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Looking Toward the Future
By
Anita Duhl Glicken, MSW
President Elect, PAEA
As I transition into my new role as the Physician Assistant
Education Association’s (PAEA) first president elect, I find
myself reflecting on my first year of teaching. I recall moments of
joy, challenge, and self-doubt, and at times a fear of the unknown.
Following five years in a private psychiatric practice and additional
clinical work in other settings, I came to teaching with the belief
that I had something to offer my students, but was equipped with not
much more than a vision for improving patient care. I felt that teaching
would provide me with the opportunity to reach a large number of new
clinicians, ultimately benefiting many more patients than I could
hope to impact in my private practice. My optimism was constantly
put to the test that year, but somehow emerged intact. In surviving
that experience, I had become a medical educator.
I learned fairly early that working as an educator means
always being on the edge of the unknown. Each year a fresh group of
students and rapid changes in technology and health care bring a new
set of challenges. The never-ending paradox of being recognized as
the “expert,” while at the same time always feeling a bit
like a novice, creates renewed feelings of self-doubt, joy, and challenge.
I find myself struggling to keep up with everything I need to know,
so that I am better prepared to help my students find markers for
their own journeys.
Outcome-based education has helped me identify these
markers. Last year I had the privilege of working as part of a team
across professional associations to develop shared competencies for
the PA profession. As a result of this experience, I now direct student
learning towards competencies, although with their frequent revisions,
they tend to be moving targets. My hope for students is that they
will not only gain the knowledge and skills they need to succeed,
but that they will also discover within themselves a passion similar
to mine for lifelong learning. As PAEA’s president elect, I find
myself pondering how, as an association, we might develop a similar
set of goals for educator performance, domains of competency to inform
our process of faculty development.
So begins another year of exciting transformations.
As PAEA joins the ranks of independently managed health education
associations that direct the educational interests of the health professions,
I join the Association board as it begins a period of focused growth
as a service organization, responding to the needs of increasing numbers
of PA educators. To do this most effectively, we need to understand
what the future demands of the health care system might be, so that
we can figure out how best to train PAs to work in that system.
By partnering with other academic health care groups,
PAEA can help ensure that PA educators remain active participants
in the dialogue about current and future health care and educational
challenges. The Association is committed to supporting PA educators
and programs, particularly through its annual Education Forum. Recently,
more than 300 faculty and administrators attended the November 2005
forum. The sunny skies of Puerto Rico provided a wonderful opportunity
to network with colleagues and share information and experience. Conference
evaluations were very positive and included some excellent suggestions
for addressing future faculty development needs. We recognize that
not all faculty are able to attend the Education Forum and will continue
our efforts to develop enduring faculty development materials and
resources, such as Education Scholar.
Please join me as I work on your behalf to identify
ways to support these needs. There are certain to be trying moments,
in addition to those that tell us that we are accomplishing our goals.
But in contrast to the uncertainty I felt during that first year of
teaching, I am confident that working together we can continue to
be leaders in learning and practice, providing and promoting excellence
in health care.
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