07/29/2010

OAPA Newsletter - July 2010

In this Issue:

Annual Conference Registration Now Open
Legislative Update
Don Campbell Memorial Golf Outing
Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine Accelerated PA Pathway

OAPA Annual Conference Registration Now Open

The 2010 Annual Conference will be held in Columbus at the Doubletree Hotel on November 5-7, 2010.

OAPA will be applying for 20 CME hours but the total number of hours that will be approved is still to be determined.  There will be five (5) pharmacology specific hours included in the programming.

Registration rates are $275 for members and $390 for non-members. Student and daily rates are also available.  The hotel is offering $94.00 room rates.

Click here for more information and to register.

Legislative Update

The Ohio General Assembly is currently on recess and will probably not return until after the November election.  The legislators will need to act quickly upon their return as all pending legislation will expire on December 31, 2010 and will need to be reintroduced in January 2011.

OAPA continues to work with our lobbyist and the Legislative Services Commission (LSC) to finalize the comprehensive PA modernization bill and still hopes to get it introduced this summer.

A recent addition to the draft bill is language that will move the PA formulary out of rule allowing it to be updated in a more timely manner.  The formulary is currently in rule and the process for updating it involves multiple tiers of recommendations, approval by the Medical Board itself, a public hearing and then final approval by the Medical Board.  This is a cumbersome process that is very time consuming. 

OAPA hopes that by removing the formulary from rule, changes will then only need approval of the Medical Board and updates can be done quarterly.

The Medical Board approved a new formulary that will become effective July 30^th but changes to the 2008 version were minimal.  Check the Medical Board website for the 2010 version.

3rd Annual Donald Campbell Memorial Golf Open

Presented by OAPA and Friends of Donald Campbell, MD

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Fallen Timbers Fairways Golf Course
7711 Timbers Blvd
Waterville, OH 43566
www.fallentimbersfairways.com

Noon Shotgun Start
Scramble Format

$85.00 per person (includes golf, range balls, snack at the turn and steak dinner)
$65.00 per student
$340 per foursome
$30.00 dinner only

Registration
Deadline - September 19, 2010

Click Here to print form and pay by check.

To pay by credit card online click below.
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Benefactors: Make-a-wish Foundation and OAPA Scholarship Fund.

Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine Announces New Accelerated Physician Assistant Pathway

LECOM designs bridge curriculum between Physicians Assistant degree and the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Degree. 

Erie, PA – Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine is taking another innovative step toward encouraging more individuals to become physicians at a cost savings to the students.  LECOM has received the approval for an accelerated three-year medical school curriculum for Certified Physician Assistants to obtain a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree.

The American Osteopathic Association Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation has approved the Accelerated Physician Assistant Pathway (APAP).  The College has begun recruiting PAs to fill 12 openings for the Class of 2014 when school starts in July 2011.  This will be the fifth student-centered learning  pathway developed for osteopathic medical students by LECOM, a leader in innovative, affordable medical education.

The pathway concept came from the LECOM Master of Science in Medical Education program and was designed by LECOM graduate Mark Kauffman DO, MS Med Ed, PA. Dr. Kauffman will direct the pathway, which will enable physician assistants who seek to earn osteopathic medicine degrees to do so in an accelerated, three-year program.

Dr. Kauffman began his career as a PA and is well aware of the qualifications that PAs will bring to medical school. Physician assistants, as healthcare professionals who work under the scope of their supervising physicians, undergo a rigorous didactic medical curriculum as well as at least one year of clinical rotations to obtain the entry level, bachelor or master degree for professional certification. According to Dr. Kauffman, the PA profession has debated a change in the entry-level to that of a doctorate degree resulting in the PA Clinical Doctorate Summit of March 2009. In association with the Summit, the 2009 Physician Assistant Doctoral Summit Survey recognized that many physician assistants wish to become physicians citing the desire to practice independently, the need for professional growth and development, the need for increased medical knowledge and the ability to do more for their patients as the most common reasons to do so. Currently only 4% of PAs return to medical school noting cost and time away from clinical practice as major barriers.

By accelerating the medical school curriculum to three instead of four years, LECOM will reduce the cost and time away from clinical practice by 25% for PA students enrolled in this pathway.  By going year-round, APAP students will begin their clinical experience with a special primary care program between the first and second years, then complete a concentrated series of clinical clerkships in year three designed to increase the medical knowledge they bring from their PA careers.

In 2008, 37% of PAs chose to work in primary care. Growth in demand for primary care physicians will increase by more than 15% over the next decade. Dr. Kauffman and LECOM have identified PAs as excellent candidates to become primary care physicians as they have demonstrated the ability to successfully complete demanding curriculum, have practiced clinically, and have expressed the desire to increase their medical knowledge. Providing an accelerated pathway for those PAs who wish to return to medical school will help to decrease projected physician shortages.