PERSPECTIVES 25th Anniversary - Fall-Winter 2018

Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences 53 in the trip. The Student Government Association also started the Shark Strides 5K walk in 2015 to raise funds for the Guatemala trip. The event, which allows students to participate in the trip even if they are unable to make the physical trip to Guatemala, has grown larger each year, with the local community getting involved, highlighting the university. The most recent innovation in the Orlando PA Program is the addition of the point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) curriculum. In 2017, guest lecturer Rachel Krakov, PA-C, presented a lecture about POCUS, which led to several students requesting to learn more about its tech- niques and applications. The program was able to provide a 16-hour workshop for the class during the advanced didactic summer semester. All 62 students chose to attend the workshop, and several students partic- ipated in a national competition called iScan at the American Academy of Physician Assistants Conference in May 2018. The POCUS curriculum is increas- ingly being added to medical and PA education across the country, and NSU Orlando is one of the first PA programs to implement this curriculum, incorpo- rating it into our clinical procedures and surgical skills course. Krakov and Gunder-McClary, using the data from the experiences at our program, will present the integration of POCUS into PA education at the World Congress of POCUS in fall 2018. The Orlando PA Program focuses on excellence in PA education and continued innovation in our curriculum delivery, while meeting the needs of the students and their future patients. One program outcome that demon- strates our success is our first-time pass rate on the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam, which has a five-year average of 100 percent. The program’s most significant pride point, however, is knowing that our students are delivering high-quality medical care throughout Florida and across the country. ● Class of 2018 students utilize the state-of-the-art Anatomage Table.