Duke PA Program at 2026 AAPA Conference in Nola
Last month, Duke PA (DPAP) staff, students, and alumni attended the 2026 AAPA conference in Nola, Louisiana. This conference was full of DPAP representation, with faculty presentations, student poster presentations, and competitions. It was great to see another year of impactful work and connection across the PA community.
Presentations:
DPAP had a number of faculty members who spoke during the AAPA conference, one being Professor Kim Howard, MHS, PA-C, who presented for the first time. Her CME session presentation, titled: Heartburn or Something Spicier: Evaluating Esophageal Symptoms, discussed the proper evaluation and testing of the esophageal system.
She reflected, “It was great, it was my first time giving a CME talk at AAPA. I’ve never submitted for the main event. It was an honor to be accepted and speak at this year’s conference. I got a lot of positive feedback from students and others that were there…It was really sweet, there was a big group of students there at 8 in the morning on Sunday. It was really supportive and great.”
You can read more in an interview with Kim Howard about her presentation at AAPA here.
Alongside Professor Howard, other Duke PA faculty presented:
-
CME session presentation: The Merits of Self-Collected HPV Testing: A Debate presented by Associate Program Director Jacquetta Melvin, MPH-PA-C
-
CME session presentation: Beat the Heat: Protecting Patients from Heat-Related Harm, co-presented by Dr. Perri Morgan, PA-C, PhD, and Professor Janelle Bludorn, MS, PA-C
-
Research in action presentation session: Consensus-Based Recommendations for POCUS in PA Curricula, co-presented by Janelle Bludorn and Michael Breunig PA-C,Ed.D (Mayo Clinic)
Presentation of Research Posters
Duke PA students and faculty both had the opportunity to showcase their research poster projects. These ePosters highlight research of the PA profession and education from both students and practicing PAs.
-
Poster: Introducing AI Scribes to Medical Learners, co-authored by Janelle Bludorn and Dr. Laura Okolie, DMSC, MBA, MHS, PA-C (presented by Okolie).
-
Poster: Bystander CPR Response Confidence: Does Educational Level Matter?, co-authored by PA Students Samantha Fortier, Haejin Lovelace, Skyler Gubbels, Heather Batchelder, and Janelle Bludorn (presented by Samantha Fortier).
-
Poster: Low-Cost Cardiac POCUS Phantom: An Interdisciplinary Partnership, co-authored by PA students Skyler Gubbels, Abigail Raffalski, Kaylee Ratcliffe, Quynh Le, and Neil Stafford, MD (Duke Department of Medicine) and Janelle Bludorn (presented by Kaylee Ratcliffe).
-
Poster: Caregiving, Compensation, and Burnout in the PA Workforce, co-authored by Drs. Megan Holmes, Ph.D and Brittany Macon Davis, DMSc, MHS, PA-C and Professor Janelle Bludorn (co-presented by Holmes and Macon Davis).
Competitions
Professor Janelle Bludorn served as instructor and DPAP faculty coach for the iScan competition. iScan allows students to showcase their ultrasound skills and compete with schools all across the country. The DPAP team, Joshua Ferguson, Skyler Gubbels, Quynh Le, Abigail Raffalski, and Ethan Schlotterbeck, who served as the volunteer POCUS model, did an amazing job competing. The team made it to the top 12 before being eliminated prior to the semifinals.
Bludorn says, “My favorite part of AAPA every year isn't presenting the CME sessions or attending the keynotes, it's our students. Watching them compete, present, and hold their own on a national stage at this point in their training gives me an immense sense of pride. They aren't just representing our program; they're making real contributions to the PA profession so early in their careers.”
Professor Lorraine Anglin, MHS, PA-C served as the faculty coach for the PA National Student Challenge Bowl team. Team members included second year students Ahmad Akrami, Priya Patel, and Emily Hobus, with Sadie Walton as an alternate and Madeline Eckerman as part of the coaching staff. The Challenge Bowl is a medical game show where multiple schools participate during AAPA. Students had a wonderful showing this year as they competed on the big stage.
Service
While AAPA is a great way to network and connect, it’s also a perfect time for service. It also serves as a reminder of why the PA profession was started, to serve those around us.
Dr. Laura Okolie participated in Reverse Project Access, a pipeline program that engaged 50 students from the New Orleans area with hands-on activities such as teaching BP measurement. Students were able to attend conference sessions and learn more about the PA profession while being mentored by PAs.
Alumni Reception
During a busy weekend, Senior Event Coordinator Averyll Aberdeen hosted the Duke PA Program alumni reception, where current students, faculty, and alumni gathered together. This felt almost like a big family reunion and those from DPAP were able to reconnect with each other. Being a PA, you are always on the go, but this gave everyone a great way to catch up and see what everyone had been up to. Professor Howard, who also happens to be a graduate of the program from the Class of 2009, says she enjoyed seeing her former students and classmates.
Program Director, April Stouder, EdD, MHS, PA-C, recaps saying, “As usual, we had tremendous Duke PA Program representation in service, scholarship, and friendly competition at AAPA! Our students networked and got a taste of this major PA conference so they can make informed decisions about where and how to spend their CME dollars when they enter practice. Students and faculty presented, our Challenge Bowl and iScan teams performed admirably, and our annual alumni reception was well attended. It is always fun to reconnect with our graduates and learn what they are up to in their careers.”