Perspectives Winter/Spring-2017

52 • NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY Each year, students from the Jacksonville Physician Assistant (PA) Program go abroad for a medical mis- sion to developing countries. Unfortunately, not all students were able to participate in the international mission trips. Medical missionary work is a worthy cause, which is why it was important to the Jacksonville PA students to recognize that there are many medically underserved populations in local communities who can benefit from a medical mission at home. Additionally, beginning with the PA class of 2017, the PA program had four students who began work on a concurrent Master of Public Health degree. Anna Pfaff, class of 2017 president, was one of these concurrent degree students. As a concur- rently enrolled student in the NSU Master of Medical Science in Physician Assistant and Master of Public Health programs, she noticed that the need for emphasis on population health and preventive medicine is becoming apparent. As a result, discussions emerged regarding the possibility of a medical mission at home and how it would look. Questions began to surface, such as what area of Florida would we focus on? What services could, or would, we provide? How could we guarantee follow-up for the participants if they had a positive screening exam? Who would be our supervising medical provider? These discussions led to a decision to focus on Saint Johns County in Hastings, Florida. Research demon- strated that Saint Johns County has been ranked as the healthiest county in Florida since 2011, but there was a large discrepancy between the north and south regions of the county, despite the population being spread almost evenly (County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, 2016). Physician Assistant JACKSONVILLE BY KERRY L. WHITAKER, D.H.SC ., M.S.H.S., PA-C, DFAAPA, PROGRAM DIRECTOR AND ASSISTANT PROFESSOR Community FOCUS Hastings: A Legacy of Community Service Begins The community partner thank-you board, which was posted in the Hastings Public Library, served as a way to acknowledge the contributions of the various commu- nity partners that participated in the Hastings Community FOCUS event.