Enclothed Cognition

In celebration of National Midwifery Week, Medelita presents daily entries from the journal of Becky Carlton, BSN, CNM, an American midwife recently in Libya during the ongoing revolution. April 29, 2011 8:17am If you had told me a week ago that I'd be where I am right now, I'd probably have laughed. Not that my life hasn't been an adventure so far, but who'd have thought Egypt in April? MSF (Doctors without Borders) called me at 7:15am on Friday, April 22. Yael said to my sleep-washed brain, "Can you go to Libya on Tuesday?" Now, I've always wanted to visit North Africa, but you have to keep in mind that a civil war just started in Libya. After some 40 years under the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, the people decided that they didn't want him in charge anymore. The situation is bad enough that they are showing clips on Libya and Egypt on American television. So, Yael is waiting for me to respond. My foggy brain is trying to make a snap decision. Ummmm....sure. It's only for a month. It'd be bad PR for MSF if I got blown up, so they probably won't let that happen. I'll probably not get another chance to ever visit Libya. Maybe I can help some people. Why not? I hum to myself, "I'm Libyan on a jet plane...don't know when I'll be back again...." Ever since I saw the song "Libyan on a Jet Plane" listed in a Philippine karaoke book, I've thought it was funny. Of course, I have an itinerary, but life is uncertain. You never know when you'll die in a car accident, bust an aneurysm or get blown up by a mortar. Now, I'm headed to Libya, in an Egyptian taxi. Life is interesting. April 30, 2011 11:13am In Benghazi, Libya watching Aljazeera news feed: Gaddafi claims to have the port in Misurata in his troops’ control. NATO claims there is no evidence for this claim. Gaddafi is saying that humanitarian workers trying to access the harbor should come by land to be “protected” by his troops or risk shelling. He has mined the harbor. This is not exactly the thing a person wants to hear just before setting out in a humanitarian aid boat headed for that port. Gaddafi’s tactics are well-aimed at the psyche, I’d say. We are planning to leave today for Misurata with a proposed 20-hr journey. Nothing like wondering if he’s actually mined the harbor to make a person nervous! I think in my head of the “worst night of my life” that happened back when I was 19 on a small boat traveling from Majuro in the Marshall Islands to the atoll of Ailinglaplap, some 200 miles away over open ocean. It might not have been so bad, but I’m pretty sure that I had Dengue Fever at the time. After a day out in the sun, a night out in the rain trying to sleep on a wooden crate, temp 103.3, my bones aching so badly that I thought they would explode, I almost wished I’d get washed overboard into the sea and disappear. I anticipate that this trip will be better. Met the other midwife today. Daphne. I liked her immediately. Things seem so normal in Benghazi, but a couple blocks away the buildings are pock-marked with bullet holes and the windows recently blown out. Gaddafi’s troops were stopped at a bridge 3 or 4 blocks down. As we drove into Benghazi yesterday, the main road was blocked by demonstrators who were “happy firing” anti-aircraft weapons and AK47’s. I could feel it in my chest when they blew off the anti-aircraft guns. Today, a car passed with a little girl hanging out the window. She smiled happily as she fingered her plastic machine gun. Things continue to disintegrate in Syria, now Uganda, and Yemen. The Arab world is a mess, and I sort of hope my parents are not seeing things about Libya in the news. Medelita Guest Blogger: Becky Carlton, BSN, CNM. Becky is currently working as the Midwifery Dean at Gimbie Adventist Hospital in Ethiopia. Becky has been doing missionary work for many years, with such organizations as the Peace Corps and Doctors without Borders (MSF).

