Physician assistant studies students serve community and inspire future PAs
Abigail McQueen |
In the fall of 2023, the students in Lipscomb University’s School of Physician Assistant Studies had the unique opportunity to inspire the next generation.
As part of a competition sponsored by the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA), Lipscomb students developed a program designed to educate kids about being a PA and encourage them to explore the career path called Project Access.
Casie Ramirez, assistant professor in Lipscomb’s PA program, says Project Access is an outreach recruitment program that encourages high school students from underrepresented minoritized groups to consider the PA profession as a career.
“The ultimate goal is to increase the number of underrepresented PAs, provide more accessible primary care, and eliminate health disparities,” she explains. “We aim to help students become competitive candidates for PA programs by preparing them early in their education. We feel like planting a seed early is a great way to get kids excited about our profession.”
The PA profession typically lacks the diversity of the “melting pot” of the United States, according to Ramirez. “A lot of patients want their provider to look like them,” she says. “Unfortunately, certain populations of students lack resources and are disadvantaged when applying to PA school because they have spent less time preparing than their peers.”
To help create a larger window for mentoring kids interested in being a PA and “ignite the spark” earlier in life, the PAEA created the contest to incentivize PA schools to develop educational programs for children. Lipscomb’s PA students chose to work with the elementary and middle schoolers doing after-school care with Youth Encouragement Services (YES), a nonprofit organization located in Nashville whose mission is to enrich the lives of Nashville’s youth by providing opportunities that encourage them to reach their full potential spiritually, academically, socially, and physically through daily programming in a Christ-centered community.
The Lipscomb group visited the YES center in Carpenter Square where 14 elementary-aged students were attending an after-school program. The goal was for the visit to be fun and informative, so to kick things off student Rachael Rini described the work of a PA.
“We then talked to them about how learning human anatomy is instrumental in taking care of patients, with one of the major components being the bones,” says Rameriz.
The Lipscomb team made up a "Bone Dance" to the tune and parodied lyrics of Usher's "Yeah." The dance was shown to the students and then the Project Access team taught them the dance. The students were able to put on white gloves and dance with the team in a room with black lights.
After teaching the kids the song and dance, which contained the names and locations of the body’s major bones, they explained more about the PA profession. Finally, one of the PA students pretended to break her wrist, and the kids asked to “find the fracture.” They looked at various models of wrist fractures and learned how to place a volar splint.
The very last event of the day was allowing the students to try on our white coats and stethoscopes and take “future PA” pictures.
“This was a complete hit. When the kids listened to heartbeats through the stethoscopes, their eyes lit up,” shares Rameriz. “We sent the photos home with the kids and we hope that with this activity we were at least able to create an experience that will ignite a spark toward a future career.”
Lipscomb PA students who participated in the project included Jennifer Ames, Shelbi Billingsly, Darby Capelin, Kristen Eads, Krista Gutierrez, Emi Hayashi, Makenzi Howard, Tehseen Khan, Hanna Rinkevicz, Claire Thompson and Juliana Arenas Velazquez.
The PA students enjoyed being able to serve the community and reach out to the populations they may serve one day. Ramirez says that their goal is to expand the program, return to YES in future years, and encourage the kids they serve.
“The faculty cannot find the words to appropriately thank the students for taking their passion for the PA profession and underrepresented minority students and turning it into action,” she says. “Our hope is that future classes will follow in their footsteps and create more opportunities in the underrepresented community.”
Learn more about Lipscomb's School of Physician Assistant Studies.