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14 | Issue No. 5wpahospitalnews.comSaint Francis University Physician AssistantsPrepare for Challenges of Rural AreasBy Laurie BaileyMedical providers in rural setting are constantly faced with the challenges ofeducating their patients about the importance of following doctor’s orders andmaintaining healthy lifestyles. The intense physician assistant program at SaintFrancis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania is well-equipped to prepare studentsto face issues prevalent in these areas.Located atop a mountain in centralCambria County betweenAltoona and Johnstown, the campuslends expert training, current medicaltechnology and modern facilitiesto surrounding communities.Part of the mission of the university’sSchool of Health and Sciences,to embrace the needs of the ruralcommunity, is enhanced by localdemographics and geographic location.“Many of the areas are depressed.Several people are without work orinsurance,” said Christine Roos, aChristine Roos, PA-C2009 graduate of the Saint FrancisPhysician Assistant Program. Shecurrently works for two offices ofthe Primary Health Network: Northern Cambria Family Medicine in CambriaCounty and Cherry Tree Family Medicine in Indiana County.“Patients may not understand the disease process for things like high bloodpressure or heart disease. They need to understand why it’s important to take theirmedicine,” she said.Others are reluctant to take medications because they are fearful of side effectsor don’t have insurance coverage.This was the case for a 62-year-old woman from Northern Cambria with type2 diabetes and elevated blood pressure and cholesterol. She was referred to diabeticand nutrition classes and adopted a pro-active approach to her own wellness.“With this education, she was able to successfullymake lifestyle changes, which resulted in a 15-pound weight loss over several months,” said Roos.Some patients are more difficult to treat, she continued.For example, a 56-year-old male from GlenCampbell did not take all of the necessary medicationsto treat his high cholesterol, high blood pressureand reflux because he lost his prescription coverage.To rule out cardiac etiology of symptoms, astress test was recommended, but because his bloodpressure was high, this wasn’t an option.“He was given samples of available medicationand, through pharmaceutical patient assistance, wasalso able to receive some of his medications forfree,” said Roos.The next hurtle was to get this patient transportationto the hospital so he could have the stress test.Dr. Patricia Fitzgerald“The patient refused to have his test done until after hunting season as he didn’twant to miss out on it,” she said. “Compliance in the office is a big challenge.”Roos credits her training at Saint Francis with preparing her for the challengesshe faces in her current position. Although a much more primitive setting, a fiveweekrotation she completed in Honduras exposed her to the issues of patientaccess to care and lack of funds for medications.“We were delivering babies to mothers who had no pre-natal care or no ultrasound,”she said. Diagnoses were made without the availability of testing facilitiesor being able to prescribe a variety of medications.Although PA students at Saint Francis might feelas though they are in class 24/7 for the first year oftheir professional training, students are in the community,at local hospitals or private practices, forhalf a day a week by their second or third semester,explained Donna Yeisley, chair of the Departmentof Physician Assistant Sciences at Saint Francis.The 110 students in the program also have advantageof the university’s Center of Excellence forRemote and Medically Under-Served Areas.Donna YeisleyResearch staff there are developing uses for telehealthequipment referred to by Yeisley as the “waveof the future.” With this technology, a patient can be examined by a specialist inthe city from his primary care physician’s rural location.And officially opening in July of 2009, the university’s DiSepio Institute forRural Health and Wellness provides 30,000 feet of academic and clinical space toall the school’s health and wellness programs. PA students are able to use thefacility as a venue for activities that couldn’t be accommodated by previous spacein the PA program.“Young people today have a desire to help others. By becoming physician assistants,they are mid-level practitioners who get to do diagnosing and treating withoutthe time commitment and expense of medical school,” she explained.In rural areas PAs are able to help fill the need for physicians. “It’s not alwayspossible for a practice to expand by hiring additional physicians. A PA can takeon the more routine everyday medical complaints, freeing the physician to concentrateon areas of expertise,” said Yeisley.Roos believes the education she received at Saint Francis was “top notch.” “Ifeel well-prepared to handle situations I encounter in practice,” she said.For more information about the Physician Assistant Program at Saint FrancisUniversity, call 812-472-3130.Fast Facts about a career as a physician assistant: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job outlook isgood for physician assistant majors. Employment is expected togrow by 39% from 2008 to 2018. Nationally, there are about 12,000 students enrolled in programs. The number of programs rose rapidly in the 1990s, going from96 in 1996 to 148 in 2009. Pennsylvania has the second largest number of programs in thecountry surpassed only by New York.