natl assoc. of pa's...about time....

[mailrn3]

WOW! the NAPA site looks awesome....great job!

~ Alan

[CairoDave]

I think the NAPA is not a bad idea on the surface. I like the idea that it may be able to fill the gap of PR and putting the identity of the profession "out there."

As previously noted in other posts, I would hate to see the profession diluted with multiple organizations going in different directions. Remember, there are more than 50 PA organizations out there! Having a national entity directly responsible for and directing the PR aspect is enticing but the challenge is daunting.

I would expect with all the "I'm in" statements there will be a dearth of actual work being done by these same people. There will be a core group doing the work with many "supporters" sitting on the sidelines taking pot shots at decisions and giving the usual lip service to "their" organization.[/font]

There should be plenty of opportunity to get the PA name out there through all the state organizations as well as the multiple specialty organizations. I would hope NAPA is able to tap into this vast group of PAs.

I would also like to take umbrage with the statement that NPs are better known than PAs. NPs are “nurses” and there are how many nurses out there compared to physicians and PAs put together? Of course they are better known, but their role in medicine is not that well known (IMHO). If fact, I am not sure that anyone can really put a handle on this fragmented and loosely supervised profession. I have had to explain what the PA profession is to about 2-3 persons/ year over the past several years. This is a far cry from explaining who I am to every patient, nurse, EMT, physician, etc. since starting as a PA in 1974! Any PA graduating within the last 15 years has absolutely no clue.

There is work to do by NAPA and I hope my prediction of apathy is wrong, but as a member of AAPA and the profession for over 30 years I’m not holding my breath. This is an unbelievable profession and I have seen amazing accomplishments by PAs. It is my unwavering belief that the best PR the profession has is that which is accomplished everyday by the individual PA providing quality medical care to patients. There is no better PR!

[EMEDPA]

It is my unwavering belief that the best PR the profession has is that which is accomplished everyday by the individual PA providing quality medical care to patients. There is no better PR!

the problem is most folks who see a pa think they have seen an excellent physician....despite introductions, lab coats, name tags, business cards, scripts, etc most folks still say "thanks doc" at the end of the visit.....
my barber, whose kids I take care of and who should know better, still calls me "dr emedpa" and when I call for an appt he says " I can fit you in a 2 o'clock doc", etc.....sigh......

[PACPhD]

The whole reason we started this organization is because the AAPA did little if nothing in the way of promoting our profession. They have even made statements to the effect that promotion of the profession is not an effecient use ot their funds. When we started the organization, I received a letter as president of my state PA chapter from the new AAPA PR chair. She said their master plan was for each one of us to find a person and explain to them what a PA was. Now that is some wicked plan. I am sure that now that our dues will be going up, their plans for future promotion will be even more complex and craftier than this one.

[CairoDave]

[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']I was hoping for something better than slamming the largest PA organization we have, but I guess you have to start somewhere. I am still waiting to see something in the way of forward movement with the NAPA, but is seems to be at a standstill while figuring out how to budge the massive apathy that prevails throughout the profession. [/FONT]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] [/FONT]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']I do understand the enormity of PR, (and that's basically what NAPA is a PR firm) the expense and the work to move things forward. I would expect to see something coming from this organization that would piggyback PA day/week as a possible inroad to expand the organization’s mission.[/FONT]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] [/FONT]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']Promotion of the profession begins with solid patient care and everything else is fluff. I would hope NAPA will expand on that foundation, that has taken so many years establish. Of course I'm a little biased since I was the PR committee chair when PA Day was established and launched.[/FONT]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] [/FONT]

[PACPhD]

You are right as to the slamming of the "largest PA organization". If they put even a reasonable effort into promoting our profession, we all would have no need to "slam" them, and for that matter, we wouldn't have to waste our time trying to do what the largest PA organization SHOULD be doing.

You state you know NAPA is "basically a PR firm". Sorry, we are not a firm. We are an organization. I don't know where you got that idea from.

We are happy that you would "expect" to see something coming from this organization that would piggyback PA day/week. We did that in a big way last year. We organized it with a large hospital and had 6000 people show up. Perhaps you feel that that in itself would make a lasting impression in the public's mind and change their impression of our profession. We need to do way more than one day of promotion to make a dent with our public image.

Promotion of our profession in most cases is way more than solid patient care. When I am done treating my patients in my ED they say "thanks doctor" no matter how many times I tell them I am a PA. So as far as my "solid patient care", they are happy I am a good doctor. They don't really relate to me being a PA.

So tell us what it is that you did as PA committee chair. The last I heard from the AAPA PR chair I received a letter 2 years ago as president of my state chapter telling me of their plan for promoting of our profession. They asked that each of us go out and find one person who doesn't know what the profession is and educate them. $15 million (perhaps more, perhaps less) in the bank, raising our dues, and that is the best they could come up with.

I see you have made two posts. I am guessing you are new to these threads. You also seem to have a fairly strong opinion of how we (NAPA) are falling down on the job. You seem to feel AAPA is doing a wonderful job as perhaps we should not be slamming them. Do us a favor and read all of this thread, and the dozens of other threads in this forum related to PR of our profession. Then, come back and tell us how you feel about the job AAPA is doing. Also, let us know the last time the AAPA personally took the time to not only read any of the thousands of comments listed by the thousands of PAs on this site, but when it was that they took the time to answer any of their concerns.

