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The Practice Utilization and Reimbursement Handbook has been published and is now available!  Visit the AASPA Store for information.

AASPA's website is now secure. You can join, renew or register online through our secure server.

Attention Advertisers and Recruiters: Include yourself in the magazine of the surgical PA profession: Sutureline. Call 888-882-2772 for information today!

Attention Pharmaceutical/Surgical Product industry: visit our revised "Corporate Relations" section. Learn how the surgical PA profession is a strong return on your time and investment!

Do you need a PA with surgical skills? Visit our "Hiring a Surgical PA" section.

Attention Members: Do not miss any AASPA News-email us your updated E-Mail address to aaspa@aaspa.com

Welcome aboard our website! AASPA is the premier organization that represents PAs that work in the pre-operative, intra-operative, and post-operative settings. AASPA was formed for Surgical PAs, by Surgical PAs.

AASPA also represent PAs in training, both students and PA residents in a wide variety of academic settings. We were the first organization to offer a unique membership category for residents. We are also proud to offer one of the most active and well-recognized programs for students interested in becoming a PA.

AASPA was formed in 1972 as the American Association of Surgeon Assistants. We are proud to be the oldest specialty Physician Assistant organization, and we have a long history of supporting the needs of PAs, our physician/surgeon partners, and our patients. Due to our vastly expanding role in the pre- and post-operative arena, supported by our broad based educational foundation as PAs, our name was changed to the American Association of Surgical Physician Assistants (1996).

Surgical PAs are educated in more than 137 physician assistant educational programs (two of which specialize in training surgical PAs). The typical program is two years in length and awards a PA certificate, often with a Masters or Bachelors degree. We encourage prospective students to enroll in an ARC-PA approved program (visit www.arc-pa.org for information). Visit the “About the Surgical PA” link as well as the Prospective PA Link.

Upon graduation from PA School, PAs are eligible to sit for the National Commission for the Certification of Physician Assistants Certification exam (www.NCCPA.org). NCCPA certification is required to practice as a PA.

PAs usually enter surgical practice by one of three routes:
-Graduation from an ARC-PA accredited surgically focused PA Program.
-Completion of a surgical residency for PAs(after attending PA school).
-On the job training (after graduating from an ARC-PA accredited Program).

Recent statistics from CareerBuilder.com, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, CNNMoney, and others show that the PA is one of the fastest growing professions in the country! The Department of Labor expects the PA profession to expand by 53%! CNNMoney rated the PA profession as the fastest growing health profession, and the 5th fastest growing profession for the future.

Information from the American Academy of PAs shows that more than half of all PAs graduating are employed in specialty practice (AAPA.org). Job opportunities for PAs in all surgical specialties are currently expanding dramatically, and there are more surgical PA opportunities than there are qualified individuals to fill those positions! Look at the ”help wanted” section of any physician assistant journal-you will find a majority of jobs for PAs are surgical. In short, Surgical PAs, and especially AASPA members, are in very high demand. For our information on hiring a surgical PA, click here, for information on placing an ad to recruit one of our members, click here.

Opportunities in all of the surgical specialties are exploding! Why is the surgical PA profession expanding so rapidly? Here are several reasons:

1. Cutbacks in physician surgical residency slots: The number of residency slots for physicians training in surgery has been decreasing yearly since 1980. The workload at surgical teaching institutions has not gone down, and Surgical PAs are ideal for helping busy hospitals pre-op patients, keep the OR close to schedule, and perform admission and discharge work.
2. Reduced Resident Work hours: Regulations now require that all physician residents be limited to an eighty-hour workweek. This has had a huge impact on the way that teaching hospitals function. AASPA has been working closely with physician and surgeon organizations to help combat the strain on the health care system. Surgical PAs are taking up the slack when the law requires that physicians in training go home.
3. Reimbursement for PA surgical services: This includes pre-op evaluation (hospital and/or clinic), intra-operative assistance, and post-op care (including office follow up). PAs can be reimbursed for their services, making them effective in the business of medicine, both in large teaching hospitals and smaller private practices. The presence of a Surgical PA on a surgeon's team allows the numbers of patients being treated to expand, thus creating sources of income. Get a copy of our Reimbursement handbook today!
4. Physician/Surgeon relief. PAs are member of a team lead by the physician: PAs can use this relationship to become a true partner with the surgeon, which will free the surgeon to concentrate on the most complex cases. Surgical PAs often alternate “call” with their physicians.
5. The February 2002 edition of The Archives of Surgery report that medical students are showing a lower interest in a career in surgery. This will continue to stress the surgical workforce, and PAs are ideal to help fill the void.
6. The final reason why our field is growing so rapidly is because of the daily work of this organization, much of it behind the scenes. We network with physicians, surgeons, their organizations, hospitals, HMOs and more to guarantee that they know the effective role that Surgical PAs have in healthcare. The Surgical PA organizations were the first groups to ever create a marketing advertisement for our profession.
7. In general, Surgical PAs are known as “champions of patient safety.” AASPA participates in national committees promoting safety in the peri-operative setting.

AASPA also functions to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas for PAs in surgery. This allows us to interact with surgical societies, other PA organizations, physician organizations, hospital administrators, and insurance companies. AASPA supports the Surgical PA profession by support the needs of the membership, by marketing the profession, providing quality cost effective CME, assisting with professional issues (such as credentialing), providing networking opportunities, and to communicate trends and ideas. This culminates with better and safer surgical care for our patients.

For the surgeon/physician this website serves to educate you on the exciting role that PAs can hold on your team. Quality patient care, expert operative assistance, and a skilled pair of (reimbursable) hands in both the inpatient and outpatient setting just scratch the surface of what PAs can do for you. Be sure to visit the "Information on the Surgical PA" page.

For medical/surgical manufacturers or pharmaceutical companies, AASPA offers outstanding, affordable sponsorship opportunities. PAs work directly with hospitals and surgeons to select surgical supplies: from sutures and scissors to drapes and laparoscopic instruments. AASPA Members write scores of prescriptions weekly. AASPA will offer you access to our leadership, and unique opportunities to get product recognition with the membership. Click on the "Corporate Sponsor" button to see how you can participate.

For those who may be interested in a career as a Physician Assistant in surgery, we congratulate you-- there is really no better time to become a surgical PA! We offer a unique "Pre-PA Student Program." Participating in this exciting forum will allow those interested in the profession to become subscribers to our journals and newsletters, have your name published in the Sutureline journal, and enhance your knowledge of the profession. This will strengthen your PA program application. We are also constructing a mentoring program to help our Pre-PAs with “shadowing” experiences. Visit the Prospective PA section to see how you can become an AASPA Pre-PA student. AASPA is a great place to start learning about the PA profession.

AASPA is unsurpassed in service to our members. We have an outstanding CME program, full of useful, cutting-edge surgical information. In fact, several surgeons and nurse practitioners have attended our CME program in the past. We offer a unique membership benefits program, including discounts on hotels, travel, shopping, and more. One purchase using this program often pays for a year's membership dues! Do not forget that your membership is fully tax-deductible. There is a membership category for everyone: surgical PA, surgeon, PA student, PA resident, and even a special section for pre-PAs. The entire Board of Directors prides ourselves on our accessibility, and we are here to help all our members, sponsors, and physician partners.

We hope you find this site exciting and informative. More importantly, we hope that you will choose to become involved in our organization: medical and surgical PAs, PA students, surgeons, pharmaceutical and surgical equipment representatives, and those interested in becoming a PA are all invited to participate! Visit all of our links on the left of the page for more information.

We hope you enjoy your visit! Attend our next CME meeting. Become a member. Be sure to visit our store for some cool surgical t-shirts! Most of all let us know what we can do better for you!

Gerald T. Simons, RPA-C
Surgical PA
Treasurer
Website Chair