Building Alliances in Europe: The 2018 European Physician Assistant Annual Refresher Course Continues to Provide Quality Education and Bridging the Gap with European Counterparts

Courtesy Photo | Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany –United States Army Europe and the Society of European Physician Assistants (SEPA) held their annual refresher course at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort, 24-29 June.  

GERMANY

07.29.2018

Courtesy Story

U.S. Army Europe and Africa     

Disney K. Samutsakorn, APA-C, 1LT, USA; Antonio F. Chang, PA-C, MAJ, USA; Amelia M. Duran-Stanton, PhD, DSc, MPAS, LTC, DFAAPA, USA

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany –United States Army Europe and the Society of European Physician Assistants (SEPA) held their annual refresher course at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort, 24-29 June. This course offers approximately 30 continuing medical education 1 credits and is centrally funded for Army physician assistants (PA) in the European footprint.

Army, Air Force, DoD civilians, and retired members of the military from the Active Duty, Reserves, and National Guard attended the course. The course also allowed for basic life support or advanced cardiovascular life support certification/renewal and the popular ultrasound primer course.

For the first time since its founding, three generations of SEPA presidents were present this year, Lt. Col. Johnny Paul, Maj. Antonio Chang and Maj. (R) Sean Del Grego. Lt. Col. Amelia Duran-Stanton and Lt. Col. Sharon Rosser, the Deputy Army PA Consultants, were also in attendance to present in their respective fields and provided advice on career management and long term health education opportunities.

There were several military PAs in attendance who received quality continuing education and mentorship from the senior leaders in attendance.

“The European PA Refresher Course was the best course I have been to in the Army. It was geared to me as a PA. I learned practical things that I will use to take care of Soldiers and train medics. It was great to have so many PAs together in one place. I was also able to learn from my peers after the lectures.” Said Cpt. Luke Henry, PA-C from the 2CR in Vilseck, Germany.

The course provided an opportunity for the civilian PA’s as well.

“The European PA Refresher Course is more than an opportunity for personal, professional growth; it aims to build a stronger network of practitioners capable of delivering top quality support to our service members and their families.” Said Ashley Jack, PA-C, from the Traumatic Brain Injury & Rehabilitation Clinic at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center said Ms. Beatrice B. Miller from the Sleep Disorder Center at LRMC said she was able to connect with PAs in Europe's more remote locations. She also said that “the course provided invaluable dialogue that will no doubt serve to further improve the quality of care, and meet the special needs, of our wide-spread soldier/civilian/contractor population.“

A German PA (Arztassistent) was also in attendance. The Arztassistent is a fairly new profession in Germany, which started in 2005 at Steinbeis-Hochschule, Berlin. In 2010, Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg (DHBW) Cooperative State University Karlsruhe started its program, the second of eight PA schools currently in Germany.

Marie Stolte first heard of the PA profession in Germany at a job information day during school and is currently a student at DHBW. As a student, Marie had the opportunity to rotate for three weeks at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) in the departments of orthopedics, general surgery, neurosurgery, emergency medicine, pain therapy, general/internal medicine, and intensive care. This is where she first met American PAs and heard about SEPA.

This week, Marie was able to learn about various American medical topics and even participated in the ultrasound primer. She and 18 of her classmates are expected to graduate in September 2018 and plan to work in internal medicine and geriatrics, while specializing in critical wound care.

The European PA Refresher Course provides exceptional opportunities for all participants whether they are students, new graduates, seasoned PAs, or even international PA professionals. It is a great setting to learn, network, reminisce, build camaraderie and meet face to face with PA leaders. Tentative dates for the 2019 European PA Refresher Course are 8-12 July 2019.

• Date Taken: 07.29.2018
• Date Posted: 08.30.2018 04:20
• Story ID: 290872
• Location: DE