Johns Creek, GA, Jan. 30, 2015 Ramon E. Fry II, who works at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center in Ft. Hood, Texas, is one of only 240 certified physician assistants (PA-Cs) nationally to recently earn a specialty cre-dential called a Certificate of Added Qualifications (CAQ) from the National Commission on Certification of Physician As-sistants (NCCPA). Fry was awarded a CAQ in Emergency Medicine, a distinc-tion earned by meeting licen-sure, education and experience requirements and then pass-ing an exam in the specialty. He is one of 52 certified PAs in Texas and approximately 800 nationally to earn a CAQ since the program’s inception in 2011. Fry retired from the U.S. Army after 22 years of service and was the Assistant Program Director for the U.S. Army-Baylor Emergency Medicine PA Residency.

FORT HOOD PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT EARNS NATIONAL RECOGNITION

October 2015 The Society of Army Physician Assistants A Civilian Organization Recognizing Army PA’s

SAPA Journal The Society of Army Physician Assistants A Civilian Organization Recognizing Army

PA’s

Inside this issue:

Fort Hood PA Earns National Recognition 1

LTC Frank Ledford Award Recipient 3

COL Mary Lipscomb Hamrick Award recipi-ent

3

COL CSL List 4

SAPA Scholarship 5

FY15 LTC Results 6

SP AOE Recipients 6

SSL Selection 7

TSG-PARA Recogni-tion Award 7

Making History 8

US Basic Skills 9

SAPA BOD 13

9A Recipients 14

TSG-PARA 15

SAPA Tele-Conference 16

LTG Frank Ledford Interview 18

Retirement Services Program 21

Request for Volun-teers 23

SAPA IT Info 26

SAPA Emails 27

Chaplain’s Corner 28

Presidents Notes 29

SAPA POC’s 30

Ramon E. Fry II

“Certified PAs are in high demand because they are valued as medical providers who deliver quality care to the patients they serve,” says Dawn Morton-Rias, Ed.D., PA-C, president and CEO of NCCPA. “Now in addition to their primary certification, PAs in seven specialties can also earn a CAQ as an objective as-sessment of their specialty knowledge and skills. This combined with their general medical education are just two of the many reasons that demand for PAs is increasing in every clinical setting and specialty area.” CAQs are offered to certified PAs in cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, emergency medicine, orthopae-dic surgery, nephrology and psychiatry, and for the first time in 2014, hospital medicine and pediatrics. Certified PAs are licensed and certified health care professionals who practice medicine. Certified PAs can take histories, conduct physical exams, diagnose and treat illnesses, order and interpret tests, coun-sel on preventative health care, assist in surgery, perform a variety of procedures and write prescrip-tions. About the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) is the only certifying organiza-tion for physician assistants (PAs) in the United States. The PA-C credential is awarded by NCCPA to PAs who fulfill certification, certification maintenance and recertification requirements. There are approxi-mately 102,000 certified PAs in the U.S. today. NCCPA also administers the Certificate of Added Qualifica-tions (CAQ) program for experienced, certified PAs practicing in seven specialties. For more information, visit www.NCCPA.net.

Contact: Mary Rittle, PR Manager

maryr@nccpa.net 678-417-8142

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SAPA Journal

Fellow SPs,

On behalf of the SP Corps Chief, the Assistant Corps Chiefs, and the SP Corps Leadership Team, congratulations to the following recipient of the 2014 LTG Frank Ledford Award:

CPT Joseph T. Costello, D.Sc., PA-C

Emergency Medicine, WBAMC Ft. Bliss, TX

The Lieutenant General Frank Ledford Award is awarded to the most outstanding active duty

physician assistant post-graduate student. Nominees for this award must be certified by National Commis-sion on

Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA), in good standing with credentials, and a post-graduate student of a Doctorate of Science or PhD program.

Ladies & Gentlemen,

On behalf of the Corps Chief, please join me in congratulating the following recipients of the 2015 COL Mary Lipscomb Hamrick (MLH) SP Corps Research Awards:

SP Corps Abstract Award

CPT Joseph Costello, DSc, PA-C

The SP Corps Abstract Award recognizes recently completed research that has not been published.

The nominees to be recognized are the first authors listed on the abstract.

2014 LTG Frank Ledford Award Recipient

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2015 COL Mary Lipscomb Hamrick SP Corps Research Award Recipients

Fellow SPs,

On behalf of the SP Corps Chief, COL Nikki Butler, congratulations to the following active component individuals selected on the FY16 COL and LTC AMEDD Centralized Selection List (CSL) - Command and

Key Billets:

PRIMARY SELECTS:

LTC Robert Heath (65D)

ALTERNATE SELECTS:

COL John Balser (65D)

LTC John Detro (65D)

LTC Michael Franco (65D)

LTC David Hamilton (65D)

MAJ(P) Amy Jackson (65D)

LTC James Pairmore (65D)

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SAPA Journal

FY16 COL and LTC AMEDD Centralized Selection List (CSL) -

Command and Key Billets

Congratulations to the Scholarship Award Recipients: There were two awardees this year that will re-ceive $1000.00 for support of their scholarship in pursuit on a PA education. They are:

Jon G. Moore Jr Waynesville, Mo.

