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APAP Changes Its Name, Presents Awards, Elects Officers at Annual Education Forum in Puerto Rico Keynote Speaker Addresses Health Disparities, Cultural Competence By Steven Lane The spirit of sunny optimism in the air at the Association of PA Programs’ annual Education Forum in Puerto Rico was only partly due to the balmy temperatures and spectacular Caribbean views from the El Conquistador resort in Fajardo, an hour east of the capital of San Juan. The Association marked its imminent transition to independent management with a nearly unanimous vote to change its name to Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA). The Association is in the final stages of this transition; a move to new office space is scheduled for next spring. The Association has been managed under contract by AAPA and housed in its building since 1973, a year after its founding. A record number of attendees — more than 350 — also underlined the rapid growth of the Association, which has more than doubled its membership over the past decade. Attendees enjoyed four days of educational workshops, roundtables, retreats, and special add-on workshops designed to provide the academic and scholarly skills needed for PA faculty making the transition from clinical practice to faculty positions. The annual awards luncheon highlighted the skills and commitment of PA faculty. Members also found time to hit the beach, tour Old San Juan, and otherwise enjoy the tropical delights of Puerto Rico. The Association elected Anita Glicken, professor of pediatrics and academic coordinator of the PA program at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Science Center and director of the APAP Faculty Development Institute, as its president elect. Frank Acevedo, academic coordinator with the New York Institute of Technology PA Program, was elected director at large. Glicken and Acevedo join a board of directors that also includes President Dawn Morton-Rias, dean of the College of Health Related Professions at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, New York; Past President Patrick Knott, PA program director and associate dean at Rosalind Franklin University, Chicago; Secretary/Treasurer Dana Sayre-Stanhope, director of the Saint Louis University PA Program; Director at Large Walt Eisenhauer, director of the Lock Haven University PA Program, Pennsylvania; and Student Member at Large David Wood, recently graduated from the University of Washington MEDEX PA Program and now practicing in Oklahoma City. Paul Lombardo, immediate past president, and Justine Strand, director at large, rotated off the board. An issue close to the hearts of many PA educators was given a fresh perspective by keynote speaker Joseph Betancourt, MD, who spoke on health disparities and cultural competence. Betancourt, a member of the Institute of Medicine committee that wrote the seminal report Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities, shared with attendees some of the group’s findings and stressed the importance of cultural competence for health care professionals in an increasingly diverse patient population. The IOM committee found that, while socioeconomic disparities and unequal access to health care are important contributors to health disparities, they do not explain all of the treatment disparities between different ethnic groups. He cited several studies that controlled for access factors and showed that treatment outcomes still differed across ethnic groups. One piece of the cure for this, he said, was cultural competence education. This consists, according to Betancourt, not simply of learning lists of cultural factors associated with different groups, but of a new way of thinking. “It’s a way to think about how individuals are affected by their social and cultural surroundings,” he said. Health care professionals are “taught to make clinical decisions in a vacuum,” he said, but this is not how people live. The Association’s 10th Annual Exhibit Hall drew 20 exhibitors. Publishing companies, software developers, and PA organizations enjoyed the opportunity to engage with the PA educators in attendance. In addition to the name change, Association members debated several other issues at the business meeting. One motion covered an issue that has begun to loom large for many PA programs and was debated in several forums at the meeting — criminal background checks for PA students. Many states have begun to require PA programs to conduct background checks on students before they can begin clinical rotations. The membership motion charged the Association’s Board of Directors to investigate the issue and disseminate information to programs. The Association also voted to endorse the Competencies for the Physician Assistant Profession document, developed jointly by AAPA, APAP, the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, and the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. Because of the timing of its annual meeting, the Association had not yet had an opportunity to endorse the competencies. The Association charged the board with working with the other PA organizations to develop a mechanism for regular review and revision of the document. Membership actions on other motions were as follows:
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APAP Update - December 2005 |