The 30 students of the charter class of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Physician Assistant Program before their graduation banquet Wednesday evening.

On the evening before graduation, the charter class of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Physician Assistant Program gathered at the USF Research and Innovation galleria room to celebrate the two-year journey from applicant to physician assistant.

Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, USF Health Senior Vice President and Morsani College of Medicine Dean.

USF Health Senior Vice President and Morsani College of Medicine Dean Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, told the group how proud and excited he is for the graduating class.

“Tonight’s commencement dinner represents the culmination of hard work and dedication, the realization of a dream over the past two years and the beginning of a successful career,” Dr. Lockwood said. “You are pursuing one of the fastest growing careers in the medical field and you are going to play an indispensable role in delivering excellent, cost-effective care.”

Todd Wills, MD, assistant dean and program director.

Todd Wills, MD, assistant dean and program director reflected on the path these inaugural students have taken to get where they are.

“It was just two short years ago when we welcomed 30 students to the USF Health Rotunda before the start of orientation,” Dr. Wills said. “As you each begin your careers in health care over the next weeks and months, remember that the confidence our program has in you is more than justified and we can’t wait to see what comes next.”

A highlight of the evening came when select students and staff received several awards based on academic excellence, clinical performance.  Additionally, four students were inducted into MCOM’s chapter of the the Association of Physician Assistant Programs Pi Alpha National Honor Society.  Those selected showed significant academic achievement, leadership, research, community service and a high standard of character and conduct among PA students and graduates.

First student inductees:

– Kathryn Rudibaugh, MPAS

– Shannon Aurelius, MPAS

– Brittany Bianchi, MPAS

– Mollie Pleasenton, MPAS

(L-R) Shannon Aurelius, MPAS, Brittany Bianchi, MPAS, Larry Collins, MPAS, PA-C, ATC, Kathryn Rudibaugh, MPAS, Mollie Pleasenton, MPAS.

After the student inductions, Larry Collins, MPAS, PA-C, ATC, associate professor and associate program director, became the first faculty member to be inducted into the honor society.

Other award recipients:

Highest Didactic Year GPA: Brittany Bianchi, MPAS

Highest Clinical Year GPA: Shannon Aurelius, MPAS

Outstanding Pre-clinical Instructor, selected by the students as the most positive impact on their pre-clinical education: Dr. Todd Wills.

Outstanding Clinical Preceptor, selected by the students for having the most positive impact on their clinical education: Meredith Plant, MD

The PA’s PA, given to the student chosen as best exemplifying the characteristics of a PA they would choose to care for them and their family: Katie Lucas, MPAS

Katie Lucas, MPAS, center, received the PA’s PA awarded to the student chosen as best exemplifying the charastics of a PA they would choose to care for them and their family.

Following the presentations, Kevin Allison, MPAS, and Elisabeth “Libby” Kusiak, MPAS, delivered a heartfelt charge to their classmates.

Class co-presidents Elisabeth “Libby” Kusiak and Kevin Allison.

“We hope you can all reflect and think about how this program and your classmates have changed you and shaped you into the person you are today and into the provider you want to be. This is not goodbye, but hello to new beginnings,” said Kusiak. “It has been an honor to serve as your class co-president and I can honestly say I know we are all going to make outstanding providers.”

To conclude the event, Larry Collins announced the start of a scholarship foundation to help future MCOM PA students and contributed $1,000 to the foundation.

“Think about all of the future PAs and be sure to pay it forward,” he said.

The 30 charter PA students will graduate May 2 during the USF Health graduation at the Yuengling Center.

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The USF Health Physician Assistant (PA) Program officially started May 8 when 30 students – the inaugural class – gathered in a lecture hall to begin their classes.

The excitement was palpable – faculty and administrators eagerly welcomed each student who arrived at the first-day orientation and students were all smiles as they came in and greeted each other.

The day many had been waiting for and working toward had finally arrived.

“We are more than excited for you all to be here,” said Todd Wills, MD, assistant dean and founding director of USF Health’s PA Program, in his welcoming remarks to the new class. “We have no doubt you’re going to succeed – you’re in a fantastic place where the facilities and faculty are top-notch.”

Dr. Todd Wills welcomes the charter class to the PA Program.

The USF Health PA Program was established to help meet the growing demand for health care providers, especially those in primary care. The program earned provisional accreditation in fall 2016, opening the application process and assuring applicants of a quality program.

The 30 students in the charter class include 21 women and 9 men. They were chosen from more than 1,500 applicants (50 to 1 ratio, or 2 percent). Of the 30 new students 23 are from Florida and seven from out of state.

Being part of a charter class is uncommon, said Bryan A. Bognar, MD, MPH, FACP, vice dean for Educational Affairs for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, at the start of the orientation.

