Alert

Announcing the New PAEA Assessment Editor in Chief

Kim Cavanagh

Kim Cavanagh

PAEA would like to congratulate Kim Cavanagh, DHSc, PA-C, who has been named our new Assessment editor in chief. This position was created recently due to the tremendous growth of PAEA Assessment products (PACKRAT™, End of Rotation™ exams, and the End of Curriculum™ exam, which is currently in development).

PAEA exams are developed and published annually by PA educators for PA students and, combined, are administered more than 65,000 times a year. As the PAEA Assessment staff grows, our vision is to design a team that includes both PA educators and assessment experts.

“Kim brings experience in spades,” said Olivia Zeigler, PAEA’s chief assessment officer. “She is a long-time PA educator who has served in multiple faculty roles at both Gannon University and Duke University, and she has built a solid reputation as an assessment expert with over a decade of related leadership.”

Kim has been involved with PAEA’s Assessment program for the past 12 years, serving as a PACKRAT Committee member, PACKRAT Committee chair, and Assessment Council chair. She also chaired the Test Item Bank Advisory Committee in 2011, which recommended the development of the End of Rotation exams. As editor in chief, she will act as a steward of Assessment products, set the vision for their future, and serve as a mentor to PAEA’s volunteer Exam Development Board members and chairs.

“I have a passion to contribute to and help grow the PAEA Assessment program, and I will strive to maintain the high-quality foundational assessments that make up the current PAEA brand,” said Cavanagh. “I recognize the need for ongoing innovation, as well as consideration of what PAEA members’ needs are and how PAEA can best meet those needs.”

In addition to assuming editorial oversight of PAEA Assessment publications, Kim will continue to serve as PA department chair at Gannon University.

Congratulations, Kim!