In celebration of National Midwifery Week, Medelita presents daily entries from the journal of Becky Carlton, BSN, CNM, an American midwife recently in Libya during the ongoing revolution. May 7, 2011 7:00am During the night I gradually became aware of shouting, loud explosive noises and eerie light. Some people left their beds to be in the hall, but by the time it registered for me, it was already over. I rolled under the bed next to me. In the end, it would probably happen so fast we’d not have time to react. The Libyans joke, “If I can hear the bomb, it is not for me!” Sad. True. Turns out that someone on the pro-Gaddafi side got an explosive of some kind and lobbed into one of the fuel reserve tanks in the port. Seventy-five million liters of gas make quite a sound when exploding. Ironically, my sleeping mind told me that it was merely an Ethiopian thunderstorm. Things were slow at the hospital yesterday since Friday is a rest day. Sadly, the MSFF pharmacy had a fire last night. Nothing was destroyed, but everything is black with ash and the clinic will have to be cleaned and painted before use. What the Libyans have done was really quite remarkable. I doubt we’d have set up a decent hospital in the States after moving twice due to shelling. They adapted well. Now, they need organizational support and more beds. My other concern is the apparent complete disregard for sterile technique. These are highly educated medical people, but it almost seems there is no belief in microbiology. Sterility doesn’t exist, nor is there any attempt to create it. Will need to explore this further since it seems pervasive and to be accepted even by the senior consultants. Heavy bombing right now (18:36) for the last hour or so and probably through the day, but it’s hard to tell what is bombing and what is shelling inside the hospital. To feel better, I tell myself it’s construction or thunder. I pray that people will not be hit. 10:35pm Shouting on the porch “…bomb…!” Everyone ran to center of house to lie down. The psychologist and Field-Co were sitting on the porch and saw an explosion high in the air, then they saw little parachutes falling from the sky. This would be consistent with the picture of the landmines that a doctor showed me yesterday. We all lay on the floor for a few minutes, while they told us what they saw. When do you get up? I guess a mine won’t blow until you step on it anyway or drive over it, etc. Good honk! How will I sleep now? Heavy shelling during med meeting and all evening. Seems very close! Very frightening! Everyone runs inside to hide in the inside hallway with our hearts racing, but there is really little we can do. The hits are random anyway. Not feeling very brave tonight. Medelita Guest Blogger: Becky Carlton, BSN, CNM. Becky is currently working as the Midwifery Dean at Gimbie Adventist Hospital in Ethiopia. Becky has been doing missionary work for many years, with such organizations as the Peace Corps and Doctors without Borders (MSF).

In celebration of National Midwifery Week, Medelita presents daily entries from the journal of Becky Carlton, BSN, CNM, an American midwife recently in Libya during the ongoing revolution. May 8, 2011 7:08am In Misuratah, Libya, I sit on the marble patio of the beautiful house we are staying in and listen to the sounds of people waking up. It is cool and I am thankful for the sweater that I put on. Roosters crow in the periphery and a light breeze wafts north-eastward. It would be a peaceful place to have my morning quiet time, but I hear shelling in the distance. Black billows of smoke from the flaming city diesel reserve blow in the sky over the house. I wonder to myself how many of those parachuted mines dropped into the city last night and who will find them today and in the weeks to come. I yawn. Plans, nerves and sleeping on a blanket on the floor hinder normal sleep. Another five staff arrived yesterday with pharmacy stock. We were supposed to find another house for our team, but have not been successful so far as the city citizens are now moving north as the fighting line moves south. With 22 of us now, there are five in my room and it is cozy. Really, who can complain, though when the townspeople are 5-6 families in home? I debate with myself whether I post this for people to see since my family is likely to read it and be nervous. The project is with Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and we are trying to help the city maximize maternity and pediatric services in the new, too-small facility that they have found themselves in since last Saturday. They moved main services twice due to heavy shelling and finally landed in a small hospital with 18 beds. In this culture, women are accustomed to going to the hospital to deliver, but due to difficulty in movement and security, many are delivering at home with their frightened female relatives. Imagine if, all of a sudden, American women were forced to face shelling or have their babies home or both! High rates of previous c-sections increase the risk for many. In the hospital, where the staff have shown remarkable resilience and ingenuity, they deliver sometimes 20+ patients a day using two labor beds and two delivery beds. Sometimes we don’t have a place for a woman to go after she gets off the delivery table and she has to sit in a chair for a bit before we discharge her. Today, some volunteer engineers start moving containers onto the hospital lot to increase our capacity. We plan to move the outpatients to bungalows outside and to hopefully open up new beds for our patients. We would also like to have a place to put post-op patients where we can keep a better eye on them. Pharmacy order needs organizing into a useable pharmacy…lots to do today. Better go look for some breakfast…have a lovely, safe day! Medelita Guest Blogger: Becky Carlton, BSN, CNM. Becky is currently working as the Midwifery Dean at Gimbie Adventist Hospital in Ethiopia. Becky has been doing missionary work for many years, with such organizations as the Peace Corps and Doctors without Borders (MSF).