“There is only one charter class,” Dr. Bognar said to the new students. “USF Health has seen phenomenal growth and you, sitting here today, are part of our continued growth.”

Dr. Bryan Bognar kicks off the first day for the USF Health PA Program.

In assuring them of the work ahead in the program, he added “This PA program is unparalleled.”

This first group includes many who saw the quality of USF Health’s program and were eager to be in the inaugural group. That includes first-year student Kelly Powell. Originally from Mississippi, Powel spent the past year in New York City as a medical assistant for a dermatology practice. She said she was confident when applying to the USF Health PA program because of its affiliation with the Morsani College of Medicine, the experience of its faculty, and the facilities that would be part of her training.

“Being part of the first class could be intimidating – they expect a lot out of you – but the big benefit is that they are flexible and want feedback for how to improve the program,” Powell said.

Also in the first class is Jensen Jozil, who saw the impact a PA can have on patient care when his mother needed emergency care at a hospital.

“I was really impressed,” said Jozil, a graduate of USF’s biomedical sciences program. “The PA was managing the entire case with professionalism and was a good source of knowledge for my mom’s condition. That’s when I really knew I wanted to be a PA.”

PA students spend a few minutes meeting each other before first-day orientation.

That kind of impact is just what program administrators were aiming for, said Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, senior vice president of USF Health and dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

“Physician assistants are on the frontline of patient care,” Dr. Lockwood said. “They work more closely with physicians than probably anyone else. They are trained to provide outstanding care for patients, to be able to assist physicians in operating rooms, as well as to provide primary care.”

The demand for PAs is huge, Dr. Lockwood added, and the statistics bear him out. The U.S. Department of Labor projects physician assistant jobs to grow 30 percent by 2024. Upon earning their certification, 63 percent of PAs accepted a clinical position and 75 percent of those received multiple job offers, according to a 2014 report by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants.

“There is a significant shortage of physicians, an extraordinary shortage of nurses, so the demand for physician assistants is enormous,” Dr. Lockwood said. “There are lot of programs that are being developed. There are very few, however, that are so well-grounded in academic practice as ours. And we think we’ll be able to provide our PA students with tools that will set them apart from other PA programs and lead to more exciting and interesting careers.”

Dr. Gretchen Koehler (center) welcomes the first-year PA students.

A PA program can offer a straightforward path to the profession, said Gretchen Koehler, PhD, associate vice president for USF Health and senior associate dean for Academics and Institutional Effectiveness for the Morsani College of Medicine.

“We are so pleased to be able to offer students another degree program, particularly one that is a two-year curriculum culminating with a terminal master’s degree, the highest degree awarded in the field,” Dr. Koehler said.

“The students in this program will be supported by the extensive USF Health network of faculty and providers. They will also participate in our intentionally designed team training sessions that bring all USF Health learners together. This model of learning capitalizes on the students’ shared interest in health and health care and allows them to more fully develop their unique areas of expertise.”

That interprofessional approach to learning is what attracted many of the charter students, along with USF Health’s training facilities, Dr. Wills said.

“Faculty and staff at USF Health set out to build a PA program that leveraged all of the strengths that already exist at USF Health and to deliver a dynamic curriculum to our first group of students,” Dr. Wills said.

“Among the strengths that exist here is a focus on interprofessional education. Unlike other PA programs, at USF Health students get to be in close proximity with nursing, public health, medical, and pharmacy students – exactly who they will collaborate with in the health care careers of the future. One thing we’ve noticed as health care has evolved is that no one practices in a silo anymore. Teamwork is especially important. So, from Day One, we are teaching our PA students how to be part of that team, to contribute to it with all of their expertise.”

USF Health PA Larry Collins gives new PA students a tour of the simulation lab.

Working in teams is the reality in today’s health care workplace, said Larry Collins, MPAS, PA-C, ATC, assistant professor of orthopaedics and sports medicine at USF Health and a faculty member for the USF Health PA Program.

“We work with physicians in a team setting along with nurse practitioners, pharmacists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and other health care providers to make sure that our families have the best health care they can get in our communities,” Collins said.

He also sees a PA career as being incredibly flexible.

“We’re trained as generalists, recertify as generalists every 10 years, and in doing so we have the opportunity to change our areas of specialty,” Collins said. “I have several colleagues and classmates from PA school who have switched to positions throughout their careers. They’re in a role they love, say the ER, but feel they need something different and they go work in a family practice setting, or maybe a dermatology setting.”

The new PA students in orientation on their first day at USF Health.

Back in the classroom, at the PA Program orientation, 30 people are sitting together as one inaugural class. Dr. Bognar notes the significance of the moment and reminds them to depend on each other.

