Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Is Racial Diversity Important When Applying To Jmu Pa Program?, Gaelyn E Young, Deonte J. Hope

Physician Assistant Capstones, 2020-current

The Physician Assistant profession is predominantly female and Caucasian. In order to increase the diversity of the profession at the level of the workforce, it is necessary to examine PA programs' role as the entryway into the profession. To that end, this evaluation aimed at surveying current and future PA students at James Madison University to understand whether racial diversity of both the program's cohort and/or its faculty was a factor in their decision to apply and/or attend the school.

The Effect Of A Wellness Curriculum On First Semester Jmu Pa Students, Abigail Larson, Jeanine Aberbook

Physician Assistant Capstones, 2020-current

Physician Assistant (PA) programs are rigorous graduate-level medical programs that achieve a Master’s degree but complete an equal number of credits as a Doctorate degree. They are notorious for triggering high levels of stress pre-matriculation as well as upon matriculation. While this is a well-known topic discussed between students and incoming students, it is an under-researched topic. As a result of the lack of research in physician assistant education regarding implementing a wellness curriculum and the desire to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms in first semester PA student, the faculty and students at James Madison University (JMU) implemented a …

Efficacy Of Pulmonary Ultrasound Compared To N-Terminal Prohormone Brain Natriuretic Peptide As A Diagnostic Tool For Congestive Heart Failure In Patients Presenting With Acute Dyspnea In The Emergency Setting, Leah Krohn, Michael Burns

Physician Assistant Capstones, 2020-current

Objective: To determine the efficacy of using pulmonary ultrasound as a diagnostic tool in acute dyspnea of undetermined cause compared to the use of serum N-Terminal prohormone Brain Natriuretic Peptide (NT-proBNP) in the diagnosis of heart failure.

Design: Systematic literature review

Methods: Searches were conducted in PubMed and Scopus using the terms pulmonary ultrasound and congestive heart failure and studies within the last 10 years. Studies that used pulmonary ultrasound compared to BNP as a marker for the diagnosis of heart failure were included.

Results: All three studies found that the use of pulmonary ultrasound was a more specific …

Routine Versus Selective Episiotomies Causing Severe Perineal Tears, Hannah Brown, Anneliese Trader

Physician Assistant Capstones, 2020-current

Objective: To determine if the use of routine episiotomies decreases the rate of severe perineal tears in comparison to selective episiotomies during vaginal delivery. Methods: PubMed and Google Scholar were used to generate a set of random control trials which all had the objective of comparing severe perineal tears in routine compared to selective episiotomies during vaginal delivery. Three trials were reviewed and included in this study. Results: The results of each trial were not all statistically significant in the rate of severe perineal tears when comparing the two interventions. However, a downward trend of third-degree perineal tears amongst …

Mindfulness Based Stress Interventions In Physician Assistant Programs, Lucas Vance

Physician Assistant Capstones, 2020-current

Mindfulness based interventions (MBI) have been used successfully in a variety of venues from the treatment of chronic pain to reducing stress in the workplace. The benefits of MBI programs that have been studied range from self-reported anxiety, depression, and empathy levels to levels of cortisol¹ to amygdala changes seen on magnetic resonance imaging.² MBI programs have been studied in pre-medical, medical, and graduate schools, as well as, nursing programs, and generalized healthcare cohorts.