Association of Physician Assistant Programs

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Membership Organizations

Description

APAP is committed to providing the best services possible to its members. Its major services include two national meetings for PA educators each year, the May Semiannual Meeting and fall Education Forum. The Association publishes a journal, Perspective on Physician Assistant Education, and a monthly electronic newsletter for all PA faculty members. APAP supports research on PA education through grants programs. In 2004, in jointly sponsored programs with the AAPA and the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA), two grant proposals were funded, each for nearly $20,000; APAP funded six additional faculty proposals that totaled $20,000 in its Small Grants Program. The Association conducts faculty development programs and continually reviews and upgrades student and graduate PA self-assessment exams.

A major enterprise developed by APAP ,- one that benefits both its member programs and prospective students , is the Central Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA). APAP initiated CASPA in 2001 and since then, more than 6,000 applicants each year have applied to the PA programs through the service. More than 90 programs have now joined CASPA, and others are in the process of converting from their own application processes to CASPA for classes entering in 2006. CASPA allows applicants to complete one electronic application and designate any number of programs to receive it. Program participation in CASPA frees faculty and staff to devote their efforts to student recruitment and retention activities.

APAP systematically collects PA program, student, and applicant data, both through CASPA and through the Annual Report on PA Educational Programs in the United States. The Association has formed a committee to oversee ways that its collection of data can most effectively be used by its member faculty engaged in research , and shared with other PA organizations.

The Association also sponsors an annual exhibit of educational products and devices for PA faculty at its fall Education Forum. For the past nine years, well-known publishers, software developers, and medical device manufacturers have taken advantage of the opportunity to reach the educators in the PA profession. Companies that exhibited in 2004 brought in textbooks, patient simulators, PDA and Web-based systems, and clinical medical education software.

The APAP Faculty Development Institute (FDI) is the umbrella entity that oversees all of the Association's faculty development initiatives and workshops. The FDI is responsible for Basic Skills and the Clinical Coordinators Workshop, two perennial faculty favorites that are made available to faculty on a regular basis. The APAP Research Institute oversees all of the Association's research activities, including two yearly grant programs, and the production of the quarterly, peer-reviewed journal Perspective on Physician Assistant Education.