National PA Week is celebrated every year, from October 6-12. It is a time to support, celebrate and recognize PAs, and increase public awareness of the PA profession. In the United States, Physician Assistants are a relatively new addition to the healthcare industry. The first class of PAs graduated on October 6th, 1967 - a date later adopted by the AAPA as National PA Day. However, the concept of a Physician Assistant was not new to the world as a whole. In 17th century Europe, German military medical assistants were utilized extensively on the battlefield to confront the serious lack of doctors against the number of wounded. Peter the Great soon saw tremendous potential in this system and introduced "Feldshers" into the Russian armies around 1650 - shortly after the war of Austrian succession, which inflicted heavy losses to the Russian Cavalry. Over the next century, practice within the armies and navies of Europe to train and appoint young soldiers or sailors as doctors assistants became more common. However, it wasn't until the mid-20th century that the concept of the Physician Assistant officially came to the United States. In 1959, the US Surgeon General had identified a shortage of medically trained personnel, and two years later, Dr. Charles Hudson, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, called for a "mid-level" (a term no longer in use) provider from the ranks of former military corpsmen. In 1965, Dr. Eugene Stead, Jr. introduced a two-year Physician Assistant program, and the first four physician assistant (PA) students, all ex-Navy hospital corpsmen, began training at the Duke University Medical Center. Reader's Digest wrote an article that year about jobs in the health care industry and mentioned the development of the PA program at Duke University - which caused a flood of inquires from ex-military candidates. Over the next few decades, the Physician Assistant profession grew at an extraordinary rate and today, there are over 81,000 certified PAs in the United States. Medelita is a PA-founded company, and as such, PAs have a special place in our collective hearts. In celebration of National PA Week, we will be highlighting exceptional Physician Assistants from all over the country, in many different specialties and with a variety of achievements.

In celebration of National Midwifery Week, Medelita presents daily entries from the journal of Becky Carlton, BSN, CNM, an American midwife recently in Libya during the ongoing revolution. May 9, 2011 4:22pm I read this last night and started laughing uncontrollably. It’s actually a story about Nepal, but it could be a snapshot of my life in Africa—absurd and, somehow, outrageously funny. Thomas Hale on impromptu outpatient clinic activities: “…since Cynthia by this time had begun holding gynecology clinic in the examining room, I set up shop in the crowded waiting room. One man had an anal condition, so everyone had to face the wall while I examined him, his behind to the window so there’d be enough light. The only problem came from the giggling spectators looking in from outside.” The imam sings over the mosque loudspeaker, bombs explode in the distance (some rattling the windows) and we all sit with our computers compiling statistics, writing reports, organizing stock data, and wondering what our cook and his wife will make for dinner. It was a rather slow day at the hospital. Monday is Statistics Day, epidemiological week 18, and data collection took up lots of the day since we were obliged to drink tea several times. We had a nice set of twins this morning in Delivery. One boy. One girl. Can’t complain about that. It is good to have time to sit and chat with the staff. Many have symptoms of post-traumatic stress. We must remain neutral in our position regarding the Libyan conflict, but I think it is somewhat therapeutic just to let them talk. Many come to work as they have for months without pay because it is easier to not think about what has happened to them if they have things to keep their hands busy. The city citizens have organized themselves in some remarkable ways. In most places, a conflict like this would push prices up to ridiculous levels. Somehow, they managed to actually drop prices (petrol is .25/dinar/liter while it would be about12 dinar/liter in the US right now ($4.50) Food is being distributed to different districts free of charge to the people and someone delivers hot food for the hospital staff and patients daily. They are all sharing and donating to the cause. I talked to a pharmacy student today in the outpatient pharmacy. She was telling me that her family’s house was destroyed, so they moved to their other one. Then that one was destroyed, so she and her family are living in a school with dozens of other families. (while writing this I have moved into the hallway—the designated “safe room” of the house since the explosions are close and loud and scaring me a little. I’m still really jumpy after last night). I believe in the value of the project we are doing and I think the risk we chose to take by coming was a calculated one. I do ask myself, though, when I’m lying on the floor against the wall protecting my rib-cage and listening to the explosions coming closer, why am I doing this? In the end, I’m happy to be here. I love the project, the expat team, the staff, and the patients. It’s a great project and wonderful adventure. I only hope we can make a real difference in helping them recover. Medelita Guest Blogger: Becky Carlton, BSN, CNM. Becky is currently working as the Midwifery Dean at Gimbie Adventist Hospital in Ethiopia. Becky has been doing missionary work for many years, with such organizations as the Peace Corps and Doctors without Borders (MSF).

