Kaci Hultz and Billy Bailey, the MSU Student AAPA Reps, along with four other classmates recently attended the 2023 AAPA Conference in Nashville, TN. On Saturday May 20th they attended the House of Delegates Meeting. The student AAPA representatives were able to get a look at the behind-the-scenes workings of how policies are written and voted on what governs PA’s ability to practice in various states. On Sunday and Monday, the PA student attended various lecture presentation to further their education and refresh on various learning objectives. Highlights included lectures on new diabetic medications and management, cardiac devices, neuroinfectious diseases referral for bariatric surgical candidates, and pain management in the ER.
Three students from the Missouri State PA program also competed student challenge bowl along with 89 other teams from PA programs around the country. They did not place in the challenge bowl, but they had a great time. On Monday evening, they were able to meet and network with other students and PAs at restaurants that were open just from AAPA 2023 Conference attendees.
The AAPA conference also hosted a step-up challenge. The top ten people with the most steps that attended the conference were entered into a drawing to win either a peloton bike or a registration plus hotel stay at the AAPA 2024 conference in Houston. Of the participants, we had two notable winners: Sadie Turner won first place with the most steps at the conference and won the drawing for the AAPA 2024 conference and hotel stay in Houston. Regan Wilson also placed in the top 10 winners.
All in all, this was a great experience for the students of the Missouri State University PA program. If you were to ask any one of the attendees, they would tell you that it was a great opportunity and would encourage future PA students of the program to attend.
