The PA Path Podcast

We speak with Ms. Laura Gerstner, Associate Program Director with Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina about her path to becoming a PA, her program, and her state and national leadership.

This week we speak with Dr. Dana Sayre-Stanhope, Professor and Department Chair for the Point Loma Nazarene University Department of PA Studies. Dr. Sayre-Stanhope shares her vision for the San Diego program and she describes her own path to the PA profession. She also highlights many of the other programs she developed in her illustrious career as well as her leadership contributions in the vario...

In honor of National Coming Out Day and National PA Week we speak with Josef Burwell, MS, PA-C about his path to becoming a PA, his mission work around the world, and his transition to becoming a male while working with the Central Intelligence Agency as a PA.

In our first episode back from break we speak with Dr. Pangela Dawson about her path to becoming a PA and about the Morehouse School of Medicine PA Program. We also speak about racial justice and leadership approaches to difficult conversations.

Steph and Kevin reflect on the lessons learned in Season 2 and give a brief glimpse of Season 3.

We speak with Dr. Elana Min and Mr. Sam Ritchey who provide their time and valuable insights about the ideal applicant for their hybrid PBL PA program in Chicago. We also speak about PAs in education and Dr. Min's passion for research. 

We speak with Dr. Davison about her numerous contributions to the PA profession as a PhD, a Program Director, a Founder of the OU-Tulsa PA program, and as a researcher and accreditation expert. We also talk about the impact and cycle of mentorship.

We speak with Ms. Karen Hills, MS, PA-C; Chief of Educational Development for PAEA about her path to becoming a PA, her various roles in the profession, and about some of the trends in PA education.

We speak with Dr. Brian Lauf about the developing program at the University of Nevada-Reno. We learn about his path to becoming a PA and about his unique background in the profession. We also discuss the changes taking place nationally for the profession and he shares his perspective from his 25 years as a PA.

We speak with Dr. Kevin Schuer from the University of Kentucky about his path to becoming a PA, about the University of Kentucky PA Department; and about his career as a professional musician with a band called The Schuers. The session includes some excerpts from their 2001 album Step Outside.

We speak with Dr. Justine Strand de Oliveira, former PAEA President and Division Chief for Duke University's PA program about her path to becoming a PA; her state, national, and international leadership roles; and her new journey as a fiction author with her new novel "The Moon is Backwards".

This week we speak with Tyler Smith, MPH, Senior Director for Government Relations with the Physician Assistant Education Association. Tyler and I speak about student involvement in advocacy, the National Health Service Corps, and other key issues PAEA is tackling for the profession.

Today we speak with Dr. Daniel Park, Director of the Keck Medicine Urology Fellowship for PAs. Dan and I talk about the pros and cons of a post-graduate fellowship, his doctoral degree, and his leadership.

We speak with Stephen Neal, MPAP, PA-C who serves as the Chief of Staff for the Chinle Comprehensive Health Facility, an IHS facility in northern Arizona. He has worked here since 2016 as a PA in Family Practice and clinical informatics.  We speak about COVID-19 and the impact on the Navajo Nation, the National Health Service Corps, and financial literacy for PAs.

Steph and I have a delightful conversation with Drs. Ritsema and Hermann from the George Washington University Physician Assistant Program. We learn about their program and about their roles in the Physician Associate movement in the United Kingdom and with the National Health Service Corps. We also discuss some different perspectives on the doctoral degree for PAs.

We speak with Mr. Quinten van den Driesschen, MPA about the PA profession in the Netherlands and his nearly two decades serving as a PA in their health system. We also learn of a very unique model of education that pays students to go to PA school while serving their sponsoring institution along the way.

We speak with Prof. Dr. Marcus Hoffman who is widely known as the father of the German PA profession about the origin of their model, their current path, and some of the curriculum differences between the U.S. model and the German model. We also talk about his work with the Euro PA-C movement as well.

We speak with Dr. Lisa Mustone Alexander about the physician associate profession in Ireland. Dr. Alexander shares her insights on the differences between the Royal College of Surgeons' programme and most U.S. PA programs and she explains the challenges and rewards of helping the profession grow in the Emerald Isle.

Mr. Ian Jones, MPAS, PA-C, CCPA, DFAAPA is a certified PA in Canada and in the United States. Trained at the University of Washington MEDEX Northwest PA Program, Mr. Jones went on to serve in Alaska and Manitoba, Canada before being asked to lead the University of Manitoba Physician Assistant Program. He is an international leader and past president of the Canadian Association of PAs. He shares hi...

Welcome to Season 2! We start this season by learning from one of our profession's national treasures, Ms. Ruth Ballweg, MPA, PA-C Emeritus. Ruth shares her story as one of the pioneers of our profession as well as her work on supporting the international growth of the profession with the support of the NCCPA. She highlights the challenges of being a woman in the early days of the profession and h...

Stephane and Kevin take time to look back at the first season including the who, what, where, when, and why that was shared in episode 1. They review the themes that came up along with a sneak preview of Season 2.

We speak with Claire Norman, MSJ and Sara Diosdado-Ortiz, MBA about the Primary Care Physician Assistant Program at the Keck School of Medicine for the University of Southern California. We talk about their focus on diversity, leadership, and technology in their curriculum and Claire shares some stories about the program while Sara shares tips for applicants.

We speak with Harrison Reed, MMS, PA-C about the challenge for pre-PAs in navigating applications to PA schools as well as the issues around paid consultants and disadvantages to many applicants. We also talk about his social media presence and focus.

Dr. Carolyn Bradley-Guidry is the Assistant Dean for Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Affairs for the UT Southwestern School of Health Professions and she is a national leader on diversity as well. We speak about her path to becoming a PA via nursing, her path to education, and the challenges of degree creep for the profession as it relates to diversity.