Maine Association of Physician Assistants - MEAPA

One month left before our MEAPA Annual CME Conference, Don't miss out! Register today!

Join us at the Annual MEAPA CME Conference in Bar Harbor October 2-4th! This year's Keynote Speakers Dr. Timothy Counihan, MD and Hannah Stonebreaker, PA-C, will speak on their experience on October 25th, 2023. Dr. Counihan and PA Stonebreaker were the first two Trauma Team responders working at CMMC when the shootings occurred in Lewiston.

Registration now open on our website. Early-bird discount expires July 1st and discounted hotel room-blocks are first-come, first-served, so don't delay!

Labor Day reminds us to cherish the fruits of our labor and the importance of striking a balance between work and life. Wishing you a day filled with joy and contentment.

For those who must labor on this weekend, we see you, we appreciate you and will be there to relieve you on Tuesday. Thanks for holding down the fort.

Here's a quick summary of what MEAPA is laboring on for YOU:
-Oct 2-4th MEAPA Conference
-Organizational Title Change via Bylaw update
-ME State Professional Title Change Campaign
~Town Hall Zooms Sept 4th and 27th
-Medical Provider of the Day (at statehouse) Sign-Up
-Coordinating member discounts for CME Conferences
and much, much more

Maine DHHS is sponsoring a discussion with U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H Murthy, MD, Gov. Janet Mills and Sarah Squirrell, Director of the Office of Behavioral Health for a discussion on the Power of Human Connection to Build Resilience in the Face of Adversity.
When: Sept 27th, 2024 11am -12:30pm
Where: Hannaford Hall, The University of Southern Maine Campus, Portland.
Register via the link provided on our website.
It is unclear at the time of posting if CME is available.

MEAPA also has award nominations open for our 3 awards. Check out our website to nominate.

Do you know a PA who goes above and beyond for patients and should be highlighted in the media? (Or is that you?) We're looking for inspiring PA stories! https://bit.ly/3yiw8Gi

Conference Exhibitors wanted! Conference dates October 2-4, 2024. Attendee and Exhibitoe Registration available on our website MainePA(dot)com

When you work out, are you doing too much or not enough? There’s a simple way to know: Your target heart rate

A wearable activity tracker makes it super easy to track your heart rate or take your pulse on the inside of your wrist. If your heart rate is too high, you’re straining. If your heart rate is too low, you may want to push yourself a little harder, especially if you’re trying to lose weight.

is excited to welcome Dr. Timothy Counihan, MD to speak on the topic of Management of Diverticulitis at our Annual in Bar Harbor October 2-4th, 2024.

Register now on our website, MainePA.com.
Discounted Hotel Blocks expire September 1st and are FCFS, so don't delay, the links to those can also be found on our website.

Awards Time! Deadline Sept 1st!
We know there are Maine PAs doing amazing things out there, please share with us all they are doing!
Nominate your peer for Maine PA of the Year, the Robert Lapham Service Award or the Outstanding Healthcare Professional of the Year awards!

🥵 Heat stress is the leading cause of weather-related deaths & can worsen underlying illnesses.

We're now facing longer, more intense heatwaves each year due to , and this is how extreme heat impacts our health.

STUDENT ALERT! Scholarship Deadline Sept 1st, 2024! Nominate or apply via the submission link on our website, under Awards tab.

Attention Maternity/Obstetrics Providers!

Attention Maternity/Obstetrics Providers! With the approval of Commissioner Sara Gagné-Holmes, the Office of MaineCare Services (OMS) is moving forward with a State of Maine application for the Transforming Maternal Health (TMaH) Model:...

Bravo American Academy of Physician Associates! This is so helpful to have the support of our national organization advocating for us here on the ground, particularly as we are tackling initiatives like OTP and Title Change.

Interesting!

A 2-year-old boy presented with a 4-week history of painless hair loss and black dots on his scalp. On physical examination, numerous black dots within patches of alopecia were seen on the occipital scalp. Full case details in comments.

is thrilled to welcome speakers, Jackie Fournier, NP-C, ACHPN, Chelsea Oullette, FNP and Brianne Genschel, BSW to our on Wednesday October 2nd, 2024 from 1-2pm. They will be discussing Patient Goals, knowing them, naming them and achieving them in .

