Frida Kahlo: Political Painter

June 2012

July 2012

“I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality.”

– Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter celebrated by feminists for her uncompromising and honest depiction of the female experience. Influenced by indigenous folk art and culture and classic Mexican religious traditions, Kahlo’s paintings often contain symbolic portrayals of her personal experiences. Kahlo’s paintings also demonstrate her political choice to paint in a Mexican, rather than European, style.

Kahlo suffered from various health problems throughout her life and endured more than 30 operations. It was during one of her recovery periods after surgery that she began to paint. She frequently painted herself — 55 of her 143 paintings were self-portraits — and never hesitated to highlight her flaws and pain, which was usually associated with her health problems or troubled marriage to painter Diego Rivera.

Kahlo remained committed to ideals of resisting oppression and poverty throughout her life, even changing her birth year to 1910 to correspond with the year of the Mexican Revolution. While working for prominent American capitalists during her trips to the United States, Kahlo used her paintings to criticize the disparity between wealthy and impoverished Americans during the Great Depression. Kahlo was also loyal to the Mexican Communist Party for most of her life, and last publically appeared at a Communist street demonstration in the summer of 1954, dying a few days later. Kahlo’s work was not widely recognized until decades after her death in the 1980s, when the Neomexicanismo style became popular in Mexico.

Social Media Day

June 2012

Physician Assistants React to Supreme Court Decision on Healthcare Reform

June 2012

Alexandria, VA (June 28, 2012) — Today’s Supreme Court ruling to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) will undoubtedly shape the nation’s healthcare system for decades to come. Representing a profession of more than 84,000 providers, the American Academy of Physician Assistants welcomes the Court’s process and position on this important legislation.

A physician assistant and legislative expert is available to provide key insights on today’s ruling, particularly the following provisions impacting quality healthcare delivery:

• Increasing primary care access
• Effective use of healthcare providers’ education and expertise
• Consumer protections
• Patient-centered, team-based healthcare delivery

During the 2009 healthcare reform legislation debate, physician assistants were a strong voice for high-quality, affordable, team-based patient care. With a rapidly growing workforce that saw more than 300 million patients in nearly every medical setting and specialty in 2010, PAs will continue to play a significant role increasing access to care, particularly in the area of care coordination in a team-based setting.

Who: Ann Davis, PA-C, AAPA Senior Director of State Advocacy and Outreach.

Why: The healthcare community is placing an emphasis on the value of patient-centered care, and state legislatures are considering bills to create insurance exchanges and support new models of care included in the PPACA. PAs are well-suited to coordinate all aspects of care for patients and keep close a watch on preventing chronic illness. AAPA is committed to working with Congress to enact healthcare legislation that meets the needs of the American people.

When:  Interviews are available upon request. Contact Brooke Braun at gro.apaanull@nuarbb or 571-319-4378.

About the American Academy of Physician Assistants
Founded in 1968, the American Academy of Physician Assistants is the national professional society for physician assistants. It represents a profession of more than 84,000 certified PAs across all medical and surgical specialties in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the majority of the U.S. territories and within the uniformed services. AAPA advocates and educates on behalf of the profession and the patients PAs serve. It works to ensure the professional growth, personal excellence and recognition of physician assistants and to enhance their ability to improve the quality, accessibility and cost-effectiveness of patient-centered healthcare. Visit http://www.aapa.org to learn more.

Contact:
Patrick Dunne, AAPA, gro.apaanull@ennudp, 571-319-4394

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InSites for PR Graduates

June 2012

Forbes Ranks Physician Assistant Studies as Top Master’s Degree for Long-Term Employment Opportunity

June 2012

Alexandria, VA (June 12, 2012) — Forbes again named physician assistant studies the single best master’s degree for the third year in a row, citing the profession’s favorable outlook for salary and long-term employment.

“The continued recognition from Forbes is a welcome one for our profession because PAs increase access to quality, coordinated healthcare in virtually every medical setting and specialty,” said James Delaney, PA-C, president of the American Academy of Physician Assistants. “Whether we work as administrators, clinicians or educators, there are limitless opportunities for the more than 84,000 certified PAs in transforming our nation’s healthcare.”

To meet the continuous demand for PA services, industry experts estimate that by 2025, there will be 189 PA programs and more than 127,000 PAs in the healthcare workforce. There are currently 164 PA programs across the country that send approximately 6,000 PAs into the workforce annually.

Newly released data from the AAPA 2011 Census shows that the profession, already 61 percent female, is going to continue the trend. Of those PAs entering the workforce annually, 75 percent are female, and data shows that male PAs are retiring at a faster rate.

The average PA education program is 27 months long and is modeled on the medical school curriculum — a combination of classroom and clinical instruction. Admission to PA school is highly competitive. Applicants to PA programs must complete at least two years of college courses in basic and behavioral science as prerequisites, analogous to premedical studies required of medical students. PA education includes instruction in numerous core sciences, as well as more than 2,000 hours of clinical rotations.

For more information on the Forbes rankings, visit http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2012/06/08/the-best-and-worst-masters-degrees-for-jobs-2/.

For more information on the PA profession, visit http://www.aapa.org/the_pa_profession/quick_facts.aspx.

About the American Academy of Physician Assistants
Founded in 1968, the American Academy of Physician Assistants is the national professional society for physician assistants. It represents a profession of more than 84,000 certified PAs across all medical and surgical specialties in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the majority of the U.S. territories and within the uniformed services. AAPA advocates and educates on behalf of the profession and the patients PAs serve. It works to ensure the professional growth, personal excellence and recognition of physician assistants and to enhance their ability to improve the quality, accessibility and cost-effectiveness of patient-centered healthcare. Visit www.aapa.org to learn more.

Contact:
Patrick Dunne, 571-319-4394, gro.apaanull@ennudp

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Live Updates from Netroots Nation

June 2012