Son of Jon & Laurie Moore. Jon will be attending his freshman year at the Academy of the Arts University, San Francisco, California beginning August, 2015

Rhiannon Moore Waynesville, Mo. 65583

Daughter of Jon & Laurie Moore. Rhiannon will be attending her junior year at Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro, Kentucky.

The SAPA Executive Director sent email to 497 current SAPA members announcing our 2015 Scholarship Awards. The email included: During our recent SAPA Board of Director’s Meeting, we authorized three (3), $1,000.00 scholarships to be given this year. There is no formal application form but a packet must be submitted by the applicant. This must include (but is not limited to): a. Letter of application for the grant. This should include: an introduction, why the grant is needed, edu-cational goals, goals for the future, anything else that would be of interest to the scholarship commit-tee. In this section should be the full name of the SAPA member sponsor to confirm eligibility. b. A letter of acceptance to a school. c. A listing of activities and achievements. d. A recent transcript of grades. e. A recent head and shoulders passport size photograph. Two packets were received. Both scholarship packets were complete and students fully qualified. Dur-ing the BOD telephone conference, approval was given for these scholarships be awarded without using the full Scholarship Committee since there were three scholarships and only two packets.

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SAPA Journal

SAPA 2015 Scholarship Award Winners

On behalf of the SP Corps Chief, Deputy Corps Chief, and the SP Corps Leadership Team, please join me in congratulating the following individuals selected for Lieutenant Colonel in FY 2015:

MAJ (P) Michael Davidson, 65D

MAJ (P) James Jones, 65D

MAJ (P) Dustin Martin, 65D

MAJ (P) Johnny Paul, 65D

MAJ (P) James Schmid, 65D

On behalf of the SP Corps Chief and the SP Corps Leadership Team (Active & Reserve), congratulations to the following recipients of the Chief, Army Medical Specialist Corps Award of Excellence (AOE) for CY

2014:

RESERVE COMPONENT RECIPIENTS CPT Brian Neurohr, 65D

This award provides personal recognition by the Chief, Army Medical Specialist Corps to Active and Re-

serve Component officers for excellence in leadership, job performance, and self-improvement.

The AOE is an annual award presented to one Active Army company grade officer from each of the Occu-pational Therapist, Physical Therapist, and Dietitian Sections of the Army Medical Specialist Corps and one

Reserve Component officer from each of the Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist, Dietitian, and Physician Assistant Sections of the Army Medical Specialist Corps who have made outstanding contribu-

tions to the accomplishment of military medicine in his/her respective field.

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SAPA Journal

FY15 LTC AMEDD Selection Board Results

CY 2014 SP Corps Award of Excellence (AOE) Recipients

Ladies & Gentlemen,

On behalf of the SP Corps Chief, Assistant Corps Chiefs, and the entire SP Corps Office, congratulations to the following individuals selected for FY15 (AY2016-2017) SSC.

LTC Roberto Marin (65D)

LTC Jeffrey Oliver (65D)

LTC Dawn Orta (65D)

LTC James Pairmore (65D)

Fellow SPs,

On behalf of the SP Corps Chief, the Physician Assistant Section Chief, and the SP Corps Leadership Team, congratulations to the following recipient of The Surgeon General’s Physician Assistant

Recognition Award (TSG-PARA) for 2015:

MAJ John B. Robinson Defense Medical Readiness Training Institute

JBSA Fort Sam Houston, TX

The annual TSG-PARA provides personal recognition by TSG to a PA who has made a significant contribu-tion to military medicine. The award is intended to increase PA motivation for exceptional job perfor-

mance. The program applies to all commands, agencies, installations, activities, and organizations hav-ing PAs assigned on a full-time basis.

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SAPA Journal

FY15 AMEDD Senior Service College (SSC) Selection Board

2015 The Surgeon General’s Physician Assistant Recognition Award (TSG-PARA)

Fellow 65Ds,

Please join me in congratulating MAJ Saibatu Mansaray-Knight as the first medical officer to be selected as the Army military aide to the vice president of the United States. As a rising star in our community,

her distinct accomplishments not only represent personal excellence, but serve to bolster the enabling ability of the Army PA across the entire AMEDD and for the profession at large.

You can find the AAPA online article on MAJ Mansaray at https://www.aapa.org/twocolumn.aspx?id=2147485202

Congratulations MAJ Mansaray!

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SAPA Journal

Making PA History at the White House

Ultrasound, due to its

portability, represents an ideal

clinical adjunct for use in the

austere locations to which our

clinicians frequently deploy.

Training in point-of-care ultra-

sound is rapidly being incorpo-

rated into medical school cur-

ricula, and ultrasound is in-

creasingly being utilized by a

myriad of clinicians including

SOF medics, EMS personnel, yet

there remains very limited formal

training in clinical ultrasound

available to Army clinicians, PAs in

particular, despite an increasing

number of studies which suggest

that non-physician clinicians can

utilize ultrasound safely and effec-

tively. In order to mitigate this

training shortfall, the Clinical Ul-

trasound Basic Skills (CUBS)

Course was conducted at Joint

Base Lewis McChord on 04-05

June. The course, conducted by

Madigan Army Medical Center’s

Students practice ultrasound-guided placement of a central venous catheter.

