
ADVANCE for Physician Assistants ADVANCE editor Michael Gerchufsky appearing to be soon in need of medical attention, nearing the finish line of the 5K fun run at the AFPPA Fall Conference. (Photo courtesy of Barb Malat, PA-C)

I'm back in Pennsylvania after two days at the AFPPA Fall CME Conference and Exhibition at the Arizona Grand Resort in Phoenix. Upon my arrival at the conference, I was excited to hear the organization had broken all previous attendance records, with nearly 600 registered attendees...

ADVANCE for Physician Assistants Surprised to learn from an active-duty Army occupational therapist who's exhibiting for the Army at the AFPPA Fall Conference that there are only about 80 OTs in the entire U.S. Army. --Michael Gerchufsky

ADVANCE for Physician Assistants ADVANCE was up early for the AFPPA 5K Fun Run at the Fall Conference. ADVANCE also forgot to pack ADVANCE's camera USB cord, so photos to come later!

ADVANCE for Physician Assistants Photos from the Association of Family Practice Physician Assistants 2009 Fall Conference and Exhibition in Phoenix.

ADVANCE for Physician Assistants AFPPA Day 2: Excellent presentations today from Wendy Macey, PA-C, and Mimi Secor, NP. Barb Malat, PA-C, NP, is up next.

ADVANCE for Physician Assistants Surviving Finals Week: Jenna finds that the week of tests most students dread all semester isn't so bad after all.
Source: community.advanceweb.com
Finals week is here again. I've spent all semester learning an enormous amount of information, and now it's time to test how well I know it. In PA school, especially during finals week, it seems as though I've found myself frantically cramming all of

ADVANCE for Physician Assistants AFPPA is breaking records! The 2009 AFPPA Fall Conference will host more than 600 attendees and speakers, the meeting's highest attendance to date. Will you be there? If so, say hi to editor Michael Getchufsky and senior associate editor Terri Schaefer. We'd love to meet you!

A.T. Still University Arizona School of Health Sciences (ATSU-ASHS) alumnus Geoffrey Hoffa, PA-C, was recently named to the Arizona Regulatory Board of Physician Assistants (ARBoPA) by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer...

Since early 2009, Slava Maklar, PA-C, BS, and Nadia Fakira, RN, BA, MA, have dedicated their time to improving patient care on the neurosurgical floor where they work at Florida Hospital in Orlando...

ADVANCE for Physician Assistants You Can 'Have A Life' in PA School: The notion that PA school leaves no time for anything else in life is an intimidating lie.
Source: community.advanceweb.com
One of my roles at school is to be a student ambassador. I team up with a couple of my classmates to host prospective students on their interview day. We take them out to lunch and lead them on a tour across campus. Along the way, they ask me questions

ADVANCE for Physician Assistants A Viable Alternative: NCCPA specialty certification as it stands might harm the PA profession, but there could be another way.
Source: community.advanceweb.com
Editor's Note: Below is a blog post from Glen E. Combs, MA, PA-C, on the subject of PA specialty certification. Check back each Monday for a new post, and please feel free to leave comments. If you would like to contribute a blog entry, e-mail assistant

In honor of Halloween, we share with you today a spooky medical anomaly courtesy of the NPR Health Blog. "Ghost in the Brain: An 'Apparition Hemorrhage'" features a CT scan of a 68-year-old man in a deep coma...

ADVANCE for Physician Assistants Breast Cancer Awareness Month is almost over! Before October comes to a close, check out "The Faces of Breast Cancer, An Audio Slideshow."
Source: physician-assistant.advanceweb.com

ADVANCE for Physician Assistants To Screen or Not to Screen? Deciding whether to screen a patient for disease is a complicated task with potentially serious consequences.
Source: community.advanceweb.com
Recently in class we have focused on the utility of screening tests and how to determine whether or not the test will benefit or harm a specific patient. Before taking this class, I would have assumed that, in any case, knowing you have a disease or are





