In celebration of National Midwifery Week, Medelita presents daily entries from the journal of Becky Carlton, BSN, CNM, an American midwife recently in Libya during the ongoing revolution. May 19, 2011 10:19pm The docs today were telling me how you can tell what kind of munitions are coming round. Dr E, who is a sharp, angular, opinionated whip of a doctor was describing it to me. “Pshzzooooooooow-CRACK is grad missile!” (This one, I’m too familiar with) “Pshoooooooooow……………..(long pause) Boom, is houn” (mortar) “boom, boom, boom, Boom BOOM BOOM is NATO!” It’s so funny when she says it…we were all laughing. But in the end, most people here have lost something precious. If not their homes and families, at least their peace of mind and security. They are feeling more comfortable now that the bombing is farther away most of the time, but there is no question that they are traumatized. We, on a much smaller scale, are affected, too. Anytime a door slams, many of us jump or cringe. Even when G__ opens a soda, it makes me jump. He always apologizes. He was there, when the missiles were exploding around us. There are things a person can do to protect themselves. G and I have taken to leaving the windows down when we are in the car. If there is a blast, better to just get shrapnel, than shrapnel plus glass. Our house windows are taped up with clear packing tape while we wait for the anti-blast film. When we dive for cover in the hall, we shut doors and have removed the interior ones with glass in them. In reality, the house structure is not that much safer, but I feel safer there. If you are in a car and shelling begins, you are actually supposed to leave the car. Oh, that would be hard to do! We have been feeling safer the last few days, but it is false security. The front line is not secure and we are not out of range. Medelita Guest Blogger: Becky Carlton, BSN, CNM. Becky is currently working as the Midwifery Dean at Gimbie Adventist Hospital in Ethiopia. Becky has been doing missionary work for many years, with such organizations as the Peace Corps and Doctors without Borders (MSF).

