2007 PAEA Business Meeting: Summary of Actions

Following is a brief summary of the testimony and action taken for each of the seven motions debated at the 2007 PAEA Business Meeting, held at the 2007 PAEA Annual Education Forum in Tucson, October 24–28.

2007-COM1. Adoption of CECD Cultural Competencies for PA Students

Motion: Be it resolved that the Physician Assistant Education Association adopts the Committee on Ethnic and Cultural Diversity’s “Cultural Competencies for Physician Assistant Students” as the Association’s model for domains for PA cultural competency education.

The motion carried.

The Core Cultural Competencies for Physician Assistant Students has been posted on the PAEA Web site.

2007-MP01. Ability for Consortia to Submit Motions

Motion: The University of Washington Physician Assistant Program moves that the Governance Committee be charged by the board to develop an appropriate mechanism to enable consortia be added to the list of who may submit motions to the PAEA business meetings.

Member testimony focused on the possibility of a “slippery slope” — other PAEA bodies may also want the right to submit motions, and on the need for details regarding how representation of programs within a consortium would be ensured. The motion was defeated.

2007-MP02. Investigation of the Impact of Paying Preceptors

Motion: The University of Washington Physician Assistant Program and the University of Colorado Child Health Associate/Physician Assistant Program move that the PAEA Board of Directors develop an appropriate mechanism to explore the impact of paying clinical preceptors/clinical training sites. 

Issues to be explored should include, but not be limited to:

1. The impact that such a movement (i.e. preceptor payment) has had on clinical education in general. 
2. The current number of physician assistant programs required to pay monetary compensation for clinical rotations
3. The average amount of payment required
4. The reasons the program has instituted preceptor payments
5. The financial impact that this has had on the programs
6. Other reimbursements that programs may employ such as paying part of salary (hiring the preceptor)
7. Creation of a “menu” of possible preceptor rewards, looking at alternatives to direct monetary payments

 

Input on these issues will be solicited from, at a minimum, clinical coordinators and program directors at different types of institutions (private vs. public, academic health center vs. 2-, 4-year institutions) representing the range of PA educational models and from geographically diverse areas.

The initial finding will be reported back to the 2008 PAEA Annual Education Forum. Based on the findings, a policy statement or position paper with recommendations will be submitted to the 2009 PAEA Annual Education Forum.

There was general support for the intent of this motion; testimony focused on whether this was the appropriate way to accomplish it. It was noted that a statement from PAEA would likely not have an affect on sites asking for payment or on institutions that felt obliged to pay. Some members felt that this issue could be addressed as part of the larger visioning process proposed by the board, rather than through a single statement or paper.

The motion was defeated.

2007-MP03. Formation of a Committee to Address Clinical Doctorate

Motion: DeSales University and the Eastern Consortium respectfully request that the PAEA form a committee in order to address whether the profession should or should not consider offering a clinical doctorate in physician assistant studies and the implications of this change for our profession. We request that this committee consist of educators and clinically practicing physician assistants since any proposed changes will not just affect the educational process but will also have implications for the people who are practicing full-time in our profession.

This motion engendered extensive debate, and was amended several times before a final version was passed. Debate focused on whether a statement taking a position on the doctoral degree could be made immediately, or whether further study should be undertaken first. Most testimony related to the content of the motion was against the development of a clinical doctorate for the PA profession.

The final version of the motion was:

PAEA supports creating a mechanism to address whether the Physician Assistant Education Association should or should not consider endorsing an entry-level doctorate and the implications of this change for our profession.

The motion carried.

2007-MP04. Development of List Serves

Motion: PAEA should establish and maintain a listserv for the Western Consortium, clinical coordinators, and other consortia.

Staff testified that the Association has solicited proposals for development of a content management system for the Association’s Web site; a component of this system will be the ability of members to opt in to a number of list serves. The new system is scheduled to be implemented in the spring of 2008.

The motion was tabled definitely until the 2008 annual business meeting.

2007-MP05. FDI Regionalization

Motion: The Faculty Development Institute should develop strategies to regionalize its workshops, particularly those focused on new faculty.

Member testimony focused on the need for wider access to FDI workshop content. The FDI chair testified that the Institute does have a three-year plan in place that will include several stand-alone workshops outside of the national meetings.

The motion was amended to read:

The Faculty Development Institute should investigate strategies to regionalize its workshops.

The motion carried.

2007-MP06. Improving the Recruitment and Retention of Teaching Faculty

Motion: Be it resolved that PAEA develop and publish a best practices model for recruitment and retention of faculty for all PA programs nationwide.

Member testimony was generally sympathetic to the intent of the motion, but members disagreed on the best way to accomplish the goal of recruiting and retaining PA faculty.

The motion was defeated.