey that led him to positions at the White House and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Bernard Toney Jr., DMSc, MPH, PA-C defied all odds and surpassed everyone’s expectations, including his own.

After her personal experience with obesity, PA Ledyenska “Ledyi” Baez Ballesteros launched an obesity medicine program to serve her primarily Hispanic patient population in San Antonio, Texas. Ballesteros talks about how the way we look at obesity medicine has changed, how she structures her program, and the adaptations she makes to better serve her patients.

Knowing how to give patients with suicidal thoughts the support they need is becoming increasingly important for all providers—not just mental health professionals. For the past two years, Lisa Riley, PA-C, MHP, and Ali Walker, PA-C, RRT, have been working with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to develop a formal education module for PAs on suicide prevention.

PA Kris Himmerick spent three months in Ireland as a Fulbright Scholar researching how graduates of the country’s only PA program are integrating into their healthcare teams. Himmerick shares what they learned through more than two dozen interviews with PAs and their colleagues, and how they built a career which allows them to shift between patient care and academia.