In celebration of National Midwifery Week, Medelita presents daily entries from the journal of Becky Carlton, BSN, CNM, an American midwife recently in Libya during the ongoing revolution. June 6, 2011 11:33 From where I’m lying I can see out a tiny porthole to the Mediterranean. The sea outside undulates gently. We are puttering along at about 7mph/hr on a 250-mile trip. Fortunately it’s pretty calm and I feel good. In many ways, it’s nice to have this quiet time where there is absolutely nothing of importance to do. I’ve been lying on the deck for hours, listening to the wind, and thinking about this trip. It has been such a good adventure! Who’d of thought I’d go to Eygpt…or Libya…or Malta on a boat? Who’d of thought 5 weeks ago I’d have a whole new set of fabulous people in my life? Maybe, only for a moment. Most I will never see again, but it is still worth it. The time spent is like a snapshot. I can see them in my head. Dr MM with red, tired eyes after another night of not sleeping. Dr. A smiling in an absent way as he talks of his brother’s death. The women with the UTI telling me of her husband’s incarceration in Tripoli with his brothers while she is here pregnant with six children and she can’t get diapers for the twins. Daphne laughing with hospital staff. Dr. E telling me of the family farm that used to have chickens and goats and now is “nothing”. Sober docs tell us of the neighbors’ children who died in the same grad missile attack that nearly hit us. Dr F telling me of how in the beginning they all slept in their clothes because they never knew when they’d have to run. Then, Dr F apologizing to me for how some of the male consultant doctors treated me in a meeting. She is a rare bird here in a man’s world and very brave. I’m amazed that they tell me these stories (usually when we are alone in a quiet time). And, there are moments of fun. We laugh when Dr E describes the different sounds of blasts. We know what she is talking about. The Libyans apologize that we’ve come during war time so we do not see the beautiful Libya. They need to talk. We need to listen. We, as MSF, are pledged to stay neutral, but in our hearts, we ache to see them free from tyranny and fear. It’s weird how a person adapts. One night, there was a lot of shelling and we kept having to move into the hall. There were 21 people in the house and we didn’t fit well anymore. Sometime around 1am there was close heavy shelling. We bolted from our beds, confused, but primed. Lots of “Take Cover!!” shouts through the house. We sat in the darkness, hearts pounding crazily in our throats. Not everyone arrived wearing pants. We counted off—no one slept through that one. Even E, who sleeps like a rock, couldn’t ignore us hitting her legs as we dashed across her bed to the door. She says she didn’t actually become conscious that she was in the hall and not running to an emergency until she’d been sitting there for a couple minutes. Daphne admits that when she listens to music with earphones, she doesn’t actually put both in her ears. She always wants to know what’s going on around her. I always think about where I’ll go if a rocket comes in (not that I’d have time, but I still have a plan). I cried a lot yesterday and the day before. It’s so hard to say goodbye. When I was changing out of my scrubs, Dr. N saw that I was losing it and held me for a long time. Dr R kept warning me not to cry because it would make her cry. Yesterday morning, I couldn’t even look at my Belgian friend G to say goodbye. He stood behind me with his long skinny arms around my chest, chin on my head and just held me. He’s such a sweet, gentle man! Daphne was keeping busy prepping to go so she wouldn’t have to address my leaving. We really did enjoy working together even if I was driving her nuts and we knew we’d cry, but didn’t want to. In my head, I always hope that I will see these wonderful people again. Chances are that I won’t. That is hard. So, now, I lie in my bunk. I cry a little to think about my friends. I am happy to go home and I’m happy I came. I won’t be the same. Hopefully I’m better for it. Inshallah!! Medelita Guest Blogger: Becky Carlton, BSN, CNM. Becky is currently working as the Midwifery Dean at Gimbie Adventist Hospital in Ethiopia. Becky has been doing missionary work for many years, with such organizations as the Peace Corps and Doctors without Borders (MSF).

In celebration of National Midwifery Week, Medelita presents daily entries from the journal of Becky Carlton, BSN, CNM, an American midwife recently in Libya during the ongoing revolution. Here is the final entry. June 9, 2011 18:42 “Chicago Time” Location: somewhere over the US at 35,000 feet. Having left Brussels in the morning…trying to get home! If someone wakes you on a Friday morning with the question, “Would you like to go to Libya on Tuesday?” think about your answer carefully! Keep in mind that there is a revolution happening there. The people have decided they want new leadership after 40 years under Muammar Gadaffi’s thumb. Keep in mind that NATO is plastering the country with bombs and rebel forces are making homemade rocket-launchers. Consider what a landmine can do to a human. Believe the pro-Gadaffi soldiers suffer, the anti-Gadaffi soliders suffer and civilians are definitely suffering. Consider what a chance it would be to witness a people fighting for their freedom. When the call comes, consider it carefully. Then—go ahead—say, “Yes.” Medelita Guest Blogger: Becky Carlton, BSN, CNM. Becky is currently working as the Midwifery Dean at Gimbie Adventist Hospital in Ethiopia. Becky has been doing missionary work for many years, with such organizations as the Peace Corps and Doctors without Borders (MSF).

Eugene A. Stead, Jr., MