Duke Physician Assistant Program News & Blogs

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.

Melinda Blazar, MHS, PA-C, assistant professor of community and family medicine, has been named director of clinical education of the Duke Physician

Ten North Carolina clinicians — also preceptors to Duke University medical, nursing and physician assistant students — have completed a three-day Primary Care Training and Enhancement Program Faculty Development Mini-Fellowship at the Duke Physician Assistant Program.

Mini-fellowship participants were:

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

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.

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