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SAPA Journal

Clinical Ultrasound Basic Skills Course conducted at JBLM

Students practice the eFAST exam

Department of Emergency Med-

icine/EMPA and Ultrasound Fel-

lowship Programs, represents

the first of its kind sponsored by

US Army MEDCOM. The target

audience for the course was op-

erational and primary care clini-

cians, and included expert di-

dactic and hands-on instruction

in numerous diagnostic and pro-

cedural bedside ultrasound ap-

plications including ultrasound

in trauma, musculoskeletal ul-

trasound, biliary, cardiac, and

soft tissue ultrasound, ultra-

sound-guided regional anesthesia, ultrasound-guided intravenous line placement and several more. The

course also covered machine procurement, maintenance, credentialing and skills maintenance.

Lack of training, along with the limited availability of ultrasound machines, represent the biggest

barriers to the use of bedside ultrasound by PAs and other clinicians. “We have this highly portable clini-

cal adjunct which we can easily take anywhere on the battlefield, and it allows us to evaluate so many

different parts of the body…bones, bellies, blood vessels, soft tissue, heart, etc…yet there remains a

paucity of formal training available in bedside ultrasound,” course director, MAJ Jonathan Monti stated.

“It is difficult to justify the procurement of machines by TO&E units when the unit medical officers are

not properly trained to utilize them. We are developing curriculum and pathways for training and cre-

dentialing, and hoping that with the incorporation of formal ultrasound training programs, bedside ul-

trasound will become ubiquitous in the clinical practice of our PAs and operational /primary care clini-

cians, and allow for the justification of the addition of ultrasound machines to the MES sets at the battal-

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SAPA Journal

Students practice ultrasound-guided peripheral IV line placement

ion level.” Formal introductory

ultrasound courses like this,

which often cost several thou-

sand dollars to attend in the ci-

vilian setting, are the first step

clinicians must complete to be-

come credentialed in bedside

ultrasound. “Our Soldiers de-

serve the highest quality of care

as far forward as possible and

bedside ultrasound is another

means by which we can en-

hance that care. “In addition to

improving care, bedside ultra-

sound exams can represent an

additional source of RVUs, making the procurement of machines an attractive option for garrison health

clinics,” MAJ Monti stated.

The course, which was approved for 16 CME credits, was attended primarily by operational PAs,

but also included physicians, physical therapists, and medics. Clinicians interested in bedside ultrasound

training courses such as this are encouraged to express their interest to their local higher authority.

Questions regarding the course can be addressed to jonathan.d.monti.mil@mail.mil .

Jonathan D. Monti, DSc, PA-C MAJ, SP, USA

Program Director/Asst Professor - US Army/Baylor U. EMPA Residency Program Madigan Army Medical Center, JBLM

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SAPA Journal

A student practices an ultrasound examination of the shoulder

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SAPA Journal

Fellow PA’s and BOD,

I want to thank everyone for another year of hard work and dedication to SAPA.

Below are the results of the elections and leadership for 2015-2016.

Executive Director: Paul Lowe

Immediate Past President: Pat Malone

President-Elect: Scott Fisher

President: Donald Black

Secretary: Karen McMillian

Treasurer: Jim Miller

AD Director: David Hamilton

USAR Director: Tanya Moore

NG Director: Jamie Rigoni

Retired Director: Frank Piper

Conference Registrar: Bob Potter

Newsletter Editor: Christopher Mueller

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SAPA Journal

Announcement of SAPA leadership and BOD for 2015-2016

Ladies & Gentlemen,

On behalf of The Surgeon General and the SP Corps Chief, please extend

congratulations to the following individuals selected for the

Army Medical Department Award of the "A" Proficiency Designator (9A) for FY15:

MAJ Amelia Duran-Stanton

MAJ David Broussard

MAJ Michael Rice (ARNG)

MAJ Michael Way

LTC Dawn Orta

LTC Paul Jacobson

The "A" Proficiency Designator is the highest recognition for professional excellence in the Army Medi-

cal Department (AMEDD). Candidates for the honor must be eminently qualified to chair a department,

division or service, or have attained full professional status and national prominence in their field. This

award includes all AMEDD AC, ARNG, and USAR (RC).

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SAPA Journal

FY 2015 SP AMEDD "9A" Proficiency Designator Recipients

Ladies & Gentlemen,

I am honored to announce that LTG Patricia D. Horoho, The Surgeon General, has selected LTC John F. Detro to serve as the next Physician Assistant (PA) Consultant to TSG, with an effective date of 1 MAY 15.

LTC Detro currently serves as Deputy Chief, Surgical Services Service Line (3SL) at HQDA, Office of The Surgeon General in Falls Church, Virginia. LTC Detro hereby succeeds LTC Jeffrey E. Oliver as the PA Con-sultant to TSG. LTC Detro's accomplishments have contributed immeasurably to the success of Physician Assistants throughout the AMEDD and will continue to impact the care to our patients for many years to

come.

