This is a commonly asked question. I get this question about once a week from my blog or in-person when I give campus tours. It is a very difficult question to answer. Mainly because it's difficult to answer without making one PA program shine and all of the others look inferior. There are plenty of wonderful PA programs available, so I won’t spend any time criticizing them. Instead, I will say a few things about the program I did choose. These are in no particular order.
Excellent rotation sites: When I was looking into UTSW, they were building 2 new major hospitals within walking distance of the university (William P. Clements and Parkland Memorial Hospital). Those hospitals are now complete and are some of the largest in the southwest region, they offer state of the art facilities, and will include many new rotation sites for our program allowing it to grow in size. In addition, our program phases out bad rotations if they find any not up to high standards (which does occasionally happen) and they find new rotations for students if that does happen.
You may be an international medical graduate (IMG), a caribbean medical student, or a student from a foreign country (outside the United States) wanting to attend physician assistant (PA) school. While it may seem daunting at first, do not be frightened by the lengthy application process or by the worrisome anecdotal stories you may read about online.
You will need to prepare your materials before throwing an application together. Many international students and international medical graduates see medical school residency matching as a barrier to becoming a licensed provider in the United States, which is why they choose to become physician assistants.
Because of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) publication, NCCPA will adapt its content blueprints, disease and disorder lists, and psychiatry-related terminology within test questions to conform to DSM-5 classifications and diagnostic criteria for all of our examinationsbeginning in 2015, according to the following timeline:
PANCE and PANRE administered in 2015:
In these examinations, psychiatry-related terminology within test questions will include the DSM-5 terminology followed by the DSM-IV-TR terminology in parentheses. Example: illness anxiety disorder (hypochondriasis)
PANCE and PANRE administered in 2016 and beyond:
In these examinations, only the DSM-5 terminology will be provided when appropriate. Example: illness anxiety disorder
Please also review the 2015 Content Blueprint Organ Areas and make sure you are studying with emphasis on those areas with most content. Remember, psychiatry is 6% of the PANCE!
Esophageal adenocarcinoma is the fastest growing cancer in the United States. In total, it affects about 1.5 million people per year worldwide and 38,000 in the US alone. There has been a 6-fold increase in the last 3 decades, accounting for 60% of esophageal cancers. This is one puppy you don’t want to mess with; don’t even get me started on colorectal cancer!
Gastroenterology accounts for 10% of the PANCE, so make sure you pay attention during this part of your didactic phase! Knowing that, you had better take a step into gastroenterology with your thinking cap on ready to learn about new disease and therapy that can affect the way you provide care everyday.
Most Commons in Gastroenterology
Heartburn (pyrosis) - most common symptom of esophageal disease
GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease) - most common disorder of the esophagus
Ulcerative Colitis - most commonly affects young adults in 2nd and 3rd decade of life, but 2nd peak in 7th decade
Most common in N. America, England, N. Europe, and Australia
More common in industrialized countries
More common in higher socioeconomic status
Important: Ulcerative colitis increases the risk of colorectal cancer
Crohn’s Disease - most common between 15-30 years of age, though can present at any age
More common in industrialized countries
More common in higher economic status
Most common in N. America, England, N. Europe, and Australia
Skip areas common: The most common distribution pattern of Crohn’s disease is ileocecal, which involves the distal portion of the small intestine (terminal ileum) and the proximal large bowel (40% of patients)
Most common skin lesions in IBD: pyoderma gangrenosum and erythema nodosum
A membership motion at the October 2003 PAEA (formerly APAP) Education Forum in Phoenix, Arizona is what began the first national honor society for physician assistants. Now known as Pi Alpha, the Society was originally created to recognize PAs and promote “significant academic achievement, leadership, research, and community/professional service; and the encouragement of a high standard of character and conduct among both physician assistant students and graduates.” In only it’s second year in existence, Pi Alpha had 50 chapters established and nearly 300 students, faculty, alumni, and honorary members inducted. Today, there are 87 chapters registered across 33 states, including the District of Columbia. You can click the link to find out if your PA program has an active chapter.
“We established a Pi Alpha chapter because it is not strictly based on academic performance like Alpha Eta or Who’s Who. It recognizes the well rounded student who is committed to serving the community and the program.”
If you were planning on purchasing a new pair of scrubs soon and you can't decide if the Grey's Anatomy brand made your butt look too big or you just didn't want to spend all the money buying new ones period, look no further.
FIGS (Fashion-Inspired-Global-Sophistication) offers scrubs for men and women and will donate a set of scrubs to a healthcare provider in need for every set of scrubs sold. How cool is that?
Clean scrubs reduce the hospital-acquired infection rate by 66%, something we can all take a lesson from, regardless of the country you live in. The medical uniform provides any healthcare member a sense of professional identity and belonging, fostering more caring and committed individuals that take pride in what they do. Any physician assistant knows the value in being part of the team, and what better way to give the opportunity to so many across the world, than by purchasing your scrubs through the Threads for Threads program? Okay, so I got completely sucked in when I saw the video. You should watch it if you haven't.
Seriously, though, buy them for work. Buy them for clinical rotations. Buy them for anatomy.
The 8 Best Physician Assistant Social Media Sites You Should Be Following
If you thought Facebook was cool, wait until you see what these sites have to offer. No seriously, they give you so much more than what your sister’s boyfriend’s cousin’s brother ate for dinner last Tuesday. Instead of checking Instagram every 5 seconds, why not check Twitter and scroll through these accounts to see if there are any new updates in our profession or any scholarship deadlines coming up? Educate yourself, stay informed, and improve your life one step at a time, starting with your mobile device.
PAEA Networker. A personal favorite of mine. This is by far one of the best sites available. Whoever updates this site is a PA guru. Throughout the year I get lots of the content for my blog including scholarships, fellowships, residencies, new programs, new PA advancements, PA legislation, CASPA news, end of rotation, PACKRAT, and PANCE news, new PA opportunities in education, and much more. The list is really endless on this site. It has really become a Facebook for me. I check it pretty regularly for updates. Sad part is they don’t update it as fast as the pug vines are popping up on my Timeline.
JNC 8: Key Features of the New Hypertension Guidelines for Physician Assistants
About 31% of american adults have hypertension (65 million). In the US, only 50% of patients with hypertension are being treated to target BP levels. If you look at patients with uncontrolled hypertension, 90% have a usual source of healthcare and have health insurance. This means that the shortfall is action by the clinician! Yes, you, the physician assistant!
If you are completely new to medicine, JNC stands for the Joint National Committee and typically releases guidelines on hypertension management. From the table below, we know that the this is the first release in 11 years. Let’s first begin by talking about a few obvious changes for JNC 8 from previous years.
While the Joint National Committee is typically commissioned by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), JNC 8 was actually tasked by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) in June of 2013.
You’ll notice a title change in JNC 8 from previous years - this was no mistake. ACC and AHA decided that since they had recently released guidelines on assessing and managing cardiovascular risk, treating cholesterol and managing obesity, a name change was necessary. This was not the first time the title has changed in the past - see highlights in red.