Registration is now open on our website (mainepa.com)
NOTE: Discounted room blocks are limited and going fast, first come first served. Don't delay in booking, the discount is >$100/night!

This program is not yet approved for CME credit. Conference organizers plan to apply for a total of 22.5 AAPA Category 1 CME Credits from the AAPA Review Panel. The total number of approved credits is yet to be determined.

Jackie Fournier is a nurse practitioner with over 30 years of hospice and palliative care experience. It was her experiences as an emergency department nurse that prepared her to the unique needs of patients and families beyond curative healing. She was fortunate enough to be part of the first hospice team in the state of Maine.
Since then, Jackie continued to advance her nursing practice as a clinical nurse specialist in critical care from Boston College and later as a hospice and palliative care nurse practitioner. Jackie is a proud graduate of Harvard’s Palliative Care Education and Practice program. As an educator she has taught communities of physicians, nurses and the public within Maine and nationally. And today Jackie brings us those vast experiences she has gained in her nursing practice.

Chelsea Ouellette is a palliative care nurse practitioner in the community, nursing care facilities, and inpatient at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston. She started her nursing career as an RN on a cardiopulmonary unit and then worked as an NP in internal medicine in Western Maine for 6 years. She joined Androscoggin in 2023 to focus on helping patients and their families navigate complex and serious illness by focusing on quality of life and goals of care. When not helping patients, she is usually spending time with her young family, going for a jog, or looking for new restaurants

There’s still time to apply for the AAPA Small Research Grant to receive seed funding so you can build your research portfolio and establish a record of external funding.

In 2024, AAPA has allocated $100,000 to the Small Research Grant program to support this research for PAs who otherwise do not have access to institutional resources (e.g., time free from teaching or clinical practice, access to graduate student support, internal funding mechanisms, grant writing resources).

Find out more and apply on our website today: https://www.aapa.org/research/fellowship-and-grant-funding/aapa-research-funding/. The deadline to apply is now August 7, 2024, 11:59 p.m. PST.

Please feel free to forward this message to your colleagues who may be interested in applying.

Have you noticed any change in the violence against health professionals? Have any of your organizations policies changed since the new law?

Last year, Maine made assaulting an emergency medical worker a felony. The problem of patient violence remains Prior to the new law, health care workers filed 167 intentional injury lost time claims in the first 7 months of 2023; 114 were filed in the first 4 months after the law took effect.

Congratulations Elizabeth Bailey, PA-C, RYT! We hope your program is a huge success for women in Maine!
Do you have a Mental Health Outreach Program or research in need of funding?! If so consider applying, for NCCPA Health Foundation’s available grants!

Congratulations to Grantee Elizabeth Bailey, PA-C, RYT! She is striving to increase health knowledge, foster behavior change, and create a supportive community focused on mental health and wellbeing for women across rural Maine.

Learn how to apply for a $2,500 Mental Health Outreach grant to address needs in your community: https://bit.ly/3k5DLvy



Maine Association of Physician Assistants - MEAPA

Calling all hardworking PAs: Are you getting some much-needed downtime this summer? 😎Here’s a break on an AAPA Fellow Plus membership! Take $50 off and get 250+ CME credits. Use promo code “SALE50” when you join! https://bit.ly/3xFe8bY

Anyone interested in serving on NCCPA Board of Directors?

NCCPA is currently accepting applications for two positions on the Board of Directors:
- Physician Director-at-Large
- Public Director-at-Large

The NCCPA Board meets in person four times a year and provides strategic direction and oversight for the organization in fulfillment of directors’ fiduciary obligations to NCCPA, working closely with the president/CEO. Board members typically also serve on two or three committees or task forces in any given year, which generally conduct their work via video conference call, email, and/or at committee meetings scheduled when the Board is already convened.

While members of our volunteer Board of Directors do not receive any remuneration for their service, NCCPA does cover all travel expenses, lodging, and meals for meetings of the Board and committees.

The deadline for application is Friday, July 12th, 2024. For more information or to apply: https://bit.ly/3Xv2QyJ

Diversity and representation matter, even here in Maine.

