2016 was a busy year for PAs, however over the past year the SDPA has been hard at work for you. We wanted to take a moment to share some of our ongoing efforts to continue to empower, educate and advance your future.
- Throughout 2016 we advocated for PAs in response to the NCCPAs proposed changes to the PANRE. In addition to our formal position statements, SDPA and NCCPA leadership met in person to discuss our concerns. In August the NCCPA announced they would drop SA and PI CME requirements and in November of 2016 they announced they would be dropping their pursuit to make significant changes to the recertification exam process.
- SDPA leadership and members responded to a number of published articles throughout the year to ensure PAs were accurately represented. Check out “Response to ‘Elephant in the Room of Dermatology’” and “Response to ‘Device Delegation, Don’t get Burned’” and “Response to ‘Incident-to Billing Some Clarification Needed’”
- The SDPA has been working tirelessly to build the new Diplomate Fellowship. The program will be a corner stone education course for both new and seasoned PAs covering more than 70 hours of learning across 21 different modules.
- In January we relaunched www.dermpa.org with a fresh look and increased member functionalities. In November we launched our new online members-only Social Community.
- The SDPA teamed up the AAPA and PAs for Latino Health Caucus to target legislation authorizing PA practice in Puerto Rico.
- As we have done in past years, SDPA leaders met with AAD leadership in March to address continuing concerns regarding the AAD’s position statement and Dermcare Team.
- Our Public Education Committee has embarked on a project to identify dermatology specific PQRS Measures.
- In May our House of Delegates (HOD) Committee and Board fully endorsed an AAPA Board resolution on elimination of high stakes recertification testing for PAs.
- In June we launched our “Find a Dermatology PA” search which allows the public to search for a dermatology PA is their area.
- We launched a Task force on Corporate Buyouts of Dermatology Practices to investigate what PAs need to know about this growing trend.
- In August we launched our new Learning Center where we can house all online learning courses and shortly afterwards we launched a number of new online learning opportunities including: video recorded conference sessions and two Performance Improvement (PI) courses.
- We formed a new Task Force on Full Practice Authority that will work in conjunction with the AAPA.
- The Student Affairs Committee began collecting volunteer mentors, students and young professionals for the development of our new mentorship program.
- In December of 2016 the SDPA released a formal position statement in full support of the AAPA’s Future of PA Practice Authority Proposal.
We have so much in store for 2017 and we can't wait to get started. Wishing you happy holidays and a happy New Year!
SDPA Membership Committee
Sara M. Wilchowski MS, PA-C
Francine Phillips MPAS, PA-C
Category
SDPA News
Advocacy
