 Charlene
Morris for AAPA Director at Large for 2007
My name is Charlene Morris. I am running for AAPA Director at Large for 2007 and I ask for your vote and support. Even if you do not usually participate in AAPA elections, I ask you to give me the ability to work for you in 2007! Sir William Osler said, “The best preparation for tomorrow is to do today's work superbly well.” The Big Picture
The Big Picture: AAPA board members and management/employees must know the issues, be visibly and vocally supportive of those affected by existing challenges and be willing to aid in facilitating change—especially when ultimately to the benefit of all PAs. Strengths I offer the AAPA Board: • Desire and dedication to work for my profession. I offer experience,
new blood and vitality to AAPA!
My Personal Activities: I play guitar and violin and have written poetry and songs since I can remember. I ride horses, walk with my dog Jaska (a shelter adoption) and can swim long distance; I particularly enjoy reading, writing and speaking and find all three are intertwined and complementary. My experiences beyond PA Clinical Practice: Ongoing volunteer and teamwork experiences from childhood through adult life have all shaped my leadership abilities. Still, I do not have subordinates-- we are TEAM MEMBERS, working for the benefit of the PA profession. My Primary Goals as Director at Large: Listen and respond to the working Physician Assistant! My philosophy for PAs is summarized in 3 Vs: • Visibility: let people know who we are-- and that we are HERE
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| Candidate for Director at
Large
Charlene M. Morris, M.P.A.S., PA-C
Employment: Emergency Room, Naval Hospital Cherry Point, NC. 2005-present
Education
Professional Involvement (national)
Professional Involvement (constituent organization/other)
Memberships
Awards/Honors PAragon writing award, “Depression in Primary Care”, 2003
Platform Statement: With 27 years in PA Practice, my observations have been heartening and continuous. We PAs have been the primary reason for the growth of our profession yet our 4th decade leaves opportunity for even further development. Years ago I was relegated to overflow dinner seating of about 12 people, along with an AAPA leader. While she lamented the “Children’s Table”, I preferred the energy and vivid conversation of our cohesive group to the stodgy banquet nearby. Physician Assistants are 40 years old and are no longer “children”. Still passionate, our experience encompasses not only the workplace but communities and political arenas worldwide. PAs are looking forward to a robust middle age. We have growth issues for new PAs. They are entitled to our job flexibility. We fear the model of specializing will thwart the future portability of practice we developed and appreciate. Experienced PAs are rewarded with high regard in the medical community. Concerns include retirement plans or foundering in the abyss of McMedicine and Silos of Specialization. Physician Assistant Education has shifted. As well as competency based curriculum, we must consider advanced degrees as colleagues in other Allied Health professions have raised the bar with the pursuit of “credential creep”. We must continue to attract and educate high quality and diverse representatives to carry our profession’s future. I will provide fresh insights, develop future strategies and be a strong advocate for the working and aspiring PA. Striving to promote and maintain responsible growth and momentum for our profession, I will encourage recognition and dialogue of PA concerns nationally and worldwide. I and many of us have been the “first PA” in some capacity. I look forward to the day Physician Assistants are well established in every vital role that exists—including politics, publishing, planning and of course, providing medical care. The Children’s Table has become its own authority. Crucial planning and decisions are upon us as PAs venture into our 4th decade. I pledge to work for you and to respond to your concerns. I ask for your vote and your support. |
| 2007 Candidate Questions
(The questions and answers in this document will be published on the AAPA Web site.) 1. What is your philosophy toward the care of patients, and how do you see this philosophy influencing the types of decisions that you would make as a member of the Board? To care for patients is a daunting, yet honorable task. My viewpoint is that PAs are PAtient Advocates and in that capacity, I do what needs to be accomplished for their best interest and provide the most comprehensive care possible, with their participation, if feasible. One memorable patient presented to me with recurrent rectal-colon cancer and requested aggressive options, as she was only 42 years old. Utilizing the community of PAs and the internet, I located a physician practice in Rhode Island that specialized in her type of carcinoma relapse. After a few telephone calls, she was on a jet to see him the next day. The ideal is: respond to the dilemma and work within—and beyond, the community that exists to find the best solution! 2. How can the AAPA best serve the needs of PAs working in specialty care? As PAs shift towards working in specialty practices, AAPA needs to embrace this future trend and expand educational—not necessarily certification parameters to accommodate the medical workplace. I firmly believe the instructive model for PAs in primary care needs to be preserved; yet didactic modules and perhaps post-educational programs for enhancing basic skills can be established with preservation of our original PA directive. 