PAstudentCanada Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Hi all, As I live near Toronto I feel like I don't have much reason not to attend the upcoming conference. However, money is an issue for me and I would have to borrow the funds to go. What exactly will I get out of attending? Should I go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator True Anomaly Posted May 9, 2012 Moderator Share Posted May 9, 2012 As you are a student, the academic side of it shouldn't be the main draw. When I went to AAPA as a student, the biggest benefit was making connections with as many PA's as I could. You have the potential to meet PA's from every specialty there is, and also representatives from all the PA specialty organizations out there- they all have reception parties at the AAPA conference. The PA world is a very small world- if in talking to a PA about a particular job or specialty, it turns out that they can't help you personally, they will know someone who can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAstudentCanada Posted May 9, 2012 Author Share Posted May 9, 2012 Yes, and given that I am Canadian trained (and therefore not allowed to work as a PA in the USA) and am looking for a job in Ontario I figure that even that would be of little to no benefit, no? As you are a student, the academic side of it shouldn't be the main draw. When I went to AAPA as a student, the biggest benefit was making connections with as many PA's as I could. You have the potential to meet PA's from every specialty there is, and also representatives from all the PA specialty organizations out there- they all have reception parties at the AAPA conference. The PA world is a very small world- if in talking to a PA about a particular job or specialty, it turns out that they can't help you personally, they will know someone who can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator True Anomaly Posted May 9, 2012 Moderator Share Posted May 9, 2012 Yes, and given that I am Canadian trained (and therefore not allowed to work as a PA in the USA) and am looking for a job in Ontario I figure that even that would be of little to no benefit, no? If I'm reading you right- that because you're Canadian-trained and looking for a job in Ontario that it makes it even harder to find a job than in the US- then yes, it would only help even more to find a job that's right for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAstudentCanada Posted May 9, 2012 Author Share Posted May 9, 2012 No. Since it is an American conference with American pas I don't think it will be of benefit to me in that respect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator True Anomaly Posted May 9, 2012 Moderator Share Posted May 9, 2012 I'm telling you, the entire PA world is a small world. Just because it's an "American" conference with "American" PA's, there will be plenty of PA's there who practice in Canada....since the conference is in Canada. And there will be plenty of American PA's who know people practicing in Canada who can point you in the right direction. It's worth a shot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted May 9, 2012 Moderator Share Posted May 9, 2012 agree with TA above. healthforce ontario actually has a booth at aapa conferences most years. I spoke directly with Dr. Tepper, the ontario health minister, at the aapa conference in san francisco a few years ago about working as a pa in ontario. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAstudentCanada Posted May 9, 2012 Author Share Posted May 9, 2012 agree with TA above. healthforce ontario actually has a booth at aapa conferences most years. I spoke directly with Dr. Tepper, the ontario health minister, at the aapa conference in san francisco a few years ago about working as a pa in ontario. Thanks, that's good to know. Josh Tepper was one of the Assistant Deputy Ministers of Health of Ontario and was instrumental in getting PAs going in Ontario. He is now VP of Education at Sunnybrook Health Sciences in Toronto. I would really like to see the US market opened to Canadian-trained PAs as I have had a long-held interest in living in the USA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted May 9, 2012 Moderator Share Posted May 9, 2012 I would really like to see the US market opened to Canadian-trained PAs as I have had a long-held interest in living in the USA. I would like to see this as well. it is a necessary next step in the evoluation of the pa concept. if the programs in canada and england could be accredited by american standards then canadians could get reciprocity to practice here and we could get it to practice in canada and england without the current hoops we have to jump through. we also need a consistent national scope of practice and prescribing laws. a pa in north carolina should have the same scope of practice as a pa in ohio or louisianna. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkuhns1 Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Not sure what the 'hoops' are that you speak of but I, an American-trained and certified PA paid the application fee and took the Canadian exam --successfully. So no hoops there. In keeping with the model where by Canadian-trained docs are able to work in the US, I agree it would be good to have a similar mechanism for Canadian PAs to work in the US. However, there has been resistance from many American PAs to even explore that. ("That would mean even more competition in an already saturated American market!") As for the matter of US trained-PAs working in the UK, out of ~150 PAs currently in Britain and Scotland, there are presently about 20 American PAs and at least 1 Canadian certified PA, who all had to show evidence of graduation from ARCPA program, evidence of ongoing CME and then had to apply to the UK PA register in order to practice. http://www.paregister.sgul.ac.uk/ It costs a bit of money but nothing extreme. So far the UK is the only place that allows for experienced US, Canadian, and European-trained PAs (Dutch and soon ... German) to work there. And for what it is worth, all are 'Physician Assistants' and no plans to change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkuhns1 Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Absolutely you should attend. Beyond the educational sessions, it is all about networking, and with PAs from the US, Canada, Australia, and the Netherlands, (and hopefully a few more countries) there simply is no other venue where you will have such opportunities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted May 9, 2012 Moderator Share Posted May 9, 2012 the extra exam is a hoop(not one that would stop me but a pain as it is only given once./yr). nccpa cert accepted as equivalent would be nice. David sorry to miss you at sempa, I was looking forward to your talk but I understand you had family issues to contend with. perhaps you could reschedule for next yr in las vegas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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