Here Natalie is assisting her supervising physician in an outpatient procedure in Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery in Alberta, ON.
Natalie Dies is a graduate of the McMaster PA Education Program, Class of 2012 and is one of the few PAs in Canada who has worked in 3 different provinces for her PA career.
Her journey started in Ontario. Natalie completed many of her elective rotations in surgical subspecialties, knowing that she had a strong preference for perioperative medicine. She “created” a general surgery position after completing an elective, working in a large academic tertiary care centre in Toronto from November 2012 to January 2016. She worked on surgical resident teams in colorectal surgery and surgical oncology. She wrote a paper demonstrating improved late patient discharge rates and reduced resident workload, which was published in the American PA Journal JAAPA in January 2016.
In February 2016, Natalie joined a PA team at the Geriatric Outreach Service of Ontario, performing geriatric consults at long term care facilities. The model of supervision was very unique as she worked remotely and communicated with her supervising physician through Telehealth. She also helped the group establish their medical directives. In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Natalie joined a well-defined group of 6 Physician Assistants and Clinical Assistants in cardiac surgery and cardiology in July 2016. Her role involved 100% ward coverage, no intraoperative role. She presented data at the Société Française de Chirurgie Thoracique et Cardio-Vasculaire (SFCTCV) annual congress in Marseille, France June 2017 about the utilization of PAs in cardiovascular surgery.
Natalie Dies has presented numerous papers on research at the annual CAPA Poster Presentations.
CAPA 2015: Dies, N. Rashid, S. et al. A proposed physician assistant-led discharge program to reduce emergency department visits within 30 days of discharge after surgical admission.
Here, at the Brant Community Healthcare System, we recently hired our first two physician assistants.
Valerie Derbecker and Danielle Swart were both raised in our area and recently graduated from the McMaster program. They completed the national physician assistant certification examination as physician assistants. ....
Swart and Derbecker were among 24 students in the intensive two- year program.
"The first year is primarily clinical science courses with some practical and clinical skills development, whereas the second year is exclusively clinical training," Swart said.
"During the second year, I completed my surgery clerkship at St. Joseph's Hospital in Hamilton, internal medicine at Bluewater Health in Sarnia, family medicine in Paris and Ayr, psychiatry at Hamilton Health Sciences and emergency medicine at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto."
Saira Rashid recognized at CAPA Conference Poster Session
CAPA 2016 PA Poster Award, Winnipeg, MB
Saira Rashid, CCPA and Alifiya Goriawala, CCPA (Class of 2014) developed a Physician Assistant-led discharge program to understand patients’ education & psychosocial needs following discharge from colorectal surgery. They are in the works of developing a mobile app for discharged patients.
CAPA 2015 PA Poster Award, Toronto, ON
Saira accepted her award along with Natalie Dies for their research poster.
Jodi Kennedy for Marathon Family Health Team
Originally published in the Marathon Mercury
Joshua Gilgan joins emergency department team to help further reduce wait times
Lindsay, ON - The Ross Memorial Hospital has welcomed its second physician assistant, Joshua Gilgan (right), who will be working with emergency department staff, including physician assistant Rob McDougall; who was one of less than two dozen hired by hospitals during a provincial pilot project, three years ago. Catherine Whitnall
Hailing from the Burlington area, Mr. Gilgan chose his current career after looking into a variety of options while completing his medical undergraduate studies at the University of Waterloo. After speaking with a colleague who was working as a physician assistant, and researching the position more, Mr. Gilgan discovered "the role fit" him perfectly.
After graduating from the physician assistant program at McMaster University, Mr. Gilgan began looking at various positions offered across the province. He was also looking for something in emergency medicine, where there were greater opportunities to use more of his skills, and it took one trip to Lindsay to secure his top choice.
St. Joseph's Hospital in Toronto launches Physician Assistant Program
Published in 2012 at St. Joseph's Hospital, Toronto News Website
Toronto ON - If you're a patient at St. Joe's, you might cross paths with a type of medical professional you haven't met before – a Physician Assistant.
Einat Vinokur, the first Physician Assistant at the Health Centre, has now started her role in the Department of Medicine, Ambulatory and Seniors' Health (MASH) program. She's currently working with the internists in the Emergency Room.
"A Physician Assistant is a medically trained health care professional that works as physician extender and works directly under the supervision of a physician," says Vinokur.
"They might take a history, they might examine the patient and produce a treatment a plan, and might even do procedures in certain circumstances," adds Dr. Graham Berlyne, Chief of Medicine and the Medical Director for the MASH program.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed on this website are those of the author, and they do not reflect in any way those of the institutions to which they are affiliated.