Duke Physician Assistant Program News

Physician assistant student Joshua Davidoff, MHS, was the 2018 student awardee of the Duke University School of Medicine Michelle P. Winn Inclusive Excellence Award. Davidoff was recognized at the School of Medicine Office of Diversity and Inclusion's annual awards luncheon on June 15.

Students in the Duke Physician Assistant Program have raised $12,488 for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a volunteer-driven charity dedicated to funding childhood cancer research grants.

Kicking off the annual “Brave the Shave Day” on May 6 at West 94th Street Pub in the Woodcroft Shopping Center were several members of the Class of 2019 running a 5K benefiting St. Baldrick’s. Deidre Pelletier was the second-fastest female runner, followed by a group of dedicated PA students, faculty and staff.

Since the physician assistant profession’s founding at Duke University in 1965, the scope of PAs’ work has grown steadily, along with an increased need for health care services in the United States. A March 2017 Association of American Medical Colleges report shows the demand for physicians will grow faster than the supply through 2025, and physician assistants are needed to fill the gap.

Effective June 1, 2018, April Stouder, MHS, PA-C, associate professor of community and family medicine, will become associate program director of the Duke Physici

Jacqueline S.

Physician Assistant Program Virtual Fair

Meet school representatives from PA programs and colleges and universities across the U.S.

For all prospective students and advisers to attend.

Sponsored by PAEA.

Register at CareerEco.com/events/PA.

The Duke Physician Assistant Program’s incoming class contains the highest percentage of underrepresented minorities the program has accepted in more than a decade.

The Class of 2020 will include 10 African-American students, 14 Hispanic students and one Native American student — approximately 28 percent of the 90 students accepted. The Duke PA program has averaged an acceptance rate of 18 percent underrepresented minorities for the past 10 years.

On March 17, students from the Doctor of Physical Therapy, Physician Assistant, and Doctor of Medicine programs at Duke University gathered at the Brodie Gym to participate in the annual Adaptive Sports Experience.

The Duke Physician Assistant Program Research Group has received funding from the Physician Assistant Education Association to investigate best practices in onboarding new PAs. Recipients of the $50,000 2017-2018 PAEA Faculty-Generated Research Grant include:

A number of Duke Physician Assistant Program faculty and staff attended and also presented at the national Physician Assistant Education Association Education Forum in Denver, Colo., in October.

Presenters included:

• Jacqueline Barnett, DHSc, MSHS, PA-C

• Melinda Blazar, MHS, PA-C

• Amanda Gunter, MS

• Nicholas Hudak, MPA, MSEd, PA-C

• Quincy Jones, MSW, LCSW, MHS, PA-C

• Andrea Martin, BA

• Betsy Melcher, MS, ATC, MHS, PA-C