[lapelirroja]

Now that I'm officially a PA student and taking classes I was wondering if there were any updates on NAPA and what they have done recently? The News page on the website still says "coming soon." I'd love to contribute if it means promotion of the profession because not many people (even people in healthcare) know what I'm doing.

[PACPhD]

We apologize for not keeping up with letting everyone know what we have been doing lately. Our last endevor was a few weeks ago. We had our two Pharm-D's, both on our advisory board contact all 50 pharmacy boards with our policy statement on physician assistants writing prescriptions and how the pharmacy boards need to put the PAs name on the prescription, and not the physician's.

Pharmacy Policy Statement

Physician Assistants (PAs) are able to write prescriptions in all 50 states. It is an important part of the complete and encompassing medical care of their patients. It is imperative that prescriptions that are written by PAs state this fact. Unless otherwise ordered by state law, the physician assistant's name should be the name printed on the prescription label. The PAs name should be written as "John Smith, PA-C" (add appropriate designation as applicable). The prescription should not state Dr. Smith if the John Smith is a PA.

Labeling a prescription with a different clinician on the prescription other than the one who actually wrote it can lead to medication errors, significant delays in therapy, patient confusion, and is also against pharmacy laws in various states. In an office setting, the wrong clinician is consulted on a patient that many times they never saw. In a hospital or ED setting where there are hundreds of patients seen on a daily basis, the possibility of wrong clinician consultation and medication error are substantial.

The public as well as professional perception of the PA is sometimes misguided by old habits. The continuation of writing a physician's name, rather than the prescribing PAs name on the prescription bottle as well as paperwork continues the antiquated belief that "only your physician" can write XYZ medication. The National Association of Physician Assistants hopes that the continued education of individual pharmacists through a collaboration with the board of pharmacy in each state can help to acheive an understanding of the importance of this policy.

We received some very positive feedback from many of them and most have agreed to forward it to all their individual pharmacists through e-mail and newsletters.

We just did a major expansion of our website. We started taking advertising and will be pushing that as a (small) resource for income. It will also get us more exposure. Our store is open. We still have some pages that need updating.

It has taken us the last 6 months of meetings with our attorney and the IRS for our non-profit status to finally be approved. There are many behind the scenes chores with a national organization that constantly need to be attended to.

We have also been contacting many websites, editors, agencies, etc when we are advised by our members of incorrect PA information and mis-statements about our profession.

With regard to the long term, it is still a long uphill battle. We are working on our long time goal to get grants and Brian, our president is working with a large management company attempting to get some professional assistance to enable us to get better exposure with the pharmaceutical companies. We have so many ideas we are waiting to put forward but until more resourses open up, it will be at a pace that we have the immediate resources for.

As always, we are open to anyone who has some time and connections to offer our organization some assistance. We may be small, we may not have the resources that the "other" national organization has, but when was the last time the president or VP of that organization responded to an e-mail? When was the last time one of them read a posting on this forum group (membership like 12,000) and responded to it? This is the largest collection of PAs that I know of and the other organization is no where in sight. Just our way of trying harder for our members, as well as the profession.

[EMEDPA]

strong work steve and brian! thanks-emedpa

[brookspa]

New to the thread. NAPA am a member of my state and local orgs. neither seems to be getting the word ot so to speak. GAPA has as one of their primary goals the increasing of awareness of our profession. I do not live in the greater atlanta area so I guess i miss most of the radio / tv or whatever it is the do to bring about this awareness. What are you plans to do this??

[physasst]

We may be small, we may not have the resources that the "other" national organization has, but when was the last time the president or VP of that organization responded to an e-mail? When was the last time one of them read a posting on this forum group (membership like 12,000) and responded to it? This is the largest collection of PAs that I know of and the other organization is no where in sight. Just our way of trying harder for our members, as well as the profession.

As far as email, well if we are talking about that "other" national organization.

Then I would have to answer TODAY.

The leadership is receptive, more than you might think at least.

[PACPhD]

New to the thread. NAPA am a member of my state and local orgs. neither seems to be getting the word ot so to speak. GAPA has as one of their primary goals the increasing of awareness of our profession. I do not live in the greater atlanta area so I guess i miss most of the radio / tv or whatever it is the do to bring about this awareness. What are you plans to do this??

I would suggest you start at the beginning of this thread and read it and you will know what are plans are. Thanks.

Steve

[PACPhD]

As far as email, well if we are talking about that "other" national organization.

Then I would have to answer TODAY.

The leadership is receptive, more than you might think at least.

As we have said in the past our goals are to promote our profession, not to be in a contest with AAPA. If they are responding to emails we are very happy. If they are listening to the profession and starting to spend some of their money promoting our profession, then perhaps they are realizing that this is an important part of their responsibility as a national organization. We hope they keep up the good work.

Steve

[EMPAhopeful]

website looks great. one comment: the capitalizing of "PA" in all words that contain those letters is a little...tacky. Also, various capitalizations are necessary, such as MD instead of "md". It just looks better I guess.

(I'm really into grammar and english, so I notice such trivial things, haha)

[GrayMatters]

Nice site, but it's time to change the phrase "It's been almost 40 years...." to "It's been more than 40 years...."

(yeah, in speaking we'd say "over 40", it flows better, but that's grammatically incorrect so then you'd get more comments like these last 2 )