“You are going to be a close-knit family,” Dr. Bognar said. “You’re going to pick one another up when you’re down, and you’re going to be together to celebrate your high points.”

The fact that the USF Health PA Program is new is not a problem for these inaugural students.

“It doesn’t feel like a new program – there’s no mad scramble,” Jozil said. “The admissions process has been very smooth.”

“Even in the interview, you could feel the excitement they have for the program,” said first-year PA student Ivana Karaban.

“It’s amazing and I’m really excited to be here,” Karaban said. “It feels incredible to be making history.”

The charter class for the USF Health PA Program.

Story by Sarah Worth, photos by Freddie Coleman, video by Sandra C. Roa, USF Health Communications

USF Health’s Physician Assistant program has been granted provisional accreditation by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). The designation allows the PA program, which is based in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, to begin accepting applications for the 30 spots that will make up the inaugural class that begins in May 2017.

“This is a great accomplishment, after years of planning, so we couldn’t be more thrilled,” said Todd Wills, MD, associate professor of infectious disease, assistant dean and founding director of USF Health’s PA degree program.

“And we’re not wasting any time before we start urging interested students to apply to be part of our charter class. Provisional accreditation is the first step in a 4 to 5 year process toward full accreditation, so prospective students can be assured when they apply that USF Health’s PA program has met the rigorous standards required to achieve the provisional accreditation designation.”

The Physician Assistant Program team includes, seated from left, Alexander Neff, Dr. Kaley Tash, Kathleen Flach, Adrienne Kinsella, and Dr. Gretchen Koehler. Standing, from left, are Larry Collins, William Ungureit, and Dr. Todd Wills.

PAs are nationally certified and state-licensed to practice medicine in partnership with physicians. PAs perform physical examinations, diagnose and treat illnesses, order and interpret lab tests, perform procedures, assist in surgery, provide patient education and counseling, and make rounds in hospitals and nursing homes. All 50 states, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia allow PAs to practice, order tests and procedures, and prescribe medications.

The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine’s PA Program was created to meet the high demand for primary care professionals, a demand that is unlikely to subside, said Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, senior vice president of USF Health and dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

“The health care landscape is rapidly evolving and will offer PAs ever-increasing, indispensable roles as an integral part of the patient’s health care team,” Dr. Lockwood said. “This is an incredible milestone for our college, and I’d especially like to applaud Drs. Todd Wills and Gretchen Koehler for their outstanding commitment to building a quality program that will meet the health care workforce needs for generations to come.”

More locally, the Florida Legislature recently passed legislation allowing PAs licensed in the state to prescribe controlled substances. And nationally, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently published a proposal to lift a longstanding ban that prevents PAs from providing medical care through the “Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly” (PACE).  The proposed rule (published on Aug. 16, 2016) would allow PAs to be utilized in the CMS program designed to help patients meet their health care needs in the community rather than in a nursing home or other inpatient facility.

The provisional accreditation for USF Health’s PA degree program is a result of a concerted effort across USF Health, Dr. Wills said, including an assessment by the accrediting body of how well this institution can support the program, the clinical experience, curriculum, clinical rotations, etc. This included on on-site visit by an ARC-PA team in June to confirm the program’s capability. This accreditation team will track the program’s progress over the next few years, culminating in a final evaluation after the charter class graduates two years from now.

This provisional accreditation status is a key step in the PA program and certifies that the USF program complies with the multiple standards of accreditation, including missions and goals, academic plan, student services, faculty hiring plan, and institutional support, Dr. Wills said.

The two-year PA program at USF Health offers three distinct advantages to other programs — it is part of the Morsani College of Medicine, it offers access to a state-of-the-art, multispecialty practice group with multiple sites across the Tampa Bay region, and it is part of USF Health’s inter-professional education framework.

“Our PA program will incorporate course material from across a range of disciplines that link naturally across all of USF Health’s colleges,” said Gretchen Koehler, PhD, associate vice president for academic program administration and Institutional Effectiveness for USF Health and senior associate dean for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

Physician Assistant Program team meeting.

“In doing so, PA students will share in a robust fund of knowledge that will be reinforced while working in clinical sites, hand-in-hand with medical, nursing, pharmacy, athletic training, and physical therapy students. Our students will have the knowledge, skills and practice to become fully engaged health care practitioners.”

The team approach that is central to USF Health is also a cornerstone of the PA program, Dr. Wills said.

Dr. Todd Wills, director of USF Health’s PA degree program.

“Being part a team is how our PAs will be working, so it’s a natural extension of USF Health that the PAs learn in these interdisciplinary teams,” Dr. Wills said. “Our PA students will be part of an academic health center, they will be right next to everyone who is doing cutting-edge practice the moment they begin their training with us.”

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications.