By Anna Vecchio
To help broaden its physician assistant (PA) members’ knowledge of vascular care and help them engage and interact with each other virtually, the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) PA Section has introduced the “PA Case of the Month.”
The monthly initiative will provide PA members an interactive resource to learn about clinical topics and treatments for vascular conditions. PAs can expect to see a variety of topics. Cases planned for the upcoming months include cerebrovascular disease, dialysis access management and lower-extremity vascular disease.
Cases will be posted via SVSConnect and will include a short writeup of a case study, followed by a short number of multiple-choice questions, and then in-depth answers. SVSConnect will serve as the main hub of communication and engagement for the cases. Members of the PA community are encouraged to take part in the survey, and share their thoughts and questions through topic threads.
The initiative began last spring, as PA members began searching for ways to add engaging educational resources into their membership community.
Connor Westfall, a PA in the department of general and vascular surgery at Good Samaritan Hospital in Boston, is one of the project leaders.
“Educational value is a big part of joining a society. We want to present interesting clinical cases that will spur critical thinking, and provide a different perspective and approach to patient care,” said Westfall, an SVS PA Section Executive Board member.
He has high hopes that the platform will grow over time through community engagement and word-of-mouth.
The group is optimistic that the launch will encourage more members of the PA community to submit new clinical cases; the platform includes a mechanism for PA Section members to indicate an interest in participating.
The overarching goal of the initiative is to expand PAs’ knowledge in vascular care.