Yale PA Online Program Director Leads Sessions at AAPA Conference

Hundreds of licensed medical professionals flocked to Las Vegas this summer to attend the 2017 annual meeting of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA), and to celebrate contributions made by physician assistants (PAs) since the profession was initiated 50 years ago. Several faculty members from Yale School of Medicine, including Physician Assistant Online Program Director James Van Rhee, facilitated sessions in groundbreaking clinical specializations.

Professor Van Rhee first took the stage in his workshop called “Possible Infection: What Should I Order Next?” This hourlong session allowed audience members to learn about techniques used in laboratories for microbiology testing, as well as how to interpret the results of those tests.

Van Rhee’s presentation began with an informal “pop quiz,” prompting attendees for typical best practices for specimens in the microbiology lab before lecturing on a series of cases one may encounter in a clinical setting. He included the various laboratory methods to detect organisms, as well as their limitations in confirming infectious diseases, in his discussion.

The Yale PA Online Program director also discussed bacterial and viral infection in a lecture called “Meningitis: A Case-Based Approach to Diagnosis and Treatment.” Because of its shifting epidemiology, this deadly condition is still causing increased morbidity and Van Rhee’s clinical experience shed light on the challenges to treatment.

After assessing the audience’s grasp of lab testing for meningitis with a series of questions, Van Rhee presented a case history that included differential diagnosis, risk factors, and results of a patient examination. Together, these inputs influence which lab orders a PA should submit for diagnosis. Van Rhee included recommendations for determining the source of diagnosis, whether viral or bacterial, along with useful depictions of CT scans and cultures of cerebral spinal fluid gram stains.

Transitioning to the hospital track, Van Rhee finished his series of lectures by outlining the importance of physical exams as they relate to differential diagnosis. Encouraging his audience to “think zebras, not horses,” Van Rhee’s presentation, “Common Patient Presentations with Unusual Diagnoses,” aimed to go beyond pattern recognition to think critically in an effort to avoid medical errors.

Hosting presentations like those offered by Yale PA specialists wasn’t the only goal of AAPA organizers. Emphasizing this year’s theme, “Beyond,” the conference sought to inspire attendees to push past simply accruing continuing medical education credits (CMEs)—the industry’s standard for maintaining competence in an area of expertise—but also engage and network with professionals and students in the field.

Asked about the significance of the annual gathering, Van Rhee agreed it was valuable to establish professional connections.

“Attending the conference is a way to stay up to date in the various areas of medicine and a chance to learn new skills, as CME conferences like AAPA provide the PA with lifelong learning opportunities that we can apply to clinical practice,” Van Rhee said.

“But another benefit” he added, “is to meet with old friends and colleagues and to network and make new friends.”

Featuring more than 250 exhibitors and programs, participants had the chance to do just that, particularly during MTEs, short for “meet the experts.” Intended to be a blend of lecture- and case-based presentations led by facilitators, MTEs like Van Rhee’s allowed for participant involvement, as well as learning.

Although this year’s conference also included opportunities for PAs to evaluate their comprehension during self-assessment sessions, it is the MTEs, Van Rhee said, which “fall in line with the Yale PA Online curriculum in that we are using the Yale experts and experts around the country to deliver the content the students need.”

“At the center of the Yale PA Online course structure is problem-based learning,” Van Rhee said. “In my classes, my students will learn to piece together all the relevant information to come to a final diagnosis, whether it be a common disease [horse] or a rare diagnosis [zebra].”

Read our interview with Program Director James Van Rhee to learn more about his approach to educating future PAs.

For more information about 2017’s AAPA conference presentations, visit AAPA 2017.

Citation for this content: Yale School of Medicine Physician Assistant Online Program