CAPA CONFERENCE 2016: Winnipeg

Hi everyone! I’m excited to talk about the CAPA conference this year. Since joining the PA profession in 2012 I was lucky enough to participate in the CAPA conference in Calgary and Halifax. Unfortunately last year I missed the conference in Toronto but was able to make it this year! I was truly amazed and impressed of the conference this year in my home town Winnipeg. It was heart warming to see the amount of people that attended and how CAPA and the physician assistant profession have taken a global stage.

How I felt when I entered the CAPA conference and realized how many people were there and how much the conference had to offer. (Also how I felt for the morning after breakfast from the pub crawl & gala dinner :P )

There are more studies occurring about physician assistants in Canada. And the the poster competition this year was better than ever.  (I don’t think my poster could have competed this year :P)

BIG PUBLICATION! 

Conference Board of Canada Report: PAs saving the healthcare system millions of dollars. (Links below)

 Globe & Mail
 The Conference Board of Canada: Gaining Efficiency. Increasing the Use of Physician Assistants in Canada

This is a huge successful study for PAs in Canada. Hopefully this will open the door for more incentive to train, fund and employ PAs in all of Canada.

Physician Assistants Globally 

This picture has representatives and pioneers of the physician assistant profession and organizations from all over the world. On this panel it has PAs from United States, Netherlands, UK, Australia and Ireland. This was an eye opening conversation. We were able to compare the physician assistant profession progression in different countries. Able to compare notes of what worked and what did not. Canada still has a lot of work ahead but we are in good shape.

Stay tuned!... New PA promoting campaign! #CanadaneedsPAs

 

 

 GALA PICS

 

Trying to find a good selfie!! 3 times no luck

Even a pharmacist was present at the Gala :P who knew!

CAPA conference buddies. Throw back to 2013, Calgary

Brother Ryan! CAPA conference gala 2016

 

A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

THE CHANGE

Hello everyone! It has been a long time.

This year has been focused on giving other parts of my life attention, while in PA school had been ignored. It was a realization after completing an intensive program that I began to look at other areas of my life. I began to reignite relationships with my friends and family. I had to re-connect with myself and learn who I was as a person who was not in school anymore. Now I have the time to return to the activities that I’ve once enjoyed and coming to terms to people, goals and emotions that I've ignored. I always will be interested in expanding and promoting the physician assistant career in Canada. But now when I think about the past, from entering the program in 2012 at age 25 and now at 2016 turning 29 the focus on academics has changed in a holistic way. To include not only my physician assistant role/studies but now to encompass all areas of my life including friends, family, interests and love.

I’m hoping to continue to write about interesting cases. I have worked as a hospitalist physician assistant for almost 2 years. My supervising physicians have become more to me than just colleagues but have now transitioned to friendships. I have created meaningful relationships at my work and able to go out for lunch without being stressed and truly enjoy working, thinking of long term goals instead of short term. As for the day to day work, I can say I love my job. I have great autonomy and have the opportunity to learn more from my awesome teachers. I feel a good balance between being challenged,  having autonomy and continuous learning. It is inspiring to be part of a great team of physicians, nurses and allied health providers.

MYSELF AS A PRECEPTOR

I had the opportunity to have one student for 2 weeks on an elective rotation. I was excited to have a student. I had prepared topics and bedside teachings. Having a student was an enriching experience. Not only do you find how much you have grown as a physician assistant but you begin to feel pride when your student begins to grow and understand concepts. You also begin to think back of when you were a student and realize how much you didn’t really know at the time :P. There is a lot you learn from experience and experience is very valuable. I didn’t realize how much work my preceptors had done when having students. Now I have a great sense of appreciation. Not only did you want your student to learn and have good teaching experiences but in the end you are still working and ensuring your patients are safe, properly cared after and that the flow of the hospital continues.  I recommend anyone who has the opportunity to have a student to take it. It requires extra work and dedication but it is truly rewarding to see new PAs learn and to realize how far you have come as a PA.

Until next time...