LTC Jeffrey E. Oliver continues to serve as the AOC 65D Chief, Physician Assistant Section/Assistant Corps Chief, Army Medical Specialist Corps and (SP) per Title 10 Authority of the United States Code-

Armed Forces. LTC Oliver currently serves as Special Assistant to the Director of the Army Staff Execu-tive Communication and Control (ECC) at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Please join me in congratulating LTC Detro on his selection.

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SAPA Journal

New 65D Physician Assistant Consultant to The Surgeon General

Dear BOD and selected guests,

Welcome aboard to do the work of SAPA over the next year. I hope we will be able to accomplish

much. I am honored to work with you over the next year. I would like to see SAPA expand and grow

beyond our expectations. I was impressed with the input from all at the April membership meeting and

hope to carry that momentum of "Moving Forward" over the next year.

We have planned a Teleconference BOD meeting every 2 months until the conference of April 2016. The

schedule will be as follows. They will be held at 2 pm Central Time. All the meeting will be held on a Sun-

day afternoon. Here are the dates below:

30 Aug 2015

25 Oct 2015

13 Dec 2015

28 Feb 2016

10 Apr 2016

BOD meeting will be conducted in the usual manner as reports of your particular office. Board votes as

needed will set the direction for the coming months. There are many projects in the works.

Below are the current agenda items for the first meeting. Feel free to bring new or old business to the

floor as needed.

1. Pay differences of our GS PAs vs NPs in the federal system ( 603 series) 2. Updated SAPA website

3. SAPA coins to IPAP graduates (protocol written and in place)

4. PA day representative at all MTFs where PAs are practicing.

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SAPA Journal

SAPA Board of Directors Meeting via Tele-Conference

5. Frequent email blasts during the year to keep membership informed

6. Ways to increase attendance: ???Entertainment changes, Special performances, etc.

7. CME suggestions

8. Project Heritage

9. Keynote speaker

10. Special PA speaker: TBA

11. Kuwait Project (Major Chang)

12. PA History, SAPA History, Kuwait Clinic History

Hope to hear you at the upcoming first SAPA Teleconference.

Respectfully,

Donald A. Black, PA-C; MPAS

SAPA President

Don Black along with Dave Hamilton have coordinated out 1st SAPA BOD’s telephone conference. Attached is the audio bridge info for 30 August, 1445 EST to 1730 EST to give time for folks to dial in early for a prompt 1400 CST start.. Dial-In Number: Commercial, (210) 249-4234 DSN, 421-3272, (312) for Overseas DSN Conference Access Code: 82285#

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SAPA Journal

Background: LTG (ret) Frank Ledford served as the 37th Surgeon General for the United States Army from 1988 to 1992. He was instrumental in bringing PAs into the commissioned ranks of the Army Medi-cal Department. At the time of this interview, he was 81 years old and living in San Antonio. Friday 17 JUL 2015 (1100 EST) – Telephone Interview, recorded with permission of all parties. Attendees: LTG (ret) Frank Ledford, Army Surgeon General (1988-1992) COL Sue Davis, Deputy Corps Chief, SP Corps LTC David Bauder, Future Operations Officer, SP Corps

Davis: We are wondering about some of the politics and decisions of the time. We are curious as to how the SP Corps was selected for the newly commissioned PAs in 1992. Ledford: Well, the discussion came down to . . . are we going to do the Medical Corps, the MSC, the Dental Corps . . . look, I guess there were a lot of questions about whether we ought to put them in the Medical Corps, but the Medical Corps has such a long history and perhaps more cogent, the Medical Corps is surrounded and filled with all kinds of governmental regulations and commissioning, license re-quirements and stuff. We couldn’t fight all that with a new program. Then there was this wonderful AMSC Corps, filled with professionals, all of whom had graduate degrees. The new group of PAs had all been college educated and were working with visions of more academic responsibilities and a better future. It looked like a pretty good fit. Then, the leadership of the Corps was eager to take them on. Remember the AMSC was relatively small and the chance to pick up another 400 officers, and with all the responsibilities these officers already had – I think it was good for the AMSC to take them on. They were gracious to take them on number one, and number two; I think it was good for all parties. I can’t say anything more about it. The PAs solved a lot of problems for us at first, as you are probably aware. We were running out of doc-tors in the 1970s. The draft turned off in 1973, and we were running out of people who could do primary care and take care of Soldiers in the troop units. Davis: Currently, force structure tops out at MAJ with a few LTC billets. . .wondering if that was ever con-sidered or was it not an issue, as I know many of the newly commissioned PAs had several years of service

(The interviewer questions and commentary have been shortened from the original dialogue. However, the respons-es by LTG (ret) Ledford are transcribed verbatim.)

