• Current Issue
• ACP Hospitalist Weekly
• Supplements
• Blog
• Archives
  • By Topic
• Career Connection
• Subscribe
• RSS Feeds

Letter to the Editor

From the June ACP Hospitalist, copyright © 2009 by the American College of Physicians

PA training opportunities abound

In the article “When hiring midlevels, proceed with caution” (ACP Hospitalist, April 2009), a physician was quoted as saying that no residency programs exist for NPs and PAs. However, postgraduate residencies and fellowships for PAs do exist and have for over 30 years. The Association of Postgraduate Physician Assistant Programs (APPAP) was formed in 1988 to further specialty education for PAs. APPAP members work with the American Academy of Physician Assistants and the Physician Assistant Education Association on mutual goals designed to expand the PA profession.

All member programs of APPAP are formal postgraduate PA programs that offer structured curricula, including didactic and clinical components, to educate National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants-eligible/certified PAs for a defined period of time (usually 12 months) in a medical or surgical specialty. APPAP member programs follow several models, including fellowships, master’s degree programs and residency programs. All APPAP member programs must award a certificate or degree or provide graduate academic credit.

Currently, APPAP has 44 members in 20 surgical subspecialties and 24 medicine subspecialties, including two formalized hospital internal medicine fellowships: Mayo Clinic Hospital Arizona and Alderson-Broaddus College. Mayo Clinic Hospital Arizona is actively pursuing national accreditation by the Accreditation Review Committee for Physician Assistant Education (ARC-PA), which is the same accrediting body for entry-level PA programs. Three programs have been accredited by the ARC-PA, with many more expected in the upcoming year.

Additional information about APPAP is available on our Web site. With the reduction in physician and resident numbers, work restrictions on residents, and the increasing demand for skilled and specialized PAs, postgraduate residencies and fellowships for PAs are on the rise and continue to be an asset to hospitals across the nation.

Lisa Rotellini-Coltvet, president, APPAP

Phoenix

Top

Share

 

Hospitalist Archives
Quick Links

ACP Hospitalist Weekly

From the February 1, 2012 edition

• Hospitalist practice models have little effect on job satisfaction, burnout, survey finds
• Hospital stays involving C. diff leveled off between 2008 and 2009

View issue

Cartoon Caption Contest

ACP HospitalistWeekly wants readers to create captions for this cartoon and help choose the winner. Pen the winning caption and win a $50 gift certificate good toward any ACP product, program or service.

• Name
• Email
• Caption No HTML tags permitted.

Prepare with the Experts: Live Recert Prep Courses from ACP

ACP Launches Depression Care Guide

© ACP Hospitalist and American College of Physicians

ACP Hospitalist provides news and information for internists about the practice of medicine and reports on the policies, products and activities of ACP. All published material, which is covered by copyright, represents the views of the contributor and does not reflect the opinion of the American College of Physicians or any other institution unless clearly stated