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JUNE 18, 2021
AIKEN-AUGUSTA’S MOST SALUBRIOUS NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED IN 2006
WHAT IS A
PA? If you answered Physician’s Assistant, you are slightly behind the times. Earlier this month the American Academy of PAs announced “Physician Associate” as the new official title for the PA profession. Doctor shortages, particularly in primary care settings, have made PA’s role in medicine a vital one, and reflects their founding values. The profession was created in response to physician shortages by Dr. Eugene Stead at Duke University Medical Center in 1968. The first PAs were Navy Hospital Corpsmen with extensive medical training. According to an AAPA press release, there are currently more than 150,000 Physician Associates practicing in all medical and surgical specialties in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories and all branches of the armed services. Under a physician’s authority, PAs can diagnose and treat illness, order and interpret tests, develop treatment plans, prescribe medication, perform procedures, and assist in surgery. AAPA said that PAs should refrain from calling themselves physician associates until legislative and regulatory changes can be made. Until the name rollout is complete, AAPA says using the name prematurely could confuse patients, and might be interpreted as stepping beyond the scope of current PA licensing. +
A
AUGUSTARX.COM
NEW SERI ES!
can stand for many things, but today, A is for amnesia. We’re going to offer a broad overview of amnesia and several of its manifestations and then focus on a particular type of amnesia that is a serious problem in the healthcare field in 2021. In case you forgot, amnesia is defined as complete or partial memory loss. It can be temporary or permanent and is usually the result of injury or illness, although there are sometimes psychological causes too. Broadly speaking, there are two main types of amnesia. The first is the inability to store fresh new memories. Known as anterograde amnesia, a typical case might be an older person who cannot remember what they had for lunch (or if they even had lunch), but can recount events in their life from decades ago in great detail. Retrograde amnesia, on the other hand, is the lack of memories before a certain date or incident, such as a car accident or other trauma. Sometimes an event can be so psychologically traumatic that it causes all memories of the event to be erased even though no physical trauma has occurred. It is possible to have both anterograde and retrograde amnesia, and all of us have had at least one form, childhood amnesia, which is why we can’t remember nursing or having our diapers changed. So-called source amnesia is another benign and common variety: you know some fact, In September of 2016 the Medical but you have no idea when or where Examiner launched an alphabetical or how you learned it. series which, over the following 26 issues, Public health experts in 2021 are contained 26 articles about 26 topics concerned about a fresh global related to health, wellness, medicine and outbreak of another type of overall salubriousness. amnesia that can be particularly Of course, there are far more than 26 interesting topics dangerous. to explore, so we’re starting all over again in this issue. For more about this variety, We hope you’ll please turn to enjoy the journey. page 2.
A is for amnesia
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