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SAPA Journal

LTG (ret) Frank Ledford Interview 17 JUL 2015

already complete. Ledford: Well, initially the first group of PAs was all senior enlisted. In fact, I and Mike Scotty, who you may have heard of, we inspected the first group of PAs when they were in training. They were all older than I was! I was a LTC and these guys were all very senior enlisted people . . . and that turned out to be a problem for us. They were then awarded a warrant upon the conclusion of training, and by golly, with-in several years, they began retiring. You could be having that problem. However if they are staying because now it turns out to be a good life and good career, I think you are doing it right! Here’s what I would say: every PA now has a Master’s degree in PA studies, and you’re getting a number with a Doc-torate of Science in Orthopedics, General Surgery and Emergency Medicine. The Army should under-stand that with this additional training, which has cost the Army and the officers a lot of time and ener-gy, we’ve got to use these people intelligently, and that’s a good argument to have more field grade bil-lets. I think if you’re training these people at great expense, the answer is - they were trained because there is a need, and the need is for highly trained people that need a rank commensurate with their time in grade and their education. I think there’s just a heck of a good argument there for force structure at higher ranks. Davis: Did they take the warrant officer billets and convert them to officer billets when the commissioning of PAs occurred? Ledford: I’m pretty sure that’s mechanically how it happened . . . they did trade 400 spaces for 400 spaces. They could justify it. It was relatively cost-neutral. The commissioned officers had similar sala-ries to the warrants – at the same number of years of service. It wasn’t breaking the bank monetarily – it was just breaking the commissioned officer bank. There was a lot of difficulty in doing it. We had a couple good friend that helped us get this done. Al Ono was the DSCPER – he was ALL in favor of the medics. His son was an orthopedic resident, so we had a good buddy there. We had Carl Vuono, the Chief of Staff and Gordon Sullivan, who later became the Chief of Staff. I think Gor-don was the Chief by the time we did the commissioning in February of 1992. Both of those guys had served in field units and knew what PAs could do. They really thought the world of them and I know they worked with them when I was with both Sullivan and Ono at Ft Riley. PAs had very good leader-ship at that time too. We had a PA Consultant Jimmie Keller who worked hard, and we had the support of the National PA Association. To get the commissioning done, although it was a big fight, when we saw that we were losing warrants, they were threatening to resign, the Air Force and the Navy were al-ready commissioning them, we had every reason going for us. To put them in the AMSC I think was just a stroke of luck that we had a Corps that could use them and use them wisely.

Bauder: Sir, do you recall at that time, any type of future contingency concepts that might have been in place, for how force structure was supposed to materialize? Ledford: Well, I’ll be pretty honest – at the time we did it, we didn’t have a real future force structure in mind. The big problem there was to break into the commissioned force. I assumed, not only naively,

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SAPA Journal

but correctly from the very first, that the PA group, because they were excellent, were going to create the demand for more leadership responsibilities and more field grade slots. As I recall, we had only one LTC slot initially. It was my assumption that this swelling tide was going to solve itself over a period of years and I think to a degree it has. I personally had a long term love affair with the PAs starting from 1970 for one. I wanted to get them commissioned and recognized and quite honestly, I was about getting ready to retire and I did not get personally involved in building the force structure. I knew that far smarter people than I would do that – that’s what happened, and now you’ve got it! Now that we’ve got them with Doctoral degrees and Masters degrees and many, many years of experience, I think you can pretty readily justify more field grade positions. However, you’re going to be fighting the same thing I did, and that is a shrinking Army. We were shrinking Army slots when I was Surgeon General and you got the same problem. This admin-istration doesn’t appear to be in love with the military. Bauder: . . . commented some about how impressive /daunting the task to convert the warrant to officer billets must have been in a downsizing era. . . Ledford: If we hadn’t had General Ono on board and a very strong personal relationship between me and the Chief of Staff and Secretary of the Army, I don’t think we could have pulled it off. I didn’t men-tion it, but the Secretary of the Army at the time was Mike Stone, who was a lovely man, and he sup-ported most of the initiatives the medics came up with. We had good people supporting us. i LTG Allen Ono served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel at US Army HQ from 1986 to 1990. His son is an orthopedic sur-geon and continues to serve today in the Army Reserves as a COL.

ii General Carl Vuono served as the Chief of Staff, U.S. Army from 1987-1991.

iii General Gordon Sullivan served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army from 1991-1995.

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SAPA Journal

The Army Soldier for Life Retirement Services Program provides assistance to Soldiers and their Families

preparing for and transitioning to retirement, Families of Soldiers who die on active duty and Retired

Soldiers, surviving Spouses and their Families. Through a network of Retirement Services Officers

(RSOs) at major Army installations, National Guard State Headquarters, and Army Reserve Regional Sup-

port Commands worldwide, they:

1) Provide counseling to these groups on their rights, benefits and entitlements,

2) Assist with Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) elections

3) Keep the retiree population informed of law and benefit changes.

