Jennifer Orozco, DMSc, PA-C: Resources for Physician Associates and ‘PAs Go Beyond’

In a segment of her interview with HCPLive, Jennifer Orozco, DMSc, PA-C, DFAAPA, spoke about resources for physician associates to use to support the American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA).

Orozco's interview highlighted elements of her SDPA 20th Annual Fall Conference presentation. She serves as president and chair of American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA), in addition to working as the director of Advanced Practice Providers at Rush University Medical Center.

“So I have a lot of PAs come up to me and say, I want to write, I want to do something, I don't know where to get started, we have lots of different ways to do that our website is probably the easiest way, you can always reach out to me reach out to any of the staff,” she said. “There are a lot of good resources about how to get involved, whether that's writing, to speak about (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) or writing to speak about advocacy, writing to speak about clinical patient care, you know. PAs are experts in their field. They are frontline, and they have seen it all.”

Orozco described a recent move by the AAPA to create a Diversity Award, which she explained was an example of PAs making an impact in the community.

“And I can tell you not only how much I was humbled by the Diversity Award, but the PA of the Year,” she said. “We have PAs truly making impacts in their communities. And that's what we're here to do. And so any way that the AAPA can empower PAs to drive change in their community, partner with medical groups, physician groups, health care systems to deliver patient care in a way that is holistic and supportive and really meets the needs of their community.”

Orozco mentioned that she encouraged those who felt the need to support or join the work of PAs should visit their website to learn more. She explained that PAs do not advocate for themselves properly and should be encouraged to do so.

“I encourage everybody to go to PAsGoBeyond.com,” she explained. “You can find a plethora of resources about PAs: who PAs are, what we're passionate about. There are resources for PAs, in hospital and health systems, to download resources in Spanish and English, as well as a lot about who PAs are, their education, their prep, the studies that exist. But also, how to share, how to talk about yourself.”

To learn more, view the full interview segment above regarding Orozco’s SDPA 2022 Conference presentation.