The Physician Associate Podcast

Hayley Arceneaux works as a physician assistant at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. As a child, Hayley was treated at St Jude's Hospital for cancer. Now a fully qualified PA, Hayley works with children in paediatric oncology.  At age 29, Arceneaux was the youngest American to travel to space, when she became an astronaut on SpaceX's first private spaceflight Inspiration4, and bec...

Have you ever doubted your skills, talents, or accomplishments as a physician associate? Do you have a persistent internal fear of being exposed as a fraud?  Chances are you are probably suffering an acute case of imposter syndrome. But what is the cure?  Hear from Multazim Zia who is a physiotherapist, and public speaker. Multazim also provides expertise in Medico-Legal Reports, Rehabilitation, M...

In this episode, I speak to Arjun Wara, a UK Physician Associate and university lecturer about the Healthcare Leadership Academy (HLA) and what this can bring to the PA profession. The HLA is a social educational enterprise, dedicated to nurturing future healthcare leaders in all disciplines. We speak about Arjun's career, the HLA and his HLA project during this episode.  You can connect with...

In this episode, I chat with Kevin Monk from technology and software company SARD JV. They provide workforce management software to the healthcare sector with simple and intuitive to use programmes. We chat about the ePortfolio system they have built for physician associates and how PAs can get involved in developing bespoke software and coding. You can connect with the Physician Associate Podcast...

In this episode, I spoke with PA Melanie Wedgbury who helps run the care home ward rounds as a physician associate in GP. Melanie talks about her journey to become a PA - from a young mother of 6 children who left school with no GCSEs - Melanie hopes to highlight how the PA role can open up a fantastic career in medicine for all sorts of people. You can connect with the Physician Associate Podcast...

In this episode, I speak to two PA students - Alana and Alex. At the time of recording, Alana Hart was the national PA student rep for the FPARCP, coming up to taking her national exams and Alexandra Ludkovsky who was a first year PA student. You can connect with the Physician Associate Podcast Twitter - @PApodcastUK Facebook - @PApodcastUK Instagram - @PApodcastUK

Thanks for listening to the Physician Associate Podcast. In the 2 years since I launched it, I've been amazed at how much fun I've had making the show and we're now close to 32,000 listens. Thanks for all of your kind messages about the show. If you have time, please leave a review on your podcasts app about the show to help spread the word, so that more people can find out about the P...

Debbie Jegede is a physician associate, and the rep for 'equality, diversity and inclusion' with the FPARCP. In this episode, I chat with Debbie about that role, we review some of the stats and data on the PA workforce, and discuss some of the issues that can affect PAs and PA students. You can connect with the Physician Associate Podcast Twitter - @PApodcastUK Facebook - @PApodcastUK Inst...

Hear from PA Aliena Sunny, who is a physician associate in gastroenterology. Aliena talks to us about what her job involves, and how she has made progress in her career as a PA so far.  You can connect with the Physician Associate Podcast Twitter - @PApodcastUK Facebook - @PApodcastUK Instagram - @PApodcastUK

As the role of a Physician Associate continues to grow more popular and familiar across Primary Care, I decided to dedicate this episode to taking that next step into the world of General Practice. We hear from Jasmine Kaur, a Specialist Recruitment Consultant at Menlo Park Recruitment. Jasmine uses her expertise knowledge of Primary Care and recruiting Physician Associates to highlight the import...

Physician associates require professional indemnity coverage in order to practice in the UK, which may be paid for by their employer but this should be discussed with the employer.  In order to find out more, I'm joined by Dr Emily Shepherd and Dr Richard Brittain from MDDUS to talk about what indemnity is, what physician associates need to know about indemnity and how to go about arranging co...

In this episode, I chat to PA Colin Groom - who works as a physician associate in oncology and haematology. Colin talks to us about the realities of being a mature student whilst at PA school, and some of the differences between a career in the sciences vs. a career in the NHS. Colin also talks about how physician associates work in oncology, the best and worst parts of his job, and how he sees th...