Regular Army: Active Duty

<Caution-myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/Home/Benefit_Library/Federal_Benefit

s_Page/Army_Retirement_Services_Program.html?serv=147>

Regular Army: Retired

<Caution-myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/Home/Benefit_Library/Federal_Bene

fits_Page/Army_Retirement_Services_Program.html?serv=148>

Army National Guard: Federal Active Duty

<Caution-myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/Home/Benefit_Library/Federal_Benefit

s_Page/Army_Retirement_Services_Program.html?serv=149>

Army National Guard: State Active Duty

<Caution-myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/Home/Benefit_Library/Federal_Benefit

s_Page/Army_Retirement_Services_Program.html?serv=150>

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Retirement Services Program

Army National Guard: Drilling

<Caution-myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/Home/Benefit_Library/Federal_Ben

efits_Page/Army_Retirement_Services_Program.html?serv=151>

Army National Guard: Retired

<Caution-myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/Home/Benefit_Library/Federal_Bene

fits_Page/Army_Retirement_Services_Program.html?serv=243>

Army Reserve: Active Duty

<Caution-myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/Home/Benefit_Library/Federal_Benefit

s_Page/Army_Retirement_Services_Program.html?serv=227>

Army Reserve: Drilling

<Caution-myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/Home/Benefit_Library/Federal_Ben

efits_Page/Army_Retirement_Services_Program.html?serv=228>

Army Reserve: Retired

<Caution-myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/Home/Benefit_Library/Federal_Bene

fits_Page/Army_Retirement_Services_Program.html?serv=229>

Frank Piper, MS, MPAS, DFAAPA, PA-C

COL (R) USAR

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SAPA Journal

Dear SAPA members and conference attendees, As April and the conference have passed, the preparation for the next year’s begins. I am currently be-ginning to put the schedule together for the 2016 SAPA conference to be held April 24-29, 2016. Several people volunteered to speak for next year. A few of them filled out the speaker forms at the confer-ence, if you did fill out the form thank you and I have those on file. If anyone would like to speak at the conference next year, please complete one of the attached speaker forms for each lecture you would like to present. Please email the completed form to orpotter@aol.comor fax to 309-734-4489. I need these forms by mid to late September. Our normal honorarium rate is $250 per hour presented. If you are presenting more than one hour we can arrange for travel reimbursement and hotel room in replacement for the honorarium. Additionally, I am always looking for potential exhibitors. Any of the membership or attendees who live in the Fayetteville or North Carolina area, please contact me. I would like to have you collect business cards of the local pharmaceutical representatives, and to send these to me and I will contact the repre-sentative. Please send your speaker forms by mid to late September and any cards or contacts for pharmaceutical representatives or other potential exhibitors by October 1, 2015. I tried to have both of these, the sched-ule and the exhibitor contacts completed by mid November. Thank you for your cooperation and your support of your organization. Bob Potter, PA-C, MPAS, DFAAPA SAPA Conference Coordinator

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SAPA Journal

Request for Speakers and for local exhibitor info

Dear SAPA members and conference attendees, Due to recent events we are currently looking for individual(s) that would be willing to volunteer for po-sition to support the upcoming SAPA conference.

At previous conferences, we had Casino night and the membership raffle. Unless someone is willing to support or volunteer their services to help with these sections, there will be neither at the upcoming conference.

Also, the Conference will be in need / searching for a individual that would like to run and set up the au-diovisual equipment and be in charge of the lecture hall to set up moderators and keep up with the pa-perwork for getting the hours confirmed.

At this point we are looking for any volunteers or any suggestions.

If you are willing to support or have any ideas, please contact Mr. Bob Potter. His contact information is below:

orpotter@aol.com

Bob Potter, PA-C, MPAS, DFAAPA SAPA Conference Coordinator

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SAPA Conference Volunteers Needed This Year

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SAPA Journal

As our Society continues to reach into the new age and advances, it is exciting to announce that

SAPA has adopted and is beginning to transition into Office and Position specific email addresses. For

years it has always been somewhat problematic when new officers take their elected positions and

Committee Chairs their appointed positions to get the line of communication re-established and flowing

smoothly. This is being resolved with the establishment of permanent Office and Position specific email

addresses. No longer will everyone have to relearn the email of the new President-Elect or forget to up-

date their contact list as a new President-Elect is seated. No longer as the President-Elect transitions

into the position of President or as the President becomes the Immediate Past President will contact

lists and distribution lists have to be updated. Also, with the many contacts outside our Society, i.e.,

AAPA, NCCPA, Vet Caucus, etc., communication will not be broken as the email address for the contact

person remains the same. T

he only thing changing is the person accessing that email account. Or as a once popular TV series

stated, ‘only the names are changed to protect the innocent’. So as ‘Joe Friday” stated, “we want the

facts and just the facts”, here are the facts: SAPA is beginning to transition to an Office/Position based

email system.

As the Officers and Committee Chairs come on board with this, the email for that position on the

website will be changed to reflect the permanent email address for that position. So far 10 of the 18

(and hopefully, by the time of this publication, all 18) email accounts have been assigned to the appro-

priate Office/Position and is being used by that Office/Position personnel. Below is the list of emails, I

encourage all SAPA members, non-members, interested parties to begin using these email addresses for

continuity of communications.

If you need the assistance of any of the BOD or Committee Chair, please address your communica-

tion to the appropriate email as listed above.

