The annual fall conference of the Association of Family Practice Physician Assistants in Monterey, Calif., in November 2011 featured the AFPPA's first poster presentation competition. Here are the winners and runners-up of the competition. ADVANCE thanks Rick Pope, MPAS, PA-C, DFAAPA, chair of the AFPPA's Research and Education Committee, for organizing the poster contest and furnishing the information here.
1st Place, Graduate Gallery
Terri H. Clawson PA-C, DHSc
"Using Pictograms for Communication"
As part of her doctoral degree at A.T. Still University, Terri performed original research that will help others communicate across languages by using pictograms.
Affiliation: Doctor of Health Sciences, A.T. Still University, Mesa, Ariz.
Terri Hopkins Clawson earned her doctor of health sciences degree from A.T. Still University with an emphasis in global health. She graduated from the Quinnipiac University physician assistant program in Hamden, Conn. She works at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., and has a fondness for remote areas, having worked in Martin, S.D., a small community located between two Indian reservations (Pine Ridge and Rosebud); on the 39-square-mile Pacific island of Tinian in the Northern Mariana Islands (where she served as chief of staff and laboratory director); and on the USNS Mercy during the U.S. Navy's Pacific Partnership 2010, which set anchor in Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and Timor-Leste. Her applied research project upon which she based this poster presentation was born of her experiences on the Mercy. Her future plans include humanitarian medical missions in the developing world, affiliated with LDS Charities.
1st Place, Student Gallery
Christina C. Cheng, PA-S
"Recurrent Intussusception Secondary to a Viral Illness in a 20-Month-Old Male"
This case study presented to the emergency department at which Christina was on a clinical rotation.
Affiliation: Quinnipiac University Physician Assistant Program, Hamden, Conn.
Christina C. Cheng grew up in the Silicon Valley and began her academic career in both computer science and the biological sciences. While attending the University of California, Irvine, she actively contributed to her university and community by serving as a campus tour guide, a clinical researcher, a student advocate and a hospital volunteer. Upon graduation, Christina continued to use her interest in the high-tech industry and in biological science to seek valuable personal and professional experiences as diverse as the San Francisco Bay Area itself. She worked as a computer programmer/analyst, a design editor for the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine and as a research manager for a stem cell laboratory, all while continuing to pursue her education in medicine. Notably, she served as a medical assistant for AmeriCorps-HealthCorps, performing street outreach and providing medical services for San Francisco's homeless community from a mobile medical van. Christina remained actively involved in medical outreach and student associations while pursuing her degree at Quinnipiac University, serving as the 2010-2011 PA Foundation student representative for the Student Academy of the American Academy of Physician Assistants. Most recently, she participated in two medical service programs in the Dominican Republic, helping bring basic medical care to impoverished and underserved communities there.
Honorable Mention, Graduate Gallery
Kenneth E. Korber, PA, PhD
"Qualitative Assessment of Information-Seeking Behavior and Learning Preferences among Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners"
This comparative analysis looks at how NPs and PAs obtain medical information in their respective medical practices. The conclusion is interesting in that there are differences.
Affiliation: University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago
Kenneth E. Korber is a clinical associate at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. When asked about his presentation, Kenneth says, "This project is part of my overall research on the topic of inter-professional education and the effectiveness of continuing medical education on changing patient care outcomes. The data presented in the poster represent the first publication of learning preferences among PAs and NPs. A similar survey instrument has been distributed to osteopathic physicians through the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians."
Honorable Mention, Graduate Gallery
Tracy G. Civitillo, MHS, PA-C
"Medical Mission to Honduras: Focus on Asthma"
Medical mission work is Tracy's passion, and in this poster she emphasizes outcomes analysis for asthma and characterizes the unique population she has served over the past several years.
Affiliation: Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Hartford, Conn.
Tracy G. Civitillo has heard it said, "A person will either do a single mission, or a lifetime of missions." Once she experienced firsthand the medical needs of the impoverished - and the gratitude generated in both the patients and herself - she was firmly in the second category.
Honorable Mention, Graduate Gallery
Edward Giarrusso, MPAS, RPA-C, DFAAPA
"The 13-Year Experience of Stony Brook Physician Assistant Program Faculty and Students in a Medical Mission to Guatemala"
For the last 13 years, the Stony Brook University PA program faculty and students have undertaken a medical mission to Guatemala. Professor Edward Giarrusso chronicles the trip and provides solid evidence that medical mission work has long-term positive health outcomes.
Affiliation: Stony Brook University Physician Assistant Program, Stony Brook, N.Y.
Edward Giarrusso, MPAS, RPAC, DFAAPA, is a clinical assistant professor at the Stony Brook University PA program. His presentation is titled "The 13-Year Experience of Stony Brook Physician Assistant Program Faculty and Students in a Medical Mission to Guatemala."
Honorable Mention, Student Gallery
Kathleen Boyle, PA-S
"Effect of an Educational Intervention on Risk Behaviors of Tanzanian Methadone Maintenance Patients"
Kathleen inspires us to bring our interests and talents to different parts of the world. In this unique poster, she produces a remarkable evaluation of a drug-addicted population in sub-Saharan Africa.
Affiliation: Yale University Physician Associate Program, New Haven, Conn.
Kathleen Boyle, a PA student at Yale University, says, "The opportunity to travel abroad and conduct research with a previously untreated methadone population provided incredible insight to the people of Tanzania and the spirit of a patient committed to change. Presenting at the AFPPA conference will give me a glimpse into the professional research careers of PAs across the nation and motivate my desire to be a culturally sensitive and academically driven clinician."
Honorable Mention, Student Gallery
Danielle Lyons, PA-S
"Ecuador Medical Mission 2011"
Danielle traveled on a medical mission to Ecuador with her PA student colleague, Kelly Willard. Offered the opportunity to present a formal poster, Danielle took advantage of her valuable overseas experience and turned it into something more. She provides a great example of how to analyze a medical mission and look at it critically.
Affiliation: Stony Brook University Physician Assistant Program, Stony Brook, N.Y.
Danielle Lyons is a student at Stony Brook University. Her presentation partner is Kelly Willard, PA-S. "Our medical mission meant a lot to us in terms of education and individual growth. We've learned the importance of recording and documenting statistical data so that we may verify and prove that these missions do in fact make a difference," Danielle says.