NCCPA Chairman's Address to the 2007 AAPA House of Delegates
Mr. Speaker, House officers, Madam President, Board of Directors, Delegates and colleagues. I am very pleased to have the opportunity to return to this House, where I spent many years as a delegate and House officer. Today, I bring you greetings on behalf of the NCCPA Board of Directors and news of the important happenings at the NCCPA.
The NCCPA’s mission is to “assure that certified physician assistants meet professional standards of knowledge and skills.” The Commission serves a wide variety of stakeholders, notably the public, our patients, PAs, licensing and credentialing bodies, and others.
The Board is composed of certified PAs, physicians, educators and public members; and approximately half of the Board members are PAs. The Board’s collective experience and talents shape the strategic direction and goals for the organization. The work of NCCPA’s Board, committees and staff is directed by these key strategic goals. Today, I’d like to briefly describe our three goals and the efforts we’ve undertaken to meet those goals.
Goal#1 states, “NCCPA will be an essential indicator of PA competence and will utilize a competencies-based approach to refine its certification and recertification programs and to develop new products and services for certified PAs.” This goal is aptly met by the competencies project undertaken in partnership with the AAPA, the ARC-PA and PAEA. The Competencies document, jointly endorsed by all four national PA organizations, has become an important standard within and beyond the PA profession. The NCCPA aspires to continue to be a leader in fostering and assessing PA competencies and looks forward to opportunities to work with the AAPA and others organizations to facilitate that aim.
Our second Board goal states “Through the exchange of knowledge, expertise, and resources with others, NCCPA will continue to enhance the reputation of the organization and the visibility of and appreciation for certified physician assistants.” In 2006, NCCPA established the NCCPA Foundation, a charitable organization whose mission is to support the work of the NCCPA. The Foundation’s first product, the Exploring Ethics DVD dramatizes real ethical dilemmas and was created as a result of our PA Excellence project. The DVD was sent to all PA programs in 2006 and was recently approved for Category I CME credit. I encourage conference organizers to consider utilizing it at their CME programs. In addition, the NCCPA Foundation has taken responsibility for managing and administering NCCPA’s research grants program and continues to define its strategic plan and priorities to help educate the public and others on the value of the certified physician assistant.
Goal#3 states, “NCCPA will use technology and research to be responsive, innovative, and effective in addressing the interests of the public and other stakeholders.” In response to this goal, NCCPA created an online self assessment tool for PAs preparing for PANCE and PANRE. We continue to enhance our online logging system, and we have again worked with the AAPA to offer the streamlined conference logging process for PAs to easily submit a detailed record of the CME they earn at this conference.
One of our latest efforts to be responsive, innovative and effective is a project undertaken cooperatively with the AAPA: We’re hoping to establish a procedure logging system for PAs to easily document, report and share, if desired, their procedures history. Stay tuned for more information.
At last year’s House of Delegates meeting, the NCCPA Chair announced a task force of NCCPA Board members had been convened to assess expressed needs of specialty PAs. Last June, the NCCPA invited representatives of PA and physician organizations to discuss the challenges and environmental pressures faced by PAs in specialties.
This year the task force has divided itself into a number of mini task forces to gather additional insight from PA and physician specialty organizations interested in continuing a dialogue on specialty recognition. As of today, no decisions have been reached and the NCCPA Board and its committees continue to evaluate this very important issue.
While discussions continue, the Board has adopted “Points of Consensus,” which reflect our current thinking. I encourage everyone to visit NCCPA’s Web site for the latest version, including clarifications that were approved earlier this month.
Specialty recognition is an important, complex issue for the profession. It is my hope that we, as a profession, continue to dialogue about this landmark topic, and the NCCPA looks forward to the opportunity to discuss and work closely with the AAPA, the ARC-PA and PAEA on this important topic.
Now that I have had an opportunity to briefly share with you some of NCCPA’s latest efforts, I want to extend an invitation to each of you to join us: the NCCPA is recruiting a PA and a public director at large to serve on the NCCPA Board for terms that begin January 1, 2008 . Having served as a PA director at large, it’s an incredible opportunity to take an active leadership role in the professional decisions affecting PA certification. I encourage anyone who has an interest in learning more about this exciting opportunity to visit NCCPA’s Information & Resource Center in room 110 of the convention center for more information or access the same information at our Web site. In addition, take advantage of the opportunity to visit the resource center to check the status of your certification and log the CME you earn at the conference.
I thank you once again for the opportunity to share with you NCCPA’s latest efforts to better serve all of our stakeholders, and I wish you well in your continued work in the house this year. Thank you.
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