Duke Physician Assistant (PA) Program faculty, students, and alumni attended the 2024 American Academy of PA (AAPA) conference in Houston, Texas, from May 18 to 22, despite severe storms that tore through the metro area earlier that week.
On the night of May 16th, a derecho swept through the city with winds gusting to over 100 mph. It knocked down major transmission lines and towers, leaving much of the city without power and causing patchy window damage on high-rise buildings.
Luckily, the area immediately adjacent to the George R. Brown Convention Center, where the event was held, was spared the worst damage, and the conference continued as planned.
Duke PA faculty and students demonstrated their commitment to PA education and leadership, engaging in nearly every aspect of the conference, from presentations to outreach to competitions.
Presentations
Assistant Professor Janelle Bludorn, MS, PA-C, gave two presentations:
- Temperature Rising on Heat-Related Illness
- This session about the rising numbers of heat-related illnesses in a warming world covered “evidence-based fundamentals of diagnosis and management of conditions of extreme heat, paying special attention to effects on vulnerable populations, and practical approaches to patient education.”
- HPCLive interviewed Bludorn on the topic of heat-related illnesses:
- The Rising Rate of Heat-Related Illness, with Janelle Bludorn, PA-C
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Solutions to Prevent Climate Change-Related Illness, with Janelle Bludorn, PA-C
- Bite Club: Managing Dental Emergencies
- This session was geared towards emergency medicine and urgent care PAs. It covered the basics of caring for patients with acute dental conditions “including do-not-miss diagnoses, a primer on providing regional oral anesthesia, and evidence-based management of traumatic and infectious dental conditions including analgesia and antibiotic use updates.”
Associate Professor Quinnette Jones, MSW, LCSW, MHS, PA-C, presented An Analysis of LGBTQ Curricular Inclusion: A National Study of Physician Assistant Programs. This Research in Action presentation "describes outcomes from national study on the inclusion of LGBTQ+ content in PA curricula and is part of the work I’m doing for the AAPA-PAEA Fellowship." Additional Duke authors of this were Heather Batchelder, MA, LPA, HSP-PA; and Mara Sanchez MMS, RD, PA-C.
Second-year student Christina Zhou presented her work on Estrogen Monotherapy for Testosterone Suppression in Gender Diverse Patients, a topic she became interested in during her LGBTQ+ health elective. She feels fortunate to get the chance to present her poster on what she sees as an under-researched topic.
“At first it was daunting to go from a student attendee to a student presenter, but I really felt the support from the DPAP staff and my fellow classmates,” she said. “It was great being able to tie in things that I learned from [the course Evidence Based Practice] to complete this project and poster as well. Overall, I was really excited to be able to share the research that our clinic completed, and I was able to connect with other gender-affirming providers about the topic.”
Additional Duke authors on this were Quinnette Jones, MSW, MHS, PA-C; Sarah Kokosa, PharmD, MHA; and Carly Kelley, MD, MPH.
Outreach
Associate Professor Lovest Alexander, Jr., MHS- PA-C, DFAAPA, and Instructional Specialis Laura Okolie, DMsc, MBS, MHS, PA-C, participated in a Project Access event organized and facilitated by the AAPA constituent organization, the African Heritage PA Caucus, (AHPAC).
Alexander was a founding member of the AHPAC, and Okolie is the current caucus president.
Okolie explained that the AHPAC is a constituent organization of the AAPA. The AHPAC “organized and facilitated Project Access, a dynamic outreach initiative designed to inspire and encourage students from underrepresented minority groups to consider the Physician Assistant (PA) profession as a viable career path. Through engaging activities and educational sessions, AHPAC aims to broaden the diversity within the healthcare field and provide meaningful opportunities for future generations.”
First-year student Amya Smith helped plan the event and found it as exciting as it was rewarding. She said, "I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to educate young people about the PA profession, which is something I wish I had access to earlier in my life."
Through this event, they introduced the PA profession to 144 eighth graders at McReynolds Middle School in Houston.
House of Delegates
Associate Program Director April Stouder, EdD, MHS, PA-C, and second-year student Liz Shipman spent three days of the conference participating in the House of Delegates discussions and voting as a North Carolina delegate and student representative, respectively. Laura Okolie, in her role as AHPAC president, also spoke during the session.
Shipman co-authored four resolutions, all of which passed. She said, “It was a great opportunity to network with PAs from all over the country. I probably made 30+ connections with folks who either practice in a specialty I'm interested in, or live/work where I'd like to go, or are interested in the same kinds of advocacy. I came home feeling energized, encouraged, and ready to graduate so I can join them in practice."
Read more about Shipman’s experience in the House of Delegates
Duke wins largest iScan competition to date
One conference highlight is the annual point-of-care ultrasound competition, iScan. Over 50 teams competed this year, with the Duke teams taking first and sixth place.
Read more about the students’ iScan competition experience
Challenge Bowl
Another annual competition is the National Medical Challenge Bowl, where over 100 teams of students go head-to-head to answer questions testing their medical knowledge. According to AAPA, " Questions are asked on a variety of subjects, including physical diagnosis, microbiology, anatomy, OB/GYN, pulmonary, cardiology, primary care, emergency medicine, and surgery.“ This year, Duke’s team, Austin Gamache, Katrina Domingo, and PJ Kambhiranond, advanced to the second round.
Old-fashioned Social Networking
In addition to learning opportunities, ample time is set aside to have fun, network, and celebrate.
Sunday night, the Duke PA Program hosted an alumni dinner to bring together all generations of students and graduates. Division Chief and Program Director Jacqueline Barnett, DHSc, MSHS, PA-C, hosted the alumni event along with Program Coordinator Averyll Aberdeen, who organized this fun and engaging session. The event drew roughly 100 attendees, including alumni graduating from nearly every decade since 1970.
PA Night Out is a conference-wide opportunity for PAs and PA students to let their hair down and enjoy a night out in the host city.
Barnett spent the evening dancing with the students. She said, “Oh yes, the PA students definitely enjoyed PA Night Out and deserved the break in their studies to enjoy the conference and networking opportunity. I think the Duke PA students sang and outdanced everyone. Although it was 100 degrees, they were the coolest PA students in the place!”
Getting there
As the liaison between their classmates and the AAPA, the Duke PA Program’s representatives to the Student Academy have many responsibilities leading up to the conference each year.
This year, representative Sabrina Denton assisted students in planning for the conference, including distributing information about registration, housing, travel accommodations, financial support, and the schedule of events.
With most of the planning taking place before the conference, she had time to experience everything the conference had to offer.
“Some of my favorite events included cheering our team on at the National Challenge Bowl and celebrating our student iScan teams as they took 1st and 6th place at the National POCUS competition,” she said. “In addition to this, I greatly appreciated a lecture provided by Natalie Crump PA-C, Kierra Gipson PA-C, and Mariah Leroux PA-C on what to expect as a new graduate PA and how to navigate entering the clinical workforce.”
She says she encourages everyone to attend the conference at least once to take advantage of “a seemingly endless amount of opportunities presented at the conference in the form of educational lectures, interactive workshops, continuing education credits, and networking opportunities.”
The 2025 AAPA conference is planned for May 17 – 21 in Denver, Colorado.