Physicians Assistants are playing an increasingly important role in making quality, patient-centered health care accessible to our growing population. In 2014, the New York Times reported that physician assistant (PA) is one of the fastest-growing professions in the United States; according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of PAs is expected to increase 38 percent between 2012 and 2022 and more than 6,500 new physicians assistants graduate every year from a total of nearly 200 accredited master’s programs nationwide.
UM Shore Regional Health has undertaken an exciting new initiative that will bring physician assistants students to work and learn in our communities: the Physician Assistant Leadership Rotation Program in partnership with Anne Arundel Community College (AACC) and University of Maryland at Baltimore (UMB).
Through this year-long rotation program, UM SRH physicians in diverse disciplines will serve as preceptors for students in the AACC and UMB combined Physician Assistant/Master of Science in Health Science program. The UM SRH physician preceptors are:
- Walt Atha, MD – Emergency Medicine
- Kim Herman, MD – Family Medicine
- Mark Langfitt, MD – Pediatrics
- Elena Tilly, MD – Medicine
- Andrew Pelczar, MD – Surgery
- Eric Anderson, MD – Psychiatry
- Aisha Siddiqui, MD – Obstetrics/Gynecology
Seven students arrived this week and are now receiving intensive orientation with UM Shore Regional Health, meeting and learning from our clinical leaders in such key areas as risk management, infection control, medical records, Meditech and Epic. They also will be taken on the grand tour of our hospitals and other facilities in Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties.
During their PA Program Rotation, the students will be working with and for the preceptor physicians in the areas of emergency medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, medicine, surgery, psychiatry and obstetrics/gynecology. In addition to these seven units, each student completes two elective units.
Upon completion of their Rotation, the students will graduate with a Master of Science in Health Science from UMB and a Certificate of Physician Assistant Studies from AACC, and will be eligible to sit for the national certification exam for physician assistants.
According to William Huffner, UM SRH chief medical officer and senior vice president for Medical Affairs, there are important benefits to Shore Regional Health’s engagement in this PA Program Rotation. “The PA Program Rotation is a wonderful opportunity for our physicians to engage in the training and development of a new generation of health care providers, and to share with them the outstanding physician expertise, clinical resources and career options in our five-county region,” Huffner explains. “Furthermore, many PA graduates make employment choices during their clinical rotation. Our hope is that preceptors and other clinical staff will develop relationships with these students that will encourage them to seek employment in our five-county region, where so many physician practices and specialties struggle to compete with metropolitan health care providers for qualified PA candidates.