BWH Honors Physician Assistants

BWH and DFCI physician assistants, medical staff, state Sen. Susan Fargo and others gathered this fall to honor the contributions of PAs at BWH’s annual PA Dinner at the Museum of Fine Arts.

There are more than 100 physician assistants practicing at BWH. “We’re going to keep growing,” Chief Medical Officer Andy Whittemore, MD, said. “The PA program is vibrant, and we’re working to establish entry- and early-career paths, as well as a sustaining career path.”

The rapid growth in BWH’s reliance on PAs is a combination of limits on work hours for residents and the high level of skill and ability of physician assistants, Whittemore said. “We have physician assistants in almost 20 sections and divisions throughout the hospital delivering the high-caliber care Brigham and Women’s is known for.”

Highlights of this year’s celebration included the first-ever PA recognition awards and a video tribute. State Rep. Peter Koutoujian passed a resolution proclaiming that the National PA Week of Oct. 6 – 12, as recognized by the Massachusetts Association of Physician Assistants, will now be a Massachusetts recognized week as well. This resolution was presented at the dinner.

Inaugural PA Award Recipients

Barry Shopnick, PA-C, chief PA for Cardiac Surgery, began at BWH in 1987. He earned his BS and MS in public health from UMass Amherst. He attended the Duke University Physician Assistant Program.

He supervises 11 PAs in Cardiac Surgery, and recently received an academic appointment at HMS as an associate in surgery. Every day, he’s teaching residents, fellows, PAs and others. “Barry has been a tireless advocate for PAs, and also for excellent patient care and education for medical students and faculty,” said R. Morton Bolman, III, MD, chief of Cardiac Surgery.

Outside of the hospital, Shopnick is a member of the International Medical Surgical Response Team, a federal disaster committee that provides medical relief in disasters. Shopnick was a member of a team responding to Hurricane Katrina.

“We have a very good team in Cardiac Surgery,” Shopnick said. “Not just among PAs, but within the greater team of doctors, nurses, perfusionists and others. Any success I’ve had is due to the people I am so privileged to work with.”

Deborah Yolin Raley, PA-C, worked in the hotel management business in Aspen, Colo., for eight years before finding her way to health care and the PA profession. Since completing her MS in the PA program at Northeastern and specialty training in transplant at MD Anderson in Texas, Yolin Raley worked as a PA in Bone Marrow Transplant at Mass General Hospital.

She started at the DF/BWCC almost four years ago as one of only three PAs there. Now, she is the chief PA in charge of 25 PAs at the DF/BWCC, providing care in inpatient and outpatient setup. “We really work together as a team,” Yolin Raley said.

Last year, Yolin Raley, who is an advocate for continuing education for practicing PAs, worked with Sylvia McKean, MD, to start PA Grand Rounds, which received a big turnout. “It’s important that we are committed to PA education and the rounds give us the chance to get together and call on each other for expertise in specialty areas,” she said, adding that an exciting schedule for 2008 is already planned. “It also gives PAs a chance to learn how to present and be educators, since the presentations are all by us.”

Ted Alyea, MD, medical director of Inpatient Services at DFCI, commended Yolin Raley’s dedication and leadership. “Deb sets a wonderful example in providing excellent patient care,” he said.