2021 NCCPA Ambassador Visit

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit the NCCPA headquarters with some of the other NCCPA ambassadors. The ambassador program helps bring awareness to the PA profession and allows the NCCPA to hear from PAs working in the field. During our visit, we heard from different PA organizations and what they do to help further the work of PAs and the profession. 

Although the AAPA is the advocacy organization for the PA profession, anyone involved in the profession is an advocate, including other PA organizations and individual PAs.

We first heard from the NCCPA president, Dawn Morton-Rias. She gave an update on what is going on with NCCPA, including the PANRE Pilot program. The PANRE pilot ended last year, and the results so far are promising. It is an at-home option for the traditional PANRE, done in a testing center. It requires test takers to do twenty-five questions every quarter over two years. We also discussed issues in the PA field, and we were able to voice concerns and give feedback to NCCPA.

We also heard from the nccPA Health Foundation, a supporting organization to the NCCPA that provides grants to PAs for improving the capacity of certified PAs to impact the quality and accessibility of health care delivery. There are many opportunities for PAs and PA students to apply for grants to help them with delivering extra care to their communities.

Another organization that presented to us was the PA History Society. The PA History Society is dedicated to the preservation of the history of the PA profession. If the history of the profession is of interest, there are many opportunities to be involved. 

Those who have served our second term as NCCPA ambassadors were given a white coat from NCCPA.

Finally, we had the opportunity to visit the Mercer University PA program. The student asked questions about PA practice and the transition from PA student to practicing PA. It was a great time sharing insights with the students.