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SAN DIEGO – Four Sailors graduated from Naval Medical Center San Diego’s (NMCSD) Emergency Medicine Physician Assistant (EMPA) fellowship during a ceremony held in the Veterans Museum in Balboa Park Jan. 23.
NMCSD’s EMPA fellowship program lasts 18 months and graduated its first class in 2015.
“Emergency medicine is a critical, wartime specialty,” said Lt. Cmdr. Michelle Lea, one of NMCSD’s EMPA fellowship assistant directors. “From graduation, physician assistants (PAs) will be expected to deploy, see and manage trauma. They will fill the role of a physician now that they have additional training and credentials.”
NMCSD’s EMPA fellowship mirrors the emergency medicine program and tasks fellows to complete rotations at nearby hospitals and facilities like Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton and Naval Branch Health Clinic, Naval Air Field El Centro.
“We’re now fully-prepared to move forward and deploy,” said Lt. Natalie Hoidal, one of NMCSD’s EMPA fellowship graduates. “This program made me more confident and competent in what I will be expected to do on the front lines. I’m now better-trained for more advanced procedures. There are few fellowship opportunities for EMPAs in the Navy. There are only four billets for this fellowship at NMCSD.”
Fellows are expected to perform clinical rotations in departments such as critical care, emergency medicine, toxicology, burn management, intensive care, pediatrics and labor and delivery.
“[Fellows] do the emergency medicine physician residency, but in a shorter time,” said Lea. “Physicians complete their residency in four years and PAs complete it in 18 months. We do the same rotations and didactics, and are expected to perform at the same level and pass the same tests.”
Entering NMCSD’s EMPA fellowship demands a grueling schedule from candidates. They’re expected to work up to six days per week in the hospital and treatment facilities, in addition to readings and presentations, PAs must study for board exams and performance improvement processes. Many fellows are more senior lieutenants up for promotion to the rank of lieutenant commander.
“PAs are not traditionally stationed in hospital settings,” said Hoidal. “We’re usually operational or at branch health clinics and are highly-flexible in any specialty. This fellowship opens up opportunities to work in an emergency department.”
Lea, who graduated from NMCSD’s EMPA fellowship program in 2019 and currently works in NMCSD’s emergency medicine department, said EMPAs can see almost all triage-levels of patients without the oversight of a physician and operate with much autonomy.
“NMCSD’s EMPA fellowship was recently accepted as a doctorate-level program through Baylor University,” said Lea. “It is currently only a certificate program. Graduates will receive a doctorate in clinical sciences.”
Lea added that she expects NMCSD to become a clinical rotation site and will become more aligned with the Army and Air Force’s doctorate program.
NMCSD’s mission is to prepare service members to deploy in support of operational forces, deliver high quality healthcare services and shape the future of military medicine through education, training, and research. NMCSD employs more than 6,000 active duty military personnel, civilians, and contractors in Southern California to provide patients with world-class care anytime, anywhere.
Visit navy.mil/local/sd/ or facebook.com/NMCSD for more information.
| Date Taken: | 01.23.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 01.27.2020 16:25 |
| Story ID: | 360467 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 367 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, EMPA Fellows Graduate at NMCSD, by PO2 Jacob L. Greenberg, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