3. The AAPA is a $15-million corporation with national and international interests and a professional staff of 85. What special political or organizational skills, talents, or capabilities do you possess that you think will help the AAPA at this juncture in its history and development? My role as a working PA and volunteer has been to take on each new challenge with energy and purpose and to maintain integrity, while accomplishing what needs to be done. I have managed budgets, been a part of multi-million dollar programs as well as smaller concerns and note the same issues: stability, solvency and saving for the future. Creativity is a gift I have come to realize and utilize to the maximum. I also enjoy the course of action that comes from working together as a group and appreciate that which has been accomplished in these interesting times. 4. What role do you think the PA profession will play in health care delivery 10 years from now? The PA profession continues to grow and can only thrive as this next decade unfolds. Functioning as PAs is not a goal, but a journey and we are living this time in our history now! What do you think the Academy must do today to prepare the profession for this role? As Sir William Osler said, “The best preparation for tomorrow is to do today's work superbly well.” This includes providing highest quality CME and medical community information, such as conference and website/JAAPA opportunities. PAs must identify and deal with concerns such as feasibility of portability of PA practice and prescribing from state to state and overseas. Further, PAs need to solidify our educational parameters yet further expand capabilities in the workplace. I aspire to be part of these endeavors. 5. If there is one area of AAPA governance that you could choose to examine and improve what would that be and why? It is unwise to alter that which is not well understood. Until I personally am involved with the dynamics and working with AAPA board members, it would be imprudent to direct change. I would like to see several things corrected, such as national DEA number capabilities for all PAs. I also know that these and many issues are taken individually and are statewide or national decisions beyond the abilities yet can be impacted, by AAPA leadership. That being said, AAPA board members and management/employees do need to know the issues, be visibly and vocally supportive of those affected by existing edicts and be willing to aid in facilitating change—especially when ultimately to the benefit of all PAs. 6. How would you define success for the AAPA board and the AAPA organization? Membership and its implied respect of the working and student PAs are measurable definitions of success for AAPA. Belonging and renewing year after year are indicators of whether AAPA is doing the right work for the profession. When I first joined AAPA as a student, a classmate had taken the time
to extol the necessity of PAs to be involved—at least as members, but assuredly
in other capacities, as we continued our clinical practice and years within
the profession.
What do you consider the single most important accomplishment in your PA leadership or PA employment? My primary leadership achievement was as President of the Association of Family Practice PAs. With the help and advice of many PA leaders and community, I worked to achieve financial solvency, developed our board of directors into a functioning entity and learned policy and procedure in depth. Then, management was located and positioned to allow future leaders to take on their roles with structure and thus, much less frustration and time commitment This was definitely a new facet of my capabilities and one for which I have many people to thank for their guidance and assistance. What was the biggest decision you made this past year? While I accepted a job and moved back to my rural NC home with my son, my husband and daughter remained in Kentucky. We did this so Maureen could finish her senior year at Barren County High School. This was a family decision and a true consensus. I believe that although difficult, this course of action has been the best for all four of us. What is right and comfortable for some, is not always the best. To individualize what works well is bold but also can be difficult. Rick. Andy, Maureen and I look forward to reuniting this spring! What strength would you bring to the AAPA Board of Directors? Strong points I offer to the working PA Board are: • Desire and dedication to work for my profession. I offer new blood
and vitality to AAPA!
What are your hobbies and interests? Eclectic in my activities, I play guitar and violin and have written poetry and songs since I can remember. I ride horses, walk with my dog Jaska (a shelter adoption) and can swim long distance, since I no longer have a functioning right knee after over 20 years of competitive distance running (including the Boston Marathon in ’86). Gardening, traveling and church are important to me. I enjoy reading, writing and speaking and find all three of these are intertwined and complementary. What educational experience beyond PA school do you feel best prepared
you for this leadership position?
Still, I do not have subordinates-- we are TEAM MEMBERS, all ostensibly working for the greater good. There are many fine leaders and educators from whom I have learned and continue to do so. These include Pam Scott, Jim Cawley, Judi Colver, and dare I say, many, many others. The one commonality in all these PA leaders’ styles is sincerity. What can the Academy do better in order to allow PAs to better care for patients? Listen and respond to the working Physician Assistant! My philosophy for PAs is summarized in 3 Vs: • Visibility: let people know who we are-- and that we are HERE
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