Brian Peacock promoted to position of program director 

Caroline Sisson promoted to vice chair of education and curricular innovation 

Chris Gillette participated in a Twitter conference. The conference kickoff presentation examined professional identity formation (PIF) in under-represented PAs. This project was funded by the PAEA Don Pedersen grant in 2020 and has been conducted over the past year, with Gillette and Robert Wooten as co-PIs. 

Gillette also has been appointed to a three-year term as an editorial advisory board member for the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association and has been appointed as a review editor for the Pharmacoepidemiology section in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology. 

Sarah Garvick, associate program director, Boone campus, has been promoted to preclinical education director. Garvick also presented a breakout session Lindsay Strowd, MD, at the third Annual Wake Forest Health Professions Education Institute Educator Conference. The session was titled “Creating a successful published education research project using the Brooks Scholarship evaluation criteria.”  

Sobia Hussaini, assistant professor, has been promoted to director of admissions and director of academic practice partnerships. 

Bryan Geigler, assistant professor, has been promoted to director of clinical education. 

Submitted e-posters 

Sobia Hussaini, MHA, Wayne Matthews, MS, PA-C, DFAAPA, Anthony Miller, M.Ed, PA-C, Loralee Amandus, BS. Finding leadership: Surveying PA program mission, values, and goals.  Submitted to 2021 PAEA Education March 1-23, 2021. 

M. Jane McDaniel, MS, MLS(ASCP)SC; Bettie Coplan, PhD, PA-C; Sobia Shariff Hussaini, MHA; Chris Gillette, PhD; Gregory B. Russell, MS. Enhancing PA Admissions through Analysis of Trends in CASPA Data. Submitted to 2021 PAEA Education.  

Submitted and accepted presentations 

Chris Gillette, PhD; Sarah Garvick, MS, MPAS, PA-C; Chris M. Everett, PhD, MPH, PA-C; Jennifer Momen, MD, MPH, FAAP; Jan Ostermann, PhD; Sonia Crandall, PhD, MS, FAMEE. Job-, Community-, and Personal Preferences When Selecting a Practice Location. Submitted to AMEE 2021: A Virtual Conference.  27-30 August, 2021.  

Robert Wooten, MS, PA-C; Chris Gillette, PhD; Nicole Rockich-Winston, PharmD, EdD; Tasha Wyatt, PhD; Carol Hildebrandt, BA; Sonia Crandall, PhD, MS, FAMEE. Exploring the pervasion of systemic racism in medical education:  Experiences of Physician Assistants from the USA. Submitted to AMEE 2021: A Virtual Conference.  27-30 August, 2021.

Submitted original research

Robert Wooten, MS, PA-C; Chris Gillette, PhD; Nicole Rockich-Winston, PharmD, EdD; Tasha Wyatt, PhD; Carol Hildebrandt, BA; Sonia Crandall, PhD, MS, FAMEE. Professional identify formation in under-represented in medicine physician assistants.  Submitted to 2021 PAEA Education eForum. 

Accepted articles

Josseline Cooper, Kelsey Donovan, Halee Michel, Lindsey Peterson, Megan Todd-Thompson, Chris Gillette, PhD, Sobia Hussaini, MHA. Screening for depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder among Latinx immigrant children in a primary care setting. Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants. 

Chris Gillette, PhD, Cathy Shull, PA-C, MPAS, Lindsey Mitchell, Julienne Kirk. Prescribing of medications used in MAT for Medicare Part D beneficiaries: Impact of 2016 CARA Act. Journal of Opioid Management. 

Sarah Garvick, MS, MPAS, PA-C, Chris Gillette, PhD, Bryan Geigler, Sonia Crandall, Hong Gao. Does learner self-efficacy influence accurate identification of heart sound descriptions? Journal of Physician Assistant Education. 

Sarah Nisly, PharmD, Alexandra Mihm, Chris Gillette, Kyle Davis, Janine Tillett. Safety of direct oral anticoagulants in patients with mild to moderate cirrhosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Thrombosis and Thrombolysis. 

Cortney Mospan, PharmD and Chris Gillette, PhD. Impact of a simulated legislative visit on student pharmacists’ political skills inventory. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education.  

Hussaini, SS, MHA; Livingston, DA, PhD, EdM; Brown, CA, PhD, CRNA; Roper, BM, PhD; Scott, JB; Warden, NG, MBA; Latham-Sadler, BA, MD. Launching into healthcare: Critical pedagogy to increase diversity and social awareness in healthcare professions. Accepted to Wake Forest Journal of Science and Medicine (J Sci Med) 2021. 

Poster presentation 

Elliot Israel, MD, Maureen George, PhD, Chris Gillette, PhD, Ileen Gilbert, MD, Hitesh Gandhi, MS, MHA, MBBS, Tommi Tervonen, PhD, Zaneta Balantac, ScB, Caitlin Thomas, MS, Nicolas Krucien, PhD, Nabeel Farooqui, MD. Therapeutic and management preferences and goals of adults with asthma: a discrete choice experiment. Presented at American Thoracic Society 2021 Annual Meeting. 

Maureen George, PhD, Elliot Israel, MD, Nabeel Farooqui, MD, Ileen Gilbert, MD, Hitesh Gandhi, MS, MHA, MBBS, Tommi Tervonen, PhD, Zaneta Balantac, ScB, Caitlin Thomas, MS, Nicolas Krucien, PhD, Chris Gillette, PhD. Effect of socioeconomic, demographic, and clinical factors on asthma treatment preferences: a discrete choice experiment. Presented at American Thoracic Society 2021 Annual Meeting. 

Published articles 

Cortney Mospan, PharmD, Brooke Balenger, Chris Gillette, PhD. Student pharmacists’ perceptions regarding pharmacist-prescribed hormonal contraceptives and their professional responsibility. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association. Published in Volume 61, Issue 2, March-April 2021.  

Meagan Shepherd, MD, Mary Beth Hogan, MD, Rebecca Hayes, MD, Susan Flesher, MD, Chris Gillette, PhD. Spacer microbial contamination and asthma outcomes: case series. Journal of Asthma. Published February 10, 2021. 

Chelsea Ferguson, PharmD, Courtney Perry, PharmD, Mary Subramanian, PharmD, Chris Gillette, PhD, Kathleen Ayers, RD, Cherrie Welch, MD. Mixed oil-based lipid emulsions vs. soybean oil-based lipid emulsions on incidence and severity of intestinal failure-associated liver disease in a neonatal intensive care unit. Journal of Parental and Enteral Nutrition. Published February 2021 in volume 45, issue 2.  

Presented poster 

Tanya Makhlouf, PharmD, Brianna Hemmann, PharmD, Elizabeth Woods, PharmD, Mary Subramanian, PharmD, Courtney Perry, PharmD, Chris Gillette, PhD, Holly Hanes, MD. Impact of patient-specific aminoglycoside monitoring for treatment of pediatric cystic fibrosis pulmonary exacerbations. Presented at American College of Clinical Pharmacy 2021 Annual Meeting. 

Presentation 

Tanya Maklouf, PharmD, Elizabeth Woods, PharmD, Mary Subramanian PharmD, Courtney Perry, PharmD, Chris Gillette, PhD, Holly Hanes, MD. Effect of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator modulators on pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy. Presented at Pediatric Pharmacy Association 2021 Annual Meeting.  

Julie Ann Freischlag, Abrea Armstrong, Sobia Shariff Hussaini, Elimarie Cabballero Quinones. Presentation: Women of Wake Sharing “HERstory” of Inspiration and Motivation. Office of Diversity and Inclusion: Women’s History Month. March 5, 2021.  

Submitted interactive presentation 

Sisson C, Hussaini S, Garvick S. Teachers become learners: What students show us about racial diversity? Submitted to 2021 PAEA Education eForum. March 1-23, 2021

Published online 

Edouard Leaune; Violette Rey-Cadilhac; Safwan Oufker; Stéphanie Grot; Roy Strowd; Gilles Rode; Sonia Crandall. Medical students’ attitudes toward and intention to work with the underserved: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Medical Education.  

Published abstract and presentation 

Nicole Rockich-Winston, Robert Wooten, Chris Gillette, Sonia Crandall, Tasha Wyatt. “I’m on your side.  I understand you.” Exploring the professional identity formation of physician assistants. Canadian Medical Education Journal, 12(1), e117-e119.  

Submitted spotlight presentation 

Garvick S, Bates N, Gillette C. Use of a smartphone improves cardiac auscultation accuracy. Submitted to 2021 PAEA Education March 1-23, 2021. 

Submitted e-poster 

Garvick S, Peacock B, Gillette C. COVID-19 and PA Faculty Burnout: A Year into the Pandemic. Submitted to 2021 PAEA Education March 1-23, 2021. 

e-Presentation 

Alisha DeTroye.  “Adjusting to the “New Normal”: Protecting Systems, Providers, and Patients in an Ongoing Crisis." American College of Healthcare Executives. Jan 20, 2021.

Writing Challenge

Research is one of the most important methods that health professions use to showcase their value to society. Wake Forest PA faculty members (and medical faculty) are expected to conduct high-level research to advance their own career and the PA profession. In medical education, scholarly writing is a difficult and time-consuming task. As any writer can attest, sometimes it’s difficult to just get started.

This year, the Wake Forest Health Professions Education Institute (HPEI) participated as a member of the #rxwritingchallenge out of the University of Minnesota Center for Innovation  Scholarship in Pharmacy Education. The #rxwritingchallenge is a period of 14 days where scholars write their clinical or medical education scholarship. Any type of writing for scholarship was welcome, from outlines to completing an annotated bibliography to responding to revisions from reviewers, an so forth. Two PA faculty members, Sonia Crandall, PhD, and Chris Gillette, PhD, who are leaders in the HPEI, led the #rxwritingchallenge for the institution.  

A number of faculty within the Department of PA Studies participated in the writing challenge. Sobia Hussaini and Sarah Garvick, MS, MPAS, PA-C, both agreed that this writing challenge was a success. Garvick commented that even if she didn’t get a chance to write at the time she had initially set aside, it led her to “make a better plan for the next time I sat down to write, which was still really effective.”  

Hussaini said, “I appreciated having some time set aside each day to work on scholarly projects. I mainly used the time to finish off projects and manuscripts that had been on my to-do list for some time.” 

Crandall and Gillette are principal PA faculty helping lead the development and growth of medical education scholarship at Wake Forest School of Medicine. Their visibility as leaders in HPEI will improve the visibility of the PA profession’s scholarship and will advance the PA profession at the institution.