An in-depth analyses of the PA workforce reveals trends in the profession and suggests solutions - https://bit.ly/3VBvYV0

Share this infographic with your patients, friends and family!
https://bit.ly/4dJspnX

MEAPA Conference is coming up October 2-4th, 2024, with 20 lectures and 4 (optional) hands on workshops!

We are excited to have Michael Smith, MS, PA-C, who along with Chris Bates-Withers, MMS, PA-C will be discussing an important and timely topic, "Ways to Effectively Discuss Firearm Safety with Patients in a Non-Partisan Manner".

Join us, registration is available via our website. Don't wait, our early bird discount expires on 7/1/24!
Also, the discounted room blocks (over $100 savings/night) are first-come-first served basis, when they are gone, they are gone.

MEAPA Conference is coming up October 2-4th, 2024, with 20 lectures and 4 (optional) hands on workshops! We are very excited to have our own MEAPA Director-at-Large, Chris Bates-Withers, MMS, PA-C returning. He and Michael Smith, MS, PA-C will be discussing an important and timely topic, "Ways to Effectively Discuss Firearm Safety with Patients in a Non-Partisan Manner".

Join us, registration is available via our website! Don't wait, our early bird discount expires on 7/1/24.
Also, the discounted room blocks (over $100 savings/night) are first-come-first served basis, when they are gone, they are gone.

MEAPA President Kimberly Caldwell and MEAPA VP/President-Elect Kathleen Moneghan had a great time at the inaugural Northeast Regional Leadership Conference this weekend. PA leaders from the northeastern states including Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont met for this first of its kind meeting for interstate networking, sharing of ideas, challenges and successes was FANTASTIC! MEAPA will be all the better for the connections and strategies we learned this weekend!
Huge thank you to Connecticut Academy of Physician Associates for putting this together and facilitating some amazing discussions. We will all be stronger for them! Looking forward to future opportunities like this!

Thrilled to announce Dr. Dana Villmore PHD, PA-C will again be presenting at our Annual CME Conference in Bar Harbor, October 2-4th. She will be presenting on "Recognizing and Treating Anxiety Disorders in Primary Care" as part of our outpatient lecture offerings.

Register now via our website (MainePA.com)!
Early bird discount ends 7/2/24, so don't delay!
Also, the discounted hotel room block is on a first come first served basis, so don't delay in booking, our discount is >$100/night!

Dr. Dana Villmore is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of New England's PA program in Portland, Maine. She has been a primary care PA since 2015 and has been with UNE since 2019. She has a BA in Biology from Florida Gulf Coast University, a PhD in Immunology and Microbiology from the University of Florida, and a Masters in PA studies from MCHPS University Boston. Dana precepted UNE PA students for their family medicine rotations for two years while she was practicing primary care in the greater Bangor region. At UNE, she teaches the PA program’s Evidence Based Medicine, Interprofessional Geriatrics Program, Specialty Disciplines Psychiatry module, and Principles of Bioscience courses. She also practices general medicine at the Intermed Workplace Health Clinic for IDEXX Laboratories in Westbrook. Her current research interests include autoimmunity, chronic pain, and anxiety disorders and she gives regional and national talks on fibromyalgia.

Robert served in the US Army from 2006-2012. He obtained his bachelor's degree in biology from University of New Haven in 2016. Robert went on to obtain his associate's degree in healthcare administration in 2017 from Southern Maine Community College and his MSPA in 2020 from Northeastern University. Rob has Emergency Medicine clinical experience having worked at Millinocket Regional Hospital, Redington Fairview General Hospital, Mayo Hospital and CMMC. Rob has served on the MEAPA Board of Directors as a Delegate to AAPAs House of Delegates since 2021.

Welcome back Rob!

Stephanie obtained her BS in Medical Biology from UNE in 2011, going on to obtain her MS in Public Health from UNE in 2012. She also received her MSPA from UNE in 2015. Stephanie has clinical experience in Hospitalist Medicine and serves as the Director of the Hospitalist Medicine Fellowship for Associate Professional Providers at MaineGeneral Medical Center. since 2022. Stephanie has been a member of MEAPA since 2013, serving in multiple offices including Treasurer, VP and President. More recently Stephanie has served as the Chief Delegate to AAPA's House of Delegates.

Welcome back Steph!