Eyeworld

March 2016 • Ophthalmology Business 23 by Vanessa Caceres, Contributing Writer who can go into almost any specialty or setting and make a positive impact." A typical PA training PA programs are experiencing rapid growth, Mr. Hanifin said. The current number of training programs is ap- proaching 200, compared to just over 150 in 2010. There are plans to open about 50 more programs in the near future. These programs accommodate about 10,000 new graduates entering the practice each year, he said. The training that PAs receive is modeled after medical school, Mr. Hanifin said. For the most part, train- ing focuses on primary care-related specialties. "The most significant thing that a PA would bring to the table is a broad knowledge of general medicine," he said. During training, PAs rotate through all major areas of medicine; however, exposure to ophthalmology may only be limited to a day or two. PAs can do much of what the physician does, with some variation by state, said Ann Davis, MS, PA-C, vice president, constituent organiza- tion outreach and advocacy, Ameri- can Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA), Alexandria, Virginia. They can make diagnoses, follow patients, order interest and enthusiasm to adding a PA to the mix along with ophthalmolo- gists and optometrists. PAs are an expanding part of clinical care among all specialties. "The demand for certified PA services in every clinical specialty and setting has skyrocketed in the past 5 years," said Dawn Morton-Rias, EdD, PA-C, presi- dent and CEO, National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, Johns Creek, Georgia. "As baby boom- ers age, it's easy to imagine more PAs in ophthalmology with the growing demand for surgeries to address retinal repair, glaucoma, cataracts, and corneal replacement. PAs are important assets to surgical teams, serving as first assis- tants in the OR, and providing preop and postop care to ensure effective management of comorbidities and en- hanced patient compliance." "Our aging population is dramat- ically increasing the number of people in need of care, and the Affordable Care Act is poised to provide access to millions of people who have been without care," said Christopher Hanifin, PA-C, chair, Department of Physician Assistants, School of Health and Medical Sciences, Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey. "We seek to train clinicians Number of PAs in ophthalmology is small but growing Y ou've heard it before: The baby boomers in the U.S. add to the graying of the pop- ulation, and people are living longer. That means there are more patients coming to your office and more chronic eye diseases to treat. At the same time, the number of ophthalmologists is actually projected to dwindle in the next decade. Could physician assistants (PAs) be part of a new and improved model of care within ophthalmology? If you listen closely at ophthalmology meetings, more eyecare practices are thinking about adding PAs. About a third of PAs work in primary medicine, and their numbers within ophthalmol- ogy are still small, but there's growing Physician assistants: An antidote for a growing number of patients? PA facts and figures • The PA profession grew by 36.4% over a 5-year period, from 2009 to 2014. • There were 101,977 certified PAs in 2014. • Two states experiencing the largest growth in PAs in that time were Mississippi and Arkansas. • The top 5 practice areas for PAs are family medicine, surgical subspecialties, emergency medicine, internal medicine, and dermatology. • In a National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) survey with 61,334 respondents, only 43 (0.1%) said their primary clinical rotation was ophthalmology. Source: NCCPA continued on page 24

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