In this episode of the PA Podcast, I'm joined by Sean T. Robinson (DHSc, PA-C) who is the Director of PA Education at the only PA course in the Republic of Ireland based at the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland. And joined by Aoife Sartini-Bhreathnach - President Elect of the Irish Society of PAs. We learn all about PA training in Ireland, the history of the profession and some of the similari...

The NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme is an entrepreneurial work force development programme aimed at NHS staff and healthcare professionals, including physician associates and PA students. I hear from Prof Tony Young about how the programme brings together industry, government, regulators, patients and the NHS to remove barriers and accelerate the introduction of new ground-breaking treatments...

In this episode, I meet Dr Lewis Potter, the founder of Geeky Medics. Lewis's medical education videos and website has been accessed by many PA students and other healthcare professionals to learn; so it was fascinating to hear how Lewis got started in setting up Geeky Medics and how it has shaped his future career. You can find Geeky Medics online, or email Lewis herePlus keep listening all t...

Physician Associates can often be found working in acute medicine - the role includes seeing patients on the medical take and formulating differential diagnoses and management plans, partaking on ward rounds and seeing patients in clinics. We talk to PA Robert Deans who talks all about PAs in acute medicine, we touch on some of the additional training PAs can undertake to perform procedures such a...

There are many new roles in the NHS, not just physician associates. In this episode, I wanted to find out more about Surgical Care Practitioners, and how they work with doctors, PAs and other roles to deliver patient care. I met with Jon Broughton who is an SCP in urology, to compare how our two professions have evolved and developed, the scope of practice and how new roles are emerging to help su...

In this special episode, I was invited onto the SARDisms podcast. SARD JV are a company who work in everything from healthcare procurement, software, digital strategy, medical education - with a bit of comedy, gratitude and amateur dramatics thrown in too. You can connect with the Physician Associate Podcast Twitter - @PApodcastUK Facebook - @PApodcastUK Instagram - @PApodcastUK

Silothabo Dliso was the UK's first Physician Associate to work in paediatric clinical research and is also the chair of the RCP Research Committee. In this episode, Silo shares with us his experience of working as a PA in research and gives some top tips for other PAs who would like to get involved in research. Tap here to find out more about the NIHR work into physician associates or get in t...

In this episode, I meet Geert van den Brink is director of the PA education program at the HAN University of applied sciences. He has been involved with the development of the PA profession in the Netherlands since 2002. We talk about how the profession got started, some of the obstacles PAs in the Netherlands have had to overcome (surprisingly similar compared to the UK) and what the future might...

Today I sat down with Sofia Hiramatsu, CEO & Co-Founder of the first education platform set up specifically for physician associates in the UK - Matrix Education. Sofia qualified as a physician associate in 2018, and has experience working in variety of settings in primary care. Sofia talks candidly about her struggles as a PA student, and how they became the inspiration behind starting the co...

This might be the most important episode I think I've ever made of the podcast. In it, I am lucky enough to speak with Liz O'Riordan, who worked as a consultant breast surgeon, until she was diagnosed with breast cancer herself. Liz talks frankly about what it is like being on the other end of treatment, as a patient with expert knowledge of the disease, how we can look after our colleague...

In this episode, I chat with Tista Chakravarty-Gannon who is the Regional Liaison Adviser at the General Medical Council. We talk all about what standards the GMC will set for the Physician Associate profession. The consultation on Good Medical Practice is open until 20th July 2022, and you can get involved in shaping the future professional standards for Doctors, PAs and AAs by tapping here Or if...

In this episode, I meet Lottie Lewis - a Physician Associate in Interventional Radiology at St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Lottie gives us an insight into the speciality as well as talking about what to expect regarding ordering ionising radiation, once regulation is announced. If you'd like to find out more about PAs in IR, please contact her on laura.lewis@stgeorg...

In this episode, I chat with PA Amy Tullin, about her years of experience as a physician associate in emergency medicine. We find out more about the good points of a career in EM, some of the challenges, and how PAs can develop their skills and career progression.  You can contact Amy through her email. You can connect with the Physician Associate Podcast Twitter - @PApodcastUK Facebook - @PApodca...