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Physician Associates /AssistantS
IN THE 2007 NEWS
photo by Gabriel B. Tait A volunteer for life
Mary Grimes, left, watched her husband Bill, a physician assistant and volunteer in Bath County, as he was congratulated by daughter-in-law Connie Grimes, right, following the award ceremony in front of the county courthouse in Owingsville Saturday. Photo by Gabriel B. Tait Bill Grimes went to the Bath County Courthouse in Owingsville yesterday morning, having been asked to give the invocation for ceremonies marking the presentation of the first Bath County Community Service Volunteer Award. Folks knew he'd be there because when people in Bath County ask Grimes for help, he always shows up. He's been that way for 30 years. But this time, Grimes' trusted friends and neighbors put one over on him. When the ceremonies started, it was Bill Grimes who was the surprised first recipient of the award. A granite tile bearing his name was embedded in the brick walk in front of the courthouse. "It is our Christian mission to love your neighbor as yourself, and if everyone shared with someone else, we would not have poverty. It is a human mission," a beaming Grimes said after the award was announced. He said he couldn't believe his wife knew about the award and didn't say anything. James P. "Sonny" Rawlings, who conceived the community service award and cooked up the invocation story to make sure Grimes was there yesterday said the idea was to "honor the individual who stays in the background and doesn't get the recognition." Folks around Bath County say that fits Grimes. Grimes, who is a physician assistant and a nurse practitioner, spent more than 20 years treating patients at the Bath County Medical Clinic in Owingsville. In 2000, he got some local people to help him launch the New Hope Clinic, offering free medical services to people who lacked health insurance and couldn't afford to pay for treatment. The little clinic in Owingsville has seen more than 2,000 patients to date. Then there are all the other things Grimes has done, like volunteering with the county fire department and the county emergency medical service, helping train emergency medical personnel, serving on the board of the Gateway District Health Department, and answering the call whenever a local organization needs a speaker or someone wants help organizing a benefit campaign. Recently, Grimes has been helping others get into medicine, working as a teacher in the Physician Assistant Studies program which the University of Kentucky operates through Morehead State University. Of course, that doesn't include all the behind-the-scenes work Grimes has done over the years at the St. Julie Catholic Church in Owingsville, where he is a deacon. Bath Circuit Judge William Mains says Grimes' sense of service, whether in doing church work or providing health care for the needy, stems from his religious faith. Grimes, who is from Chicago, first came to Kentucky in the 1960s, planning to become a Catholic monk. He spent time at the Abbey of Gethsemani, working under Thomas Merton, the noted spiritual writer and thinker, who was then novice master at the Nelson County monastery. Grimes ultimately decided to seek other paths, though he completed a doctorate in theology, and returned to Chicago for medical training. He and his wife, Mary, moved to Bath County in the 1970s, wanting to work in a medically underserved area. Folks say Grimes began to have an impact immediately. "Bill has a way about him," says David Daniels, a close friend. "If you go and help him out one time, you want to go back and help him again." Many people around Bath County call him "Dr. Grimes," even though he really isn't a physician, said Mains, who heads the board of the New Hope Clinic. "What he's done with his life really is a sense of mission," he said. "His basic motivation is to help people and make the world a better place." Nurse Martha Gulley has been a patient of Grimes, as well as a co-worker and friend since the 1970s. "He doesn't talk about himself much," she said. "He just does what he thinks needs to be done. He's like your next door neighbor, the kind of neighbor we'd all like to have." The consummate helping hand source: http://www.kentuckyconnect.com:80/news/state/story/214812.html
Medical fields come alive with mentoring Hands-on program pairs teens with professionals By Kathy Walsh Nufer
http://MedicalMentors.net
Future heart surgeon Chindhy, 17, spent three half days last week shadowing doctors and other professionals at Appleton Cardiology Associates as part of a Medical Mentoring program. Lauren Hove, 16, won't be clueless about entering the medical field, either. The Appleton East High School senior did her job shadowing at the Orthopedic & Sports Institute of the Fox Valley. The program, now in its second year, was founded by Karen Fields, a physician assistant and Hove's chief mentor, and Dr. Dave Eggert, both of the Orthopedic & Sports Institute. Fields recalled her internship with an orthopedic surgeon in high school and how much it affected her career. "It made a huge impact on me because here I am," said Fields. "My dream was to get high school and college kids into a program so they have the same opportunity to observe medicine. It's really a passion of mine." Fields found an eager partner in Eggert and had the school and community connections to get it off the ground within months of their first discussion. With teachers' help, they launched the program at the institute in the summer of 2006 with 13 students from Appleton East High School. Word spread and this year there are 45 participants, most from Appleton's three high schools and two more mentoring sites — Appleton Cardiology Associates and Neuroscience Group of Northeast Wisconsin. "Mentoring is not a new concept," said Eggert, "but this is organized and gives exposure to a lot of kids. Schools do a great job, but as far as preparation for college and future careers there are not a lot of hands-on" experiences like this for them. Eggert would like to recruit medical students to help open young eyes as well, and explain to them "what it means to go to medical school." Both hope to see the program grow to include juniors and seniors from even more schools next summer. Chindhy said he learned about Medical Mentoring in Advanced Placement biology class. His teacher encouraged him to apply. "I've wanted to be a heart surgeon all my life, but I had no real-life experience with it other than school work in science and TV. This was a great opportunity to connect with doctors and go behind the scenes and see what it's really like. You get to see the doctors at work with the patients." Hove heard about the mentoring in her health occupations class. "I really wanted to shadow a physician assistant because Karen (Fields) had talked to our class. I hadn't heard about it before and I was really excited to pursue it and follow up on it." While shadowing Fields, she said, "I learned a lot of cool stuff about knees, ankles and shoulders." Her schedule included everything from observing physical therapy sessions and seeing how braces are made to watching knee replacement surgery. "Putting on the scrubs is a highlight for most of them," Fields said. "I think this is an excellent idea," Hove said. "You really get a good look one-on-one if you have a really confused look on your face they stop and explain everything." While Hove is "very much considering" a PA career now, Chindhy said his experience solidified his plans and gave him a truer picture of the job. "It's completely different from a TV series. I saw a doctor do surgery and the radio was on and everyone was relaxed. I thought it would be so intense with blood everywhere." During his mentoring, he had a cholesterol test and saw how a lipid panel is done, learned about pacemakers and watched state-of-the-art coronary scanning in three-dimensions. His highlight was watching a mitral valve replacement. Larry Sobal, CEO of Appleton Cardiology Associates, said staff members are mentoring six students and were eager to participate. "We were excited to take part when we learned this takes the brightest and best students from area high schools, people who will probably go on to study medicine in some way, letting them really experience what cardiology is like before they graduate." Sobal said with 25 percent of physicians now 50 or older, "Anything we can do to encourage kids to get into medicine, and specifically cardiology, is a good business plan." Margie Weiss, CEO/Community Health Advocate for Neuroscience Group, said the group wanted to "support local high schools and encourage health-related career decisions. We had our six students spend time in each department exposing them to a wide array of health careers." Sobal said it is common for medical students to come back and job shadow. "It's neat we can catch kids in high school who are thinking about it but aren't quite sure. To be a cardiologist requires at least seven years post bachelor's degree. You really have to make that decision early on." Participants agreed it is better to know now than later. "This is a great way to test the water and see if you like it or not," said Chindhy, adding that the adults he met during mentoring were all a bit wistful. "'I wish I had had this when I was your age.' That's what all the doctors said." SOURCE:http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070717/APC0101/707170528/-1/APCnews
GPs welcome first major courses to train physician assistants 18 Jul 2007 OnMedica reporters Four universities are launching the first large scale courses to train physician assistants (PAs) in the UK from early next year. The Universities of Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Warwick with Coventry will offer training courses for people to become physician assistants - a new healthcare role in the UK, working alongside doctors in hospitals and in GP surgeries. Physician assistants, although a well established profession in the USA, are new to the NHS and support doctors in the diagnosis and management of patients. These people will normally be graduates with a science orientated first degree or other healthcare staff with a first level qualification in, for example, nursing or physiotherapy. The new Postgraduate Diploma in Physician Assistant Studies will initially offer training for at least 60 students, with courses starting at Birmingham and Wolverhampton in January of next year. The course, supported by NHS West Midlands Strategic Health Authority, involves intensive training over two years, with students studying for 46 weeks each year. PA students will be trained to perform a number of roles including taking medical histories, performing examinations, diagnosing illnesses, and analysing test results under the direct supervision of a doctor. A small number of general practices in the West Midlands became the first in the country to employ US trained PAs in 2003 and the pilot proved successful, leading to more than 20 now working in the area and a total of 50 across the UK. Jim Parle, Professor of General Practice from the University of Birmingham's Medical School, said: "This new profession will supplement the existing NHS workforce, increasing the number of frontline clinicians available to treat patients. "Physician assistants will always support the work of doctors, not replace them. However, having an additional clinically trained member of staff has the potential to really benefit patient care. Certainly the experiences of general practices which are already using US trained PAs have been very positive." The PA curriculum includes many of the same elements as the standard four or five-year medical programme, but it focuses principally on general medicine in general practice and hospital settings, rather than speciality care. As well as theoretical learning in key areas of medicine, the course also includes 1,600 hours of clinical training in a range of settings including general hospital medicine (350 hours) and mental health (80 hours). source: http://www.onmedica.net:80/content.asp?c=40458&t=1
EMORY PA PROGRAM: New Emory Veteran Physician Assistant Scholarship Project about to be launched to acknowledge the contributions of our Veteran's and to encourage them to share their experiences as servant leaders with fellow PA students to enhance the learning environment. Like the movie, Pay It Forward, each Veteran/PA student has the opportunity to teach others about the responsibilities of our service men as self-disciplined, dependable members of a team with a common goal. The Emory Physician Assistant Program has developed a Veteran Student Scholarship fund for current and incoming students, who are veterans, are in good standing academically and professionally, if a current Emory PA student, and will be required to give back in some way. The Emory Physician Assistant Program uses community service learning
projects for students to learn about the unique aspects of the practice
of medicine for the uninsured in less traditional healthcare settings,
such as migrant health care, and urban immigrant/refugee, and non-english-speaking
working poor. We hope to instill in our PA students the power of
a servant leadership attitude on patients and other potential members
of the health care team.
Virginia H. Joslin, PA-C, MPH
HARDING.EDU
Harding is setting up an endowment fund that could help students Vets in the future. Contact Mike Williams mwilliams@Harding.edu
in our Advancement office to make a contribution.
If you know of a PA school with a specific scholarship program to honor
our veterans and help them as they complete their PA education, please
let us know so we can let others know-thank you, bill@paworld.net
or Karen KEFields@paworld.net
Jobs: A doctor's right hand Web Posted: 06/30/2007 10:07 PM CDT Aïssatou Sidimé
The 4-year-old patient was covered in an itchy rash that resembled ringworm when her mother took her to see physician assistant Melissa E. Garcia. She also was plagued with allergies. Garcia listened as the mother described how her daughter nearly stopped breathing when bitten by fire ants or stung by bees and how her pediatrician's treatments had failed to make a difference. The physician assistant tested the girl for allergies but also immediately prescribed a medicated cream. Days later, the preschooler returned rash-free and eager to be a doctor. The scenario reveals two common aspects of the job: Patients are often unclear about how physician assistants differ from doctors. But they often appreciate the treatment they get, physician assistants say. PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT
It is partly because physician assistants approach the job in the same ways as doctors. "You need to listen to the patient and be open," said Garcia, who spends a lot of time collecting medical history before diagnosing. "People are sometimes appalled at how much personal history I take. But I'm very thorough." More than 30,000 people work as physician assistants, or PAs as they are called, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Under doctor supervision, they take medical histories, examine patients, order and interpret lab tests, make diagnoses, update patient histories, prescribe medication, oversee therapy, and apply sutures, splints and casts. A doctor must review at least 10 percent of each physician assistant's cases. Many physician assistants work in multiple locations. About 15 percent of PAs worked in more than one clinic in 2004, according to the American Academy of Physician Assistants. The number of PAs is expected to increase at least 2.7 percent each year through 2014, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The profession is growing much faster than most due to the push to restrain medical costs. For instance, Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Associates of South Texas pays Garcia about 70 percent of what its doctors earn, said Dr. Joseph Diaz, who trained Garcia and supervises her work. Doctors also want PAs to fill staffing shortages. "There's a shortage of trained allergists," said Diaz, who is looking to hire another PA to pick up work as his office expands into the South Side. "PAs, with appropriate training, are able to be an extension of the physician." The profession arose to give former military medics in the Vietnam War a way to use their broad medical skills in the civilian world. For instance, when Michael Champion joined the U.S. Army in the 1970s, he planned to be a nurse anesthetist until two PAs snagged him and described the job. Today, physician assistant posts attract employees who want the prestige and responsibility afforded doctors, said Champion, a PA for 27 years and president of the Bexar County Physician Assistant Society. "A lot of times the patients mistake you for a physician," he said. On the other hand, sometimes patients refuse to use a PA for fear they will get inferior treatment. In those situations, Diaz said, the supervising doctor can change the patients' minds usually by explaining the training and qualifications for PAs. Physician assistants train alongside medical students in all areas of medicine. They just spend less time in each field. For Garcia, it was ideal. She had studied nursing until she realized during clinical rotations that she wanted a profession that allowed her to offer more input into patients' treatments. But she wanted to switch careers with limited additional study. Garcia shadowed a PA at a hospital in Grapevine before making the change. She was sold on the new profession, she said, after learning that physician assistants are expected to be generalists — unlike doctors. "At that time, I was interested in so many things — pediatrics, dermatology,
allergy — that I wanted something that would not force me to specialize,"
said the 36-year-old who studied at the University of Texas Southwestern
Medical Center in Dallas.
source: http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/stories/MYSA070107.1G.PhysicianAssistant.2598dfc.html
Hospital's CEO gives glowing report MARIE ZETTLER
The Pembroke Regional Hospital's (PRH) new CEO, Pierre Noel, reported on his first eight months on the job at the board's annual general meeting Monday. "In terms of health care, the growth our community has seen in the past
decade is tremendous," said Mr. Noel. "I believe this type of growth will
be just as significant in the years to come."
Other initiatives include a new geriatric program and the upgrading of the hospital's obstetrics wing with the addition of birthing suites to replace traditional labour and delivery rooms. Dr. Michael Ferri, chief of staff of the PRH, said that, while 2005 was a year of maintaining the status quo, 2006 was a year of surging ahead in the area of recruiting specialists. "However, we still need more physicians, particularly for the emergency
department and department of anaesthesia," he said.
At age 62, Mike Urakawa's life takes new turn By JANE GARGAS YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC SARA GETTYS/Yakima Herald-Republic
Physician's assistant Mike Urakawa does a follow up with a patient at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital. Clearly, one challenge is not enough. Nor two. No, for Mike Urakawa, who is 62, juggling a number of demanding situations is de rigueur. "He's got to be going 100 miles an hour with his hair on fire to be happy," suggests Mike's wife, Charlotte. At one time, when Urakawa was attending Yakima Valley Community College, he worked five part-time jobs. Earlier, he left a stable job in the Seattle area to venture to Yakima to see what life would bring. And now he's doing it again -- changing careers in his early 60s, going from a foundation in business to medicine. Urakawa graduated last September from MEDEX Northwest, the University of Washington School of Medicine's Physician Assistant Program. In October, he began working at Yakima Gastroenterology Associates, a practice specializing in digestive and liver problems. Urakawa enrolled in the physician assistant's program, at its Yakima site on River Road, 21/2 years ago. The first year is classroom work and the second is clinical. The program is especially beneficial, Urakawa says, in helping address the shortage of physicians in rural areas. For his part, Urakawa intends to be part of the solution for a good long time, about another 15 years. "I've thought about retiring, but how much can I travel and fish?" he mulls. Linda Dale, director of the Yakima MEDEX site, views Urakawa as an inspiration to other students, a solid mentor and a problem solver. "He follows through, is definitely a hard worker and relates well to people of all ages," Dale says. "He was really brave to go back to school as an older student," she adds. Brave or "foolish," grins Urakawa. Sixteen years ago, he was living in Kent, running a firm that subcontracted aerospace manufacturing parts and putting his three children through college. But there was something about the hustle-bustle pace Urakawa found confining. "My wife and I decided to leave it behind and see how life would play out over here," he explains. "It was one of my crazier decisions." So they moved to Chinook Pass outside Naches. Charlotte began working in a dental office, and he volunteered for the fire department and did injury prevention programs for the Yakima County Department of Emergency Medical Services. Early on, he appeared on an accident scene as a volunteer firefighter and found five injured people. Because he hadn't had emergency-medical training, he felt helpless. That propelled him to become an
Teacher Sandy Jetton worked closely with Urakawa on traffic-safety issues in a Naches High School leadership class. "He's one of the most intelligent and organized people I know," says Jetton. One of Urakawa's hallmarks, Jetton notes, is his sense of community. When the Nile area flooded in the mid-'90s, Urakawa was the person who organized all of the stranded people, Jetton recalls. With his children through school, Urakawa realized the time had come to focus on his own career. That's when he enrolled at YVCC to finish prerequisites for the physician assistant program. Biology, chemistry, anatomy classes -- daunting, but he did it. Meanwhile, he continued his part-time jobs: EMT, volunteer firefighter, youth suicide prevention teacher and CPR and first-aid teacher. "I had a goal, and I didn't really think about the risks," he recalls. "But I did have some long conversations with my wife, asking, 'What am I doing this for?'" Her answer: "I told him, 'You've got more guts than sense,'" laughs Charlotte. Four years later, he was elated -- he had completed his YVCC courses and was ready to apply to physician assistant school. Then, thud. He wasn't accepted.
Urakawa figured his dream had been derailed. But Dale, the MEDEX director here, encouraged him to apply again the following year, and this time he was accepted. Two years after he matriculated as the oldest person in the class (he was 60, while the average age of his classmates was 31), he graduated, with Charlotte, his three children and seven grandchildren there cheering. Then it was his turn to take a vacation, something he'd postponed for many years as he worked, went to school and took out educational loans. He'd always wanted to visit his birthplace, even though he harbored ambivalent feelings about it. Urakawa was born in the Minidoka Relocation Camp, an internment center near Hunt, Idaho, which housed Japanese-American families during World War II. Although he was only 10 months old when his family was released, he's wondered what life was like there, especially for his parents, now both deceased. He knows his mother was given a straw mat to lie on, a concession to her pregnancy, while everyone else slept on the bare floor. He knows the only obstetric care for his mother was a midwife, a kitchen table and a knife. He also knows the camp was cold, windy, dusty and discouraging. His mother had been born in the United States; his father, from Japan,
was a pre-
Last summer, he and Charlotte drove to Idaho to see what was left of his first home. "His family felt so betrayed by this country," says Charlotte. "They considered themselves loyal U.S. citizens." Urakawa concurs. "It was bittersweet going there, knowing that's where I started life." But he's used to starting life again, focusing on new challenges. Now that he's completed seven months working as a physician assistant, he's enthusiastic about his duties and says he learns something new every day. Still, when asked if he'd do it all over, Urakawa says he's not sure. But Charlotte is. "Oh, yes, you would," she emphasizes. He reflects a moment and agrees. "Every time you see a patient and help someone, it's worthwhile," he says. source:http://yakimaherald.com/page/dis/130179951469920
PAs share battlefield experiences - More than 60 medical personnel exchange ideas at conference By Maj. John Heil, Task Force 3 Public Affairs Officer Apr 13, 2007 - 8:43:44 AM Blackanthem Military News, CAMP VICTORY, Iraq - More than 60 physician assistants and medical personnel from all over Iraq gathered at Al Faw Palace April 5-7 to share notes on the challenges of battlefield medicine. The Multi-National Corps-Iraq Physician Assistants Conference, “Healthcare in a Deployed Environment,” welcomed not only PAs but other medical personnel. The conference was a three-day think tank and educational series designed to let them hear the most current information on a range of issues. Topics discussed during the conference were routine medical care issues, including hypertension and diabetes, and medical topics unique to the battlefield such as traumatic brain injury, extremity trauma and rapid sequence induction. “Bringing us together allowed us to learn about treatment procedures, emergency medical gear and new innovations that other physician assistants have developed,” said Col. William Tozier, Task Force 3 Medical Command senior physician assistant. “The scope and severity of many of the injuries we see in theater on a daily basis are unlike those experienced at trauma centers (in the U.S.) — even very busy ones,” said Lt. Col. William Magdycz, M.D., Task Force 3 surgical consultant. “Our providers have developed a very unique expertise. Sharing their experience with other providers helps to generalize that knowledge in theater. This can only improve the timing and quality of care for our service members,” he said. Once assigned in theater, many PAs find themselves in remote areas and without consistent communication due to limited phone and network access, Tozier said. “This meeting allowed them to talk about topics that currently impact their practice,” Tozier said. “I expect that many will change the way they practice medicine as a result of this conference. That is what is important — not the review of old medical information, but the creation of new information and practices as a result of what they learned here.” This is only the second resident continuing medical education conference for PAs ever held in a combat zone. The first was held in December 2003 in Qatar. Magdycz said he could tell that the attendees were eager to increase their specialized knowledge of the evaluation and management of wartime illnesses and injuries. He was impressed by the number of attendees. “It takes both forward thinking and unusal commitment from commanders to release so many of their providers all at once for several days,” Magdycz said. “Remember that traveling in Iraq is not without risk.”
The following message was sent-out today from the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners regarding those individuals selected to serve as members and alternates for the NRCME Education and Certification Working Integrated Project Teams. Note there are two providers each on the member and alternate teams from the five healthcare provider types who perform DOT exams (MD, DO, DC, PA, NP). I am pleased to announce that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
has selected the following members and alternates for the National Registry
of Certified Medical Examiners (NRCME) Education and Certification WIPTs.
Education WIPT Members:
Alternates:
Certification WIPT Members:
Alternates:
There were many excellent candidates. The following criteria
were used for screening and selection:
I want to thank you all for your willingness to participate in the development of the NRCME program. Your application information will be kept on file for future participation opportunities. Thank you again for your interest in this program to improve highway safety. Sincerely, Glenna Tinney
January issue of Emergency Medicine News, in a letter to the editor from Alexander Kuehl, MD, MPH, who was formerly vice president and medical director of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation: "...The other issue to note is that patients 'come to see an emergency physician.' That may or may not be true, but in New York a very large minority of ED patients are seen by PAs or nurse practitioners, often with no contemporaneous physician oversight prior to patient discharge. A smaller number of EDs use PAs exclusively with no physician on site. Frankly, and perhaps inexplicably, no disadvantages have ever been demonstrated on malpractice exposure and patient satisfaction. While I sense that something is gained by years of medical school, residency, and fellowship training, obviously the cost of the ED encounter using a mid-level practitioner is much less, with the outcomes apparently indistinguishable." 04 JAN 2006 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine To the Editor: Cooke et al. succinctly summarize the challenges involved in training physicians. However, they do not discuss the elephant in the room. Physician assistants have a 2-year postbachelor education program, as compared with a 7-year postbachelor program for internists, pediatricians, and family practice specialists. Physician assistants receive much of their training "on the job," having moved on with their lives and minimized their educational debt. In many practice settings, physician assistants and their nursing counterparts, nurse practitioners, function highly autonomously. Two years or 7 years — what can allopathic and osteopathic medical education learn from this? L. Allen Kindman, M.D.
The authors reply: Huwendiek et al. and Schwartz point out that medical teachers lack resources in both the United States and Europe; we could not agree more. Like Huwendiek et al., American medical educators have commented on the denigration of clinician-teachers1 and uneven professional development for the teaching role.2 We concur entirely with Schwartz that teaching, the original mission of medical schools, lacks a reliable funding stream because of the diversion of revenue intended for education to other missions. Kindman notes that physician assistants receive a dramatically shorter education than physicians, even those in generalist disciplines. The length of physician training, the associated debt burden, and perhaps the undesirable shifts in career choices have led to proposals for shortened training in both internal medicine3 and general surgery.4 Although physician assistants provide excellent care, they function as a member of a physician assistant–physician team5 and thus have a role that is quite distinct from that of the physician. We concur with Kindman's implied question: Might medical training be made substantially more efficient? One of the sources of inefficiency in medical training has been the compartmentalization of medical education into discrete stages with abrupt and often difficult transitions from one stage to the next. This curricular segmentation has been reinforced by the multiplicity of regulatory organizations, each with its own jurisdiction. Until recently, the regulatory organizations described ideal educational experiences in terms of process measures — primarily, how long the learner spent in one setting or another, rather than the outcomes for the learner. Fortunately, that is beginning to change. We have no doubt that Abraham Flexner would endorse the vision of our correspondents: a thoughtful educational program, overseen by regulatory organizations working cooperatively to provide coherent oversight across the curriculum, in which the experiences of the students and residents would be of high educational value. The linchpin in the system is a cadre of faculty with the motivation and skill to teach well and the salary support to do so. Molly Cooke, M.D.
Kenneth Ludmerer, M.D.
Levinson W, Rubenstein A. Integrating clinician-educators into academic
medical centers: challenges and potential solutions. Acad Med 2000;75:906-912.
[ISI][Medline]
ABCnews Person of the Week: Earl Morse email Earl Morse: honorflight@aol.com http://www.honorflight.org/ Nov. 10, 2006 — The nation may honor its veterans on Nov. 11, but one man honors them all year round by flying World War II veterans to the new National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., free of charge. "This is without question the most noble, most honorable thing that I've ever done with my life," Earl Morse said. Morse, a physician assistant with the Department of Veterans Affairs in Springfield, Ohio, came up with the idea while talking to a patient. When Morse asked a veteran if he would want to take the trip, he wasn't prepared for the response he received. "I was ready for him to say 'yeah' or 'no' or 'let me check with my wife,'" Morse said. "I wasn't ready for him to start crying. And that's when I felt we were on to something." So he started the group Honor Flight two years ago by flying 12 veterans to Washington on a private plane. Soon he was getting hundreds of applications. His group expanded and now flies commercial with trips funded through donations. "When … you are escorting them through the airport and you see all these
people standing up and clapping for them, it still makes the hair stand
up on the back of my neck and on my arms because I know how much it means
to them to be recognized," Morse said.
Visit Brings 'Bounce' to Their Step
Morse grew up in an Air Force family and developed a deep appreciation for the sacrifice veterans make. His father served for more than two decades, including a tour in Vietnam. Morse became an Air Force captain and served for 20 years, and now his son is enlisted. He said there is a noticeable transformation in veterans' spirits while at the memorial. "As the day goes by … there's more of a bounce in their step," Morse said. "It is an experience I will long remember," World War II veteran Al Dunn said When the trip ended 16 hours later, the daughter of one of the veterans said, "Thank you so much for letting him have this opportunity." Morse said that anyone can join in the effort to honor World War II veterans. "Anybody out there can stop a 70- or 80-year-old in the supermarket and ask them, 'Are you a WWII veteran?' And if they say 'yeah' just thank them for what they've done, for the blessings and the liberty that we enjoy," he said. "They'll remember that for the rest of their lives. "In another five to 10 years they'll be gone, these opportunities are fading rapidly," he said. "This is their last hurrah." How Can You Help? Send check or money order to: Honor Flight, PO Box 214, Enon, OH 45323. All contributions are tax deductible (501c3) and you will receive a return receipt soruce: http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/PersonOfWeek/story?id=2645534&page=1
Karen Fields PA-C Builds Model Medical Mentoring Program for Appleton Wisconsin HS: http://medicalmentors.net/ http://kefields-pa.com/ Physician Colleague Dave Eggert, M.D. & Karen Fields M.S.P.A.S. PA-C The History of Medical Mentoring Most young adults do not experience their chosen profession until their latter college years or even until they are on the job as college graduates. Very few students have the opportunity to gain firsthand experience and insight into their chosen profession, a valuable experience for youths deciding on future careers. The founders of Medical Mentors saw the value in exposing high schoolers to various occupations early in life, helping to inspire them to continue in their chosen field or even determine that it might not be the right profession for them. The idea for this program came about through an idea based on unique experience that Karen Fields, PA-C had during high school though a program called WINTERIM. Winterim was offered during the month of January, allowing students to take classes not offered during Fall and Spring semesters. Juniors and Seniors had the opportunity to do three-week Internships with a professional of their choice. Karen participated in the Internship program both her Junior and Senior years, doing her internships with a local Orthopedic Surgeon, Marc Asselmeier, M.D., of Naperville, IL. After college, she went on to obtain her Master's degree as a Physician Assistant and took a position in Orthopedic Surgery. She has been practicing in the specialty since. Karen attributes her love of Medicine and Orthopedics to her early exposure to the field and to a great physician mentor in Marc Asselmeier. In 2005, Karen joined Orthopedic Clinic of Appleton to practice with Dave Eggert, M.D. Having had his own children shadow him throughout their college years, Dave was excited about the idea to expand the same opportunity to other students. In January 2006, he and Karen met with Appleton East High School Prinicpal Ben Vogel and soon the partnership was forged. In July of 2006, Medical Mentors accepted its first 13 students into the program. These students were paired with mentors in the profession of their choice and spent 12-40 hours job shadowing. The students gave great reviews of the program and for most, it confirmed their desire to go into a medical profession. Currently, the program is being offered in the summer as to not take students away from their courses during the semester. In future years, we hope to expand the program to students of other Fox Valley private and public schools as well as expand the career opportunities to other professions such as Law, Civil Service, and Business. For more information please contact:
Physician Assistants in Orthopaedic Practice in Canada Within the constraints of the Canadian medical system, it is not possible to adequately supplement the supply of orthopaedic surgeons not only to meet increasing demand but also to reduce waiting times. As a result, it is critical that orthopaedic surgeons make more efficient use of their existing resources. In the fall of 2005, research was undertaken to examine the potential for orthopaedic surgeon extenders to assist orthopaedic surgeons in their activities both inside and outside the OR. By freeing up the orthopaedic surgeon to concentrate on operating, it is believed that greater patient operating throughput and reduced waiting times would be achieved. Complete
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