Developments Within the APAP International Affairs Committee

By Kathy Pedersen, PA-C, MPAS
International Affairs Committee Member

The APAP International Affairs Committee (IAC) held its second meeting on November 3, 2004, in conjunction with the APAP Education Forum in Nashville, Tennessee, to discuss international issues relating to physician assistants. Present were committee members Chris Legler; Kathy Pedersen; Justine Strand; Kirsten Thomsen; Marie Bensulock; Patricia Castillo; Wilton Kennedy; Marie-Michelle Leger, director of Clinical and International Affairs, AAPA; and other interested APAP faculty and staff.

The IAC discussed the possibility of creating a liaison relationship with international health education organizations. The committee will submit an abstract, the “Global Applicability of PAs,” for the upcoming conference of the International Health Medical Education Consortium. Invited guest, Anita Glicken, MSW, academic coordinator at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center CHA/PA program, discussed her involvement with the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE). Ms. Glicken recommended that a liaison be appointed between APAP and AMEE, a broad-based international network of medical educators whose focus is to improve care of patients through excellence in all aspects of teaching.

Representatives from the AAPA and APAP international committees presented information about the PA profession at the recent American Academy of Family Physicians/World Conference of Family Doctors (AAFP/WONCA) conference. Discussion centered on monitoring the activities of other organizations, such as the World Medical Association, the World Federation for Medical Education, and the International Nurse Practitioner/Advanced Practice Nursing Network.

The IAC discussed the AAPA position paper, “Licensure Eligibility for Foreign Trained PAs,” and APAP’s “PA Programs: A Guide for International Program Development.” Several items were reviewed: a draft student international rotation checklist, an updated survey instrument, an APAP international resource list, and various power point presentations on PA education prepared for different audiences. The IAC developed a more detailed listing of PA programs’ international activities from Ms. Pedersen’s 2002 international survey. Finally, the IAC adopted recommendations from the 2003 APAP Ad Hoc Committee on International PA Education to correlate with current IAC objectives.

The IAC’s strategic directions for 2004–05 include focusing more strongly on refugee/immigrant health, updating the 2002 APAP international activities survey, formalizing liaisons, and communicating with SAAAPA on international student issues. In addition, the IAC will update its charges as needed and disseminate pertinent information to PA programs. The committee plans to provide APAP with links for publication on its Web site to PA international education activities. The IAC has a particular interest in the development of a mechanism to include PA organizations and their appropriate committees in networking and information sharing on international issues.

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