Bay Path University

Carly agrees with Ernest and adds: "You also need great team- work skills. EDs are all about the team. Yet, individually, PAs need to be compassionate and optimistic. Finally, it's important to separate work and home life. There needs to be a balance." Than best summed up a typical day in the ED and the soft skills PAs need to succeed: "It is like 'drinking from a fire hydrant' all day. Even though it is very rewarding, it can be very stressful. People are always coming up to you and asking questions. You have to keep a level and intelligent head on your shoulders and know your team has your back." Looking to the Future At each of these hospitals, PAs already make up a significant percentage of the team, their numbers varying from shift to shift. They have learned, as well as many others, that the ben- efits of using PAs are enormous: lower costs, shared workload, enhanced patient attention, and increased throughput of patients resulting in better outcomes and overall environments for EDs. And the importance of PAs will only grow. The Association of American Medical Colleges forecasts that in 15 years the United States will face a deficit of up to 159,300 physicians. The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) reaffirmed that saying, "there is currently a significant shortage of physicians appropriately trained and certified in emergency medicine." Hospitals have already felt the squeeze and are turning to PAs, as well as nurse practitioners, to fill the gap in ED services. That makes the PA profession one of the most sought after career paths with the Bureau of Labor Statistics projecting that employment of physician assistants is expected to grow 37 percent by 2026, much faster than the average for many occupations. Ernest, Than and Carly all agree it is inevitable that the numbers of PAs will increase in EDs. They are seeing that trend already. Yet, it is more than just statistics. As the profession has grown in reputation, people are growing accustomed to having a PA administer treatment. Sometimes, patients even ask for a PA. In the coming years, that may be a request heard over and over again. www.baypath.edu 15 Meet Nathaniel "Than" Moore G'14 Than Moore broke ground as a member of the inaugural class in the MS in Physician Assistant Studies. As an undergraduate, he attended Colby College, majoring in biology and mathematics. A New England native, he is an avid outdoorsman and also teaches a wilderness medicine course. Meet Ernest Darkoh G'16 Raised in Springfield, MA, Ernest graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a degree in biology. A competitive individual, his favorite sport to play is basketball. Much like in the workplace, basketball always pushes Ernest to work harder and challenges him to be better.

• Cover