Congressional Staffer Visits Physician Assistant Studies Department
| Just as new students were arriving at UAMS, a legislative assistant working for U.S. Rep. French Hill visited the College of Health Professions Department of Physician Assistant Studies with a goal of learning more about the program.
“We discussed the challenges the profession has in Arkansas – educational and professional practice,” said Edward Williams, DMSc, PA-C, the department’s chair.
Those challenges include securing clinical rotations in Arkansas and plans for a state bill to provide tax incentives for preceptors in the state.
Williams serves on the Government Relations Steering Committee in the national Physician Assistants Education Association. He spoke earlier this summer to Amelia Allert in Hill’s Washington, D.C., office and invited her to stop by the department’s offices on the Little Rock campus.
She met with leaders from each class of students in the 28-month program, toured the department and even saw students practicing their physical examination skills.
Williams said, “The students discussed their experiences as they progress through our program and also addressed some of the technology that they use in labs and in simulation.”
The visit was “important because it gives the program an opportunity to hear and understand what their congressional representative’s legislative priorities are so that the program knows how their needs may fit,” Williams said. “This is also a time for them to connect with PA students and better understand what goes into their education.”
Facilitating program visits is an excellent opportunity to bring congressional offices up to speed on the contributions of PA educators to the future health workforce and and how federal policy can assist programs in overcoming barriers, he said.
Williams has served on the steering committee for almost three years. He was scheduled to make his first visit to Washington for the committee in 2020 when the trip was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Allert, third from left, listens to the students as they discuss the Physician Assistant program and stand outside the department.