Vol. 17 • Issue 5 • Page 12
Stateside.
President: James Ginter, MPAS, PA-C
President-elect: Norine Friell, MPAS, PA-C
PAs on Dec. 31, 2008: 1,557
PAs on Dec. 31, 2003: 1,037
Mean total income in 2008 for full-time clinical PAs: $89,831
PA programs: Marquette University in Milwaukee; University of Wisconsin in Madison; University of Wisconsin-La Crosse/Gunderson Lutheran Medical Foundation/Mayo School of Health Sciences in La Crosse.
Regulations: PAs can prescribe noncontrolled and schedule II-V controlled medications as specified in guidelines developed by their supervising physicians. Supervising physicians are required to countersign patient charts. Off-site physician supervision is permitted with some limitations.
Legislation: WAPA is working to have the state's chart co-signature rule rescinded. Supervising physicians now must co-sign any chart with a new prescription and often end up co-signing more charts than are necessary. This can hinder PA practice in certain situations. The state legislature is considering a proposal to do away with the co-signature rule. "That would make life a thousand times easier for PAs in rural areas and others without a supervising physician on site," WAPA president James Ginter says.
Job market: Wisconsin has a significant number of PA job openings, Ginter says. "I think the market is very healthy, and there seem to be jobs for all of our new graduates in the state."
Conference: WAPA's fall confernece is slated for Oct. 7-9 at the Marriott Milwaukee West in Waukesha
Web site: www.wapa.org
-Stephen Cornell
Sources: Wisconsin Academy of Physician Assistants; American Academy of Physician Assistants
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