Duke Researchers Find Lower Annual Costs for Primary Care Patients of PAs and NPs Compared to Physicians
A study led by the Duke Physician Assistant Program's Research Group finds lower annual costs for primary care patients of PAs and NPs compared to physicians. PA Research Director Perri Morgan, Ph.D., PA-C, professor of family medicine and community health, presented the findings recently in Washington, D.C., at a Health Affairs press briefing.
Nick Hudak, Melinda Blazar, April Stouder Receive PAEA STAR Program Recognition
Nick Hudak, MSEd, MPA, PA-C; Melinda Blazar, MHS, PA-C; April Stouder, MHS, PA-C; and Duke colleaugue Nancy Knudsen, M.D., were recognized by PAEA's Support to Advance Research (STAR) Program. The STAR Program offers PA researchers the opportunity to include their own survey questions in the annual PAEA Program Survey, which every PAEA member program is required to complete.
Duke PA Student Kiarash Rahmanian Selected as a 2019 Paul Ambrose Scholar
Duke Physician Assistant Program student Kiarash Rahmanian, MPH, was recently selected as a 2019 Paul Ambrose Scholar, a prestigious national honor for health professions students. The Paul Ambrose Scholars Program prepares students to be leaders in addressing population health challenges at the national and community level.
Faculty Profile: Betsy Melcher, MS, ATC, MHS, PA-C
Betsy Melcher, M.S., ATC, MHS, PA-C, assistant professor, serves as an academic coordinator for the Duke Physician Assistant Program. She completed a master’s degree in sports health care at the Arizona School of Health Sciences in 2000 and practiced as an athletic trainer at N.C. State University prior to attending the Duke PA program.
Re-Imagining Rural Health Care: Unique Partnership Provides Immersive Training Opportunity for Duke Physician Assistant Students
It’s a four-hour drive west across the state of North Carolina from Durham to Bakersville, a small town in Mitchell County.
Duke PA Program Alumnus Prentiss Harrison, Nation's First African-American PA, Dies at Age 75
Prentiss L. Harrison, PA, the nation’s first African-American physician assistant and a 1968 graduate of the Duke Physician Assistant Program, passed away Dec. 11, 2018, at the age of 75. Harrison is widely recognized as a pioneer of the PA profession and for his strong passion for providing health care to the medically underserved.
Duke Physician Assistant Program Faculty, Staff Present at 2018 PAEA Education Forum
A number of Duke Physician Assistant Program faculty and staff attended and also presented at the national Physician Assistant Education Association Education Forum in Anaheim, Calif., in October.
Presenters included:
Will Bynum, Susan Hibbard, Nick Hudak, Betsy Melcher Among Duke AHEAD Grant Recipients
Four Duke Community & Family Medicine faculty members have been awarded grant funding through Duke AHEAD for three educational innovation projects. The faculty are:
Responding to the Opioid Crisis: Free Training Opportunities for Providers
In response to the opioid crisis, the Duke Physician Assistant Program has created free, online modules that meet the North Carolina Controlled Substance CME requirement for physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants who prescribe controlled substances.
To access the modules, follow the below links:
Duke Physician Assistant Program Awards 89 Certificates
Members of the Duke Physician Assistant Program Class of 2018 received their physician assistant certificates in a ceremony on Aug. 3 at the Duke Physician Assistant Program. The students received Master of Health Sciences degrees from Duke University in May. The Class of 2018 includes 89 graduates.
Stead Society President Emily Oslie addressed her classmates with words of encouragement.