First Cohort of AAPA-PAEA Research Fellows Selected

Three PA faculty members have been selected for the inaugural AAPA-PAEA Research Fellowship, a new program designed to build the profession’s research capacity by funding one release day per week for interested researchers. The three fellows for 2017-2018 are:

• Alicia Quella, PhD, MPAS, PA-C, clinical associate professor and director of the Augsburg University PA Program in Minneapolis
• Christina Hanson, MPAS, PA-C, associate professor at the Bethel University PA Program in St. Paul, Minnesota
• Virginia Valentin, DrPH, PA-C, associate professor and associate director of the University of Utah PA Program

The AAPA-PAEA Research Fellowship is a collaborative PA education and workforce research capacity building program with three main objectives: (1) to develop a cadre of PAs skilled in PA education and workforce research, (2) encourage utilization of PAEA and AAPA data to generate research of interest to the PA profession and community of PA scholars, and (3) provide future research mentors for newer faculty to sustain the PA workforce and education research pipeline. Two of the fellowships are funded by PAEA and one by AAPA.

Each fellow’s institution will receive a grant of up to $25,000 to permit a 20 percent release from teaching and other activities to allow them to focus on research. This directly addresses one of the biggest barriers that PA faculty face in the production of research: lack of time. Each fellow will develop a research project under the guidance of both an institutional mentor at their program as well as an external mentor. The fellowship also includes on-site experiences at the PAEA and AAPA offices, where fellows will interact with key staff at federal government and local medical and educational organizations. To learn more about the program, click here.

We extend warm congratulations to the three inaugural fellows and are excited about the important work they will produce to advance the profession and PA education!