Respectfully Stephen W. Ward, MPAS, PA-C (Ret)

Chair, IT Committee

SAPA IT Information Emails for SAPA BOD

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SAPA Journal

SAPA Chaplain SAPA.CHAPLAIN@gmail.com

SAPA Conference Coordinator

SAPA.CONFERENCE.COORDINATOR@gmail.com

SAPA Director AD Component SAPA.DIR.AD@gmail.com

SAPA Director NG Component

SAPA.DIR.NG@gmail.com

SAPA Director Reserves Component SAPA.DIR.RES@gmail.com

SAPA Director Retired Component

SAPA.DIR.RETIRED@gmail.com

SAPA Executive Director SAPA.Exec.Dir@gmail.com

SAPA Sean Grimes Scholarship Award

SAPA.Grimes.Award@gmail.com

SAPA Immediate Past President SAPA.IMMED.PAST.PRES@gmail.com

SAPA Info/Tech (Geeky/Techy Squad) SAPA.Infor.Tech@gmail.com

SAPA Membership Director SAPA.Membership@gmail.com

SAPA Moderator Coordinator

SAPA.Moderator.Coordinator@gmail.com

SAPA Newsletter Editor SAPA.Newsletter01@gmail.com

SAPA President

SAPAPresident01@gmail.com

SAPA President Elect SAPA.PRES.ELECT@gmail.com

SAPA SALES/Merchandise

SAPA.Sales01@gmail.com

SAPA Secretary SAPA.Secretary01@gmail.com

SAPA Treasurer

SAPA.Treasurer@gmail.com

List of SAPA Office/Position Specific Email Addresses

Hello SAPA Members and all others.

Well, the editor tells me that it is time to get this article done to be included in the June/July issue of the SAPA Newsletter. I enjoyed seeing old friends and new friends at the SAPA conference this last April. For those of you who missed it, you missed a good time of learning and yet even more importantly, a time of fellowship with your fellow PA’s. It is important to fellowship with fellow PA’s because sometimes we get discouraged or think that we are the only ones that are having difficulties in our practice. Coming to the annual conference gives us the ability to gain the required CMEs and also to talk with friends about the changes in the way we practice because of new rules and regulations. We also renew friendships with fellow class-mates. It is a time of renewal and refreshing as PA’s. In short, you should make a concerted effort to join your fellow PA’s at the annual conference next April. Plan ahead and it becomes easy. Just as a public announcement and a plug for the Chaplain, We do have Sunday morning services, for those that arrive early, inter/non denominational, on Sunday morning at 1000 hours (10:00 AM) and we are going to change the daily devotional/fellowship time from noon to either 0700 or 0730 by pool side. You can fill get your coffee and continental breakfast for your stomach and also the Word of God to fill your spirit both at the same time. I also want you to know that as Chaplain for the organization, I am here for you. If you want an ear to listen, use mine. I may not have the answers or the answer you want, but I will listen. Also, if you have a concern on your heart, let me know so that I can join you in prayer for that concern. I do not want to sound preachy (although that is now my calling) but I believe in the power of direct communication with our Creator, the Great Physician and personally my Lord and Savior Jesus, the Christ. We as Physician Assistants know the miracle of birth, the miracle of healing when everyone else thinks there is no hope. We also know the pain of losing a patient whether it be a 96 year old or a 1 month old. And because of that we have to have some-one to turn to in order to help us get past that or we would have to either harden our hearts or quit our profession. Rather than quit our profession or harden our hearts, let’s consider turning to the One who created us and gave us the Ministry of Health and Healing for our calling in life. All of science cannot prove their theories of how life started on this world but they have faith in those theories. I have faith in the Creator, God, because as intricate as our bodies are, as delicate a balance that exists in our bodies, I do not believe that happened because either a one-celled entity split or two one-celled entities bumped into each other and merged somehow. As I have said before, Be Still and Know that you are a Minister of Health and that ministry was given to you by the Creator, the Great Physician, the author and finisher of all medical knowledge. Respectfully Your Servant Stephen W. Ward, MPA, PA-C (Ret) Maj. USA (RET) SAPA Chaplain sapa.chaplain@gmail.com 706-615-8574

Chaplain’s Corner

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SAPA Journal

Dear Fellow Army PA and SAPA members, I hope this finds you doing well and prosperous. For those of you who attended the SAPA 2015 conference, you know we had some lively discussion about the direction of SAPA. I was glad to see Active Duty step up to the plate and lead in some of the discussions. As a long standing organization, we have a lot to be proud of and I in-tend to attempt to build on our heritage. If you were not at the SAPA 2015 conference, I ask that you consider attending SAPA 2016 and help to promote our motto this year of "Moving Forward" and move forward we will. I will need all of you to help with the some changes and new programs that are under consideration. We had our first teleconference BOD meeting about 4 weeks ago and it went very well. This will allow us to make decisions early in the year and get the information out to you much earlier than in the past. I have a wonderful BOD and staff to work with and I appreciate each and every one of them. We kicked off another year of developing a new SAPA website. I want to personally thank our AD director, LTC David Hamilton for a wonderful job. We also gave each graduating IPAP student a SAPA coin and a year of free membership. So, with that we are off to a good start. Look forward to more information via e-mail blasts as the conference develops for 2016. I want to thank the loyal supporters and attendees of our organization through the years and if you have not been to a SAPA conference in a few years or have never been to one, I encourage you to consider making plans to come and join us in 2016. The President's reception with a keynote speaker will be a moving and challenging experience. Just in case you did not know; it's where you get the best bang for your buck for CME as well. For those of you may desire to present a lecture, you may contact Bob Potter, our conference coordinator and conference registrar. We would be glad for your participation. Respectfully, Donald A. Black, PA-C, MPAS, DFAAPA LTC - SP (Ret) SAPA President

