What could PAs become if they answer the call to leadership?

May 01, 2012

The author explores leadership as epitomized by individual PAs, arguing that their stories will help others to realize their aptitudes for leadership, demystify the path to making lasting change, and invigorate PAs to lead the profession forward.
 

A parent's death: Helping a 
child after devastating trauma

, Lloyd "Chip" Taylor, PhD December 06, 2011

PAs are ideally situated to intervene in situations of parental loss. We can do much to help these children, such as providing practical strategies that help create environments that support healing and normal development.
 

AAPA's new president: Learn more about a man on a mission

September 06, 2011

Robert Wooten believes that PAs can provide the leadership needed to solve our health care challenges—leadership that he says begins the moment you volunteer and get involved.
 

Tales of the unexpected—and 
the lessons therein for us all

August 02, 2011

As a PA, you know how to make a team successful, and you have a deep understanding of why teams sometimes fail.
 

A new era—for JAAPA, the health care system, and the PA profession

July 01, 2011

JAAPA's new editor in chief offers his vision for the Journal and the profession.
 

FINAL JEOPARDY! Category: Physician Assistants

June 06, 2011

JAAPA's editor in chief for the past 8 years writes her last editorial, and looks forward to retirement.
 

There's no place like the patient-centered medical home

April 05, 2011

Trying to ensure that one receives care at home can be an especially precarious adventure as one gets older and faces a myriad of very difficult questions.
 

The art of physical assessment: Crossing personal space

February 03, 2011

The author argues that when examining our patients, we need to understand the concepts of space and distance, the boundaries in between, and how to cross them.
 

Practice random acts of PA 
kindness—it's easy and it's free!

December 03, 2010

What is it about who PAs are and what they do that can be translated into small, simple gestures of kindness? See the author's list, and add your own.
 

The tragedy of falling, and how PAs can make a difference

October 08, 2010

PAs are perfectly positioned to help to prevent falls, especially in the elderly, just by evaluating patients for risk factors and educating them about avoidable hazards.
 

Lessons learned: Writing editorials in the age of the Internet

May 05, 2010

After reading the online comments on one of her editorials, the author wonders: What has happened to our ability to converse with each other respectfully on topics about which we disagree?
 

Charlotte's Web: Lessons learned from a pig and a spider

April 07, 2010

Skilled communication is especially critical during conversations with children and their families about life-threatening and terminal conditions. How can E.B. White's classic children tale make you a better communicator?
 

Yes, I'm his daughter—and I'm also a physician assistant

March 04, 2010

The author explores what happens as the roles of medical professional and daughter coincide when her elderly father is hospitalized with pneumonia.
 

It's time for an international congress of physician assistants

December 17, 2009

Such a congress could foster the role of physician assistants, explore innovations in the education of PAs, and much else besides.
 

Ready! Fire! Aim! Firearm safety is every physician assistant's job

December 03, 2009

Many of our patients own guns. It's part of our job as physician assistants to teach them how to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.
 

The challenging economics of US health care reform

Michael Halasy, MS, PA-C November 05, 2009

The current health care reform bills focus on expanding coverage without adequately addressing out-of-control health care costs.
 

"This must be true—I read about it on the Internet"

October 08, 2009

When patients search for health information on the Web, is what they find reliable? Do they understand what they read? Do they even tell you what they found?
 

Do physician assistants provide a "social good" for America?

September 15, 2009

Has the PA profession delivered on its promise to increase access to health care? This editorial's argument: The evidence shows that it has.
 

How population-based practices can improve patient outcomes

Richard D. Muma, PhD, MPH, PA-C September 10, 2009

When planning a patient's care, physician assistants should consider all the available options--treatment, cure, rehabilitation, and prevention.
 

A niche for PAs to effect change in our health care system

Kevin M. Schuer, PA-C, MPH August 18, 2009

A fellowship with the NCPS showed this PA how he and other PAs can effect positive change in our health care system.
 

Making connections: Good for PAs, and for patients

August 10, 2009

PAs can help patients recognize the importance of their relationships by evaluating their own connections.
 

Physician assistants are an asset to health workforce policy reform

July 14, 2009

Reforming the health care system will require addressing health workforce issues such as the impending physician shortage and a greater role for PAs.
 

Evidence-based medicine: The pearls in the medical literature

Alison C. Essary, MHPE, PA-C; Anthony E. Brenneman, MPAS, PA-C July 06, 2009

Evidence-based medicine provides PAs with quick, time-efficient access to the medical literature and a vital tool for answering patient-oriented questions.
 

Promoting oral health care: More than just lip service

June 04, 2009

A tragedy involving a 12-year-old boy illustrates the importance of oral health care. Are you and your patients getting regular dental checkups?
 

Assessing the value of physician assistant postgraduate education

May 21, 2009

Although strong arguments for and against additional formal education for PAs are made, little evidence is available to support either side.
 

Welcome to the new AAPA: A time for transformation

May 07, 2009

AAPA is committed to providing leadership that ensures professional growth and personal excellence for PAs—and also recognizes that successful transformation of the health care system requires expanded, robust utilization of PAs.
 

Finding the place where both truth and hope reside

April 14, 2009

At each point along the path of providing medical care, PAs have an opportunity to recognize and respond to our patient's perceptions, reactions, and concerns and to adjust our care accordingly.
 

PAs and the practice of genetic medicine

Joseph D. McInerney, MA, MS and W. Andrew Faucett, MS, CGC March 17, 2009

Concerted, visionary efforts by the PA profession's formal leadership and its rank-and-file members have placed physician assistants in a position of prominence with respect to the integration of genetics into education and practice.
 

Reducing health disparities: Every PA's obligation

March 10, 2009

Racial and ethnic inequalities exist consistently across medicine, according to health care authorities such as the Institute of Medicine (IOM), the CDC, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Kaiser Family Foundation. African-Americans and Latinos with diabetes are more likely to be hospitalized for uncontrolled diabetes than are whites of European descent.
 

To risk prescribing this drug, or not to risk: That is the question

March 05, 2009

Today's PA must be able to analyze population data from research and make an application to the individual. When PAs see life only from the individual's perspective, we forfeit on our promise to deliver evidence-based care.
 

Doctoral degrees for PAs: What happens next?

February 19, 2009

The prospect of doctoral degrees for PAs is a controversial issue that invokes strong responses and passionate views. Most PAs are at best ambivalent and at worst downright contemptuous of the notion of doctoral degrees, particularly for entry-level PA education.
 

Physician assistant competencies move to front and center

Education Council, American Academy of Physician Assistants February 11, 2009

This year in JAAPA, you will notice a change in the way the competencies for the physician assistant profession are addressed.
 

Sex in the golden years: If you don't ask, they won't tell

February 01, 2009

Older people have something to tell, but are we asking them—and giving them sufficient time and attention to answer?
 

Do the physician assistants in your hospital have a voice?

Patrick E. Killeen, MS, PA-C January 01, 2009

"Critics may say that without a vote on the medical executive committee, we had no impact on the hospital's decisions. Nevertheless, we had a seat at the executive leadership table and an opportunity to voice our opinions."
 

What is a physician assistant? Looking for the right answer

December 01, 2008

How can we expect the public to know what a PA is when the profession is having trouble determining who we are?
 

Pale sunlight through a dusty lens: Physician assistant research

November 01, 2008

Why so few scholars of the PA profession? What has the PA profession achieved, and where is the evidence demonstrating that PAs are what they think they are?
 

Do dogs like bones? A time for physician assistant action

Bill Leinweber October 01, 2008

Health care futurist Joe Flower posed this question about our canine friends' affinity for bones at the AAPA's Leadership Summit this past summer. As nearly everyone in the audience nodded Yes in response to the question, Flower abruptly reminded us that in fact, dogs like steak but are willing to settle for the bones.
 

Caring for military veterans—in more ways than one

Sarah Zarbock, PA-C September 01, 2008

On April 30, 1975, ten Marines, the last Americans from the US embassy, departed Saigon, ending the United States presence in Vietnam. The final death toll from this war was approximately 58,000 soldiers; another 304,000 were wounded.1 Etched into the memories of most Americans old enough to remember the 1960s is the poor treatment given to returning Vietnam veterans by an unappreciative nation.
 

Potions, powders, and patients: An Rx for healing

Brian T. Maurer, PA-C August 01, 2008

Osler's words reverberated inside my head: "The practice of medicine is an art, not a trade: a calling, not a business, a calling in which your heart will be exercised equally with your head. Often the best part of your work will have nothing to do with potions and powders...."
 

Risk versus choice: What teens need to know about alcoholism

July 01, 2008

According to the federal government, research has shown that adolescents who use alcohol before age 15 years are five times more likely to become alcohol dependent than are adults who begin drinking at age 21.
 

Connecting health insurance to quality of medical care

June 01, 2008

My husband entered my home office looking somewhat stunned. What he said took me completely by surprise. "I've been rejected by two companies for health coverage."
 

Giving bad news to patients: How to do it better

April 01, 2008

"I'm afraid the news is not good. The report is back and it's not what we had hoped for."
 

The big question: "Why doesn't she just leave him?"

January 01, 2008

The statistics about domestic violence are chilling. Thirty percent of women killed in the United States are killed by their husbands or boyfriends and 20% to 30% of American women will be physically abused by a partner at least once in their lifetime.
 

Achieving mastery through the competencies

December 01, 2007

In 2005, the governing bodies of AAPA, ARC-PA, NCCPA, and PAEA jointly endorsed the "Competencies for the Physician Assistant Profession." The organizations collaborated to define the competencies that should be demonstrated by PAs in the domains of medical knowledge.
 

A 20-year perspective on PAs and publishing

P. Eugene Jones, PhD, PA-C November 01, 2007

If the quality and content of PA-related publications serve as proxy measures of our success as a profession, how have we fared over the 20- year span of JAAPA?
 

You have the power to prevent a parent's worst nightmare

October 01, 2007

Educating patients is one of the most crucial roles we play as clinicians, whether we're talking about the value of diet and exercise, the importance of vaccinations, or the adverse effects of medications. I recently became acutely aware of a very important topic we need to discuss with our patients, especially adolescents—the dangers and potentially lethal consequences of bad driving behavior.
 

PAs at the crossroads: Where will the profession go next?

September 01, 2007

The profession is well-positioned to address critical issues of the accessibility, affordability, quality, and safety of health care. The only question is whether enough PAs will be produced over the coming decade to have a substantial impact on these problem
 

The emerging role of PAs in the hospitalist movement

August 01, 2007

The exponential growth of hospitalist programs across the country has increased the demand for hospital- based clinicians. Many hospitals are looking to PAs to help fill the gap.
 

On the OxyContin scandal: Don't abandon patients in pain

July 01, 2007

Purdue Pharma recently announced a resolution to a 4-year investigation involving the promotion of OxyContin tablets.
 

Building relationships—one patient at a time

June 01, 2007

It seems that time has become a commodity in our system: patients purchase time in 10- to 15-minute blocks, and health care providers try to spend that time as efficiently and compassionately as possible. In such a system, are any of us getting our money's worth?
 

Embracing the new world of personalized medicine

May 01, 2007

We are entering a time when the dream of personalized medicine will become a reality. Instead of treating patients in a one-size-fits-all fashion, clinicians will use information technology and medical genetics to provide a focused, individualized approach to health care.
 

PAs in psychiatry: Improving care for the underserved

April 01, 2007

With an increasing number of patients requiring mental health services and a growing shortage of mental health providers, PAs can play a key role in expanding access to mental health care for underserved areas.
 

An invitation to do the write thing

March 01, 2007

Why write? Can you do it? Organization is all!
 

A journal grows up

February 01, 2007

2007 marks the 20th anniversary of JAAPA. Back in 1987, when I arrived to begin work on launching the Journal, there were fewer than 20 people on the Academy staff.
 

Clinical Watch: New and improved from CSAC

January 01, 2007

In my more than 20 years as a PA, I've never practiced a day of primary care, opting instead to concentrate on cardiothoracic surgery and cardiac electrophysiology. For me, limiting my focus has been far easier than trying to remember everything about everything.
 

Impending health workforce shortages and implications for PAs

December 01, 2006

Researchers who study trends in the US health care workforce have recently arrived at a consensus that a severe shortage of health care providers is likely in the near future. While most of the research supporting this conclusion focuses on the effects this shortage will have on physicians, the implications for physician assistants are similar.
 

The costs of war and cookie dough

November 01, 2006

This editorial is not just a diatribe about the Iraq war. It is also about how much that war is costing when so many people in this country—adults and children—cannot afford decent health care
 

What's the difference between PAs and NPs?

Tammy Ream, PA-C, MPAS; Nancy Hughes October 01, 2006

Any PA student or practicing PA has undoubtedly been asked the question, "What is the difference between a PA and a nurse practitioner (NP)?"
 

Politics and the PA: Caring for patients and your profession

Joe Touschner October 01, 2006

Few PAs choose their profession solely for the paycheck. PAs want to help.
 

The new HPV vaccine— Be sure you know the facts

September 01, 2006

In June of this year, the FDA approved the quadrivalent human papillomavirus (types 6, 11, 16, 18) recombinant vaccine (Gardasil). The important fact about this vaccine is that it is intended to prevent diseases caused by HPV types 6, 11, 16, and 18—including cervical cancer, condyloma acuminata, and precancerous lesions associated with cervical adenocarcinoma in situ.
 

Perspectives on the physician assistant specialty credentialing debate

Stephen C. Crane, PhD, MPH and David Carpenter, PA-C, MPAS August 01, 2006

"Mountains Beyond Mountains" versus Education, not certification
 

The white coat: Reflections from a second-year PA student

Anthony M. Pellegrino July 01, 2006

The white coat ceremony was conceived in part as a vehicle to help "establish a psychological contract for the practice of medicine" that emphasized compassionate care and proficiency. When the white coat is presented to an entering class, it is a "gift of faith, confidence, and compassion."
 

I (still) want to be a PA!

June 01, 2006

There was an interesting confluence of news items in the March 30th issue of AAPA News. Perhaps you noticed it too. One headline announced the passing of Malcolm Beinfield, MD, and another highlighted the opening of the Eugene A. Stead, Jr. Center for Physician Assistants in Durham, NC. These two events—one sad, one celebratory—seem very much connected in my mind, even though Dr. Beinfield's contribution to the PA profession began 30 years ago and the opening of the Stead Center was in February of this year. But first, a bit of PA history.
 

The shortage of physicians and the implications for PAs

May 01, 2006

On January 30, 2006, the American College of Physicians (ACP) released a highly publicized report that predicted "the impending collapse of primary care."1 With many primary care physicians heading toward retirement and fewer young physicians choosing to go into primary care, our nation may well face an impending shortage of primary care physicians. While the ACP has proposed several reforms to help avert the impending crisis, it did not address the role of physician assistants and other nonphysician clinicians (NPCs) in their recent report.
 

Why patient safety matters

Lisa Mustone Alexander, EdD, MPH, PA-C April 01, 2006

The ascension of the quality care movement into the national spotlight can be attributed to the publication of two Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports. Both reports helped to catalyze a widespread dialogue among health professionals.
 

Growing old gratefully: Help from the past, hope for the future

March 01, 2006

If you were born between 1946 and 1958, reading this editorial may be like looking into a mirror. If you were born between 1959 and 1964, you may not see yourself reflected yet—but you will get a hint of where you might be headed. Either way, you're one of approximately 76 million baby boomers born between the years 1946 and 1964, those who are currently 41 to 59 years old. I'm one of them.
 

Eliminating health disparities—An opportunity, and an obligation

Richard C. Rohrs, PA-C February 01, 2006

Health disparities have had a tragic impact in our country, a situation that is unacceptable in America in the 21st century.
 

The great divide: More thoughts on an old problem

January 01, 2006

It may seem that the biggest take-away message from 2005 was our nation's ill-preparedness to respond to disaster, but another important story—laid bare by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath—is the growing problem of poverty in this country and the inequality it breeds.
 

Sexual assault—Myths and facts

December 01, 2005

I was both sad and angry when I heard recent statistics about the incidence of a specific crime in this country. According to FBI data, murders in 2004 decreased for the first time in 5 years, and the number of violent crimes, including aggravated assaults and robberies, fell by 1.2%. Property crimes also dropped in 2004, by 1.1%. However, the number of rapes has increased for 3 of the past 4 years—in all, by 0.8%.
 

Providing a forum for PA authors practicing in surgery

November 01, 2005

When I heard the news that JAAPA is now considering manuscripts on surgical topics, it gave me pause. I thought, why is this such big news?
 

National PA Week: More than just a week

October 01, 2005

The first reason we have Physician Assistant Week is that it allows us to educate the public about our profession. We do this with newspaper articles; displays at medical facilities, community health fairs, and other events; radio interviews; and, occasionally, television interviews. PAs are our own best public education tool. When someone reads about us in the local newspaper, hears us on the radio or TV, or talks to us at community events, this generates more positive publicity for PAs than any national media campaign ever could.
 

Hyperpharmacotherapy in someone you love

Sarah Zarbock, PA-C September 01, 2005

The four of us sat in the "Wellness Clinic"—an ironic name because the elderly woman to be evaluated was far from being well.
 

Physician assistant supply and demand

August 01, 2005

Will we need more physician assistants in the health care workforce of the future? Once again, perceptions have shifted as past predictions have proven to be wrong.
 

Lessons learned

June 01, 2005

Inspiration comes from many places, some of which are quite unexpected.
 

The right DNA

May 01, 2005

Despite the many changes in health care over the years, the demand for PAs remains strong. The proportion of PAs choosing to practice in nonprimary care specialties continues to increase.
 

Health care illiteracy: Your chance to make a difference

Bill Kohlhepp, MHA, PA-C; Julie A. Theriault, PA-C May 01, 2005

Health literacy is central to the PA profession's approach to issues faced by our patients.
 

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