PRESIDNET’s MESSAGE

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SAPA Journal

SAPA POCs

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SAPA OFFICERS PRESIDENT

Donald Black, PA-C

PRESIDENT ELECT Scott Fisher, PA-C

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT

Pat Malone

SECRETARY Karen McMillan, PA-C

E-mail: Karen.mcmillan@va.gov or k14u@comcast.net

TREASURER James L. Miller, PA-C

E-mail - james.l.miller168civ@mail.miil

DIRECTOR, ACTIVE DUTY ARMY PA’s David Hamilton, PA-C, U.S. Army

DIRECTOR, US ARMY NATIONAL GUARD PA’s

Jamie Rigoni, PA-C,

DIRECTOR, US ARMY RESERVE PA’s Tonya Moore, LTC, PA-C

E-Mail: tfmoore60@gmail.com

RETIRED COMPONENT DIRECTOR Robert Thompson, Jr., PA-C

E-Mail: rothomp5412@comcast.net

MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR Steven L. Briggs, PA-C

E-mail: xsf18z@aol.com

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Paul W. Lowe, PA-C

P O Box 4068, Waynesville, MO 65583 Phone and Fax - (573) 528-2307 / (888) 711-8543

E-mail - lowepw@earthlink.net

SAPA CONFERENCE STAFF

CONFERENCE COORDINATOR: Bob Potter, PA-C

PO Box 623 Monmouth, IL 61462

SAPA Voice Line: 309-734-5446 or 309-337-3134 Fax: 309-734-4489

E-mail: orpotter@aol.com

CONFERENCE REGISTRAR: Bob Potter, PA-C

Info for Bob Potter same as immediately above

ASST. CONFERNECE COORDINATOR: Patrick E. Malone, PA-C

E-mail: sapamed@aol.com

Karen Reedy, PA-C E-mail: karenpac@comcast.net

LCDR Irwin Fish, PA-C

Email: irwinfish@comcast.net

CO-REGISTRAR Judy Potter

DECORUM AND MORALE

Nicole Potter E-mail: pottercats@aol.com

SALES AND MARKETING

Bob Egbert, PA-C Email: Robert.egbert@insightbb.com

Tom Matherly, PA-C

Email: tjmatherly@earthlink.net

MODERATORS/AUDIO/VISUAL LCDR Irwin Fish, PA-C

SAPA POCs

SAPA JOURNAL STAFF Editor

CPT Christopher M. Mueller, PA-C E-mail: christopher.m.mueller.mil@mail.mil

COMMITTEES SCHOLARSHIPS/AWARDS

LTC (Ret.) Donald Parsons, PA-C (Chair) COL (Ret.) Sherry Morrey, PA-C

CW4 (Ret.) Marvin W. Cole, PA-C COL (Ret.) Donald Black, SP, PA-C

- Mr. Black is POC for Captain Sean P. Grimes Physician

Assistant Educational Scholarship Award E-mail: donald.black@se.amedd.army.mil

SAPA HISTORIAN

William Long, PA-C

MINORITY AFFAIRS Karen McMillan, PA-C

PUBLIC EDUCATION

Harold E. Slusher, PA-C

PROFESSIONAL WELLNESS Michael Champion, PA-C

LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS Harold E. Slusher, PA-C

DELEGATES TO AAPA HOUSE OF DELEGATES

Frank Piper, Jr., PA-C (Chief Delegate) LTC Sherry Womack

Mike Hollopeter (Alternate) Winnie Paul (Alternate) Frank Piper (Alternate)

ACADEMY LIASON

COL Pauline Gross, SP, PA-C E-mail: pauline.gross@us.army.mil

COMMUNICATIONS/ELECTRONICS

Stephen Ward, PA-C Irvin Fish, PA-C

Bob Potter, PA-C

SAPA ADDRESS SOCIETY OF ARMY PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS

P O Box 4068, Waynesville, MO., 65583

SAPA Web Page http://www.sapa.org

(Webmaster: Orie Potter)

DISCLAIMER This is not an Official Army Publication

The SAPA Journal is the official publication of the Society

of Army Physician Assistants. The views and opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the edi-

tors, SAPA, the SAPA Board of Directors or the Depart-ment of the Army unless explicitly expressed as such.

SUBMISSIONS The SAPA Journal staff and SAPA Board of Directors en-courages membership participation in this publication.

Feel free to use this forum to present your views on any

topic you desire. The publication of clinical articles on any subject is also solicited, however, to reduce our

workload, we do request articles be presented typed, double-spaced format, and on CD, Microsoft Word for-

mat.

The editor reserves the right of final acceptance of arti-cles as well as the right to serialize articles which are too

lengthy to be included in a single issue.

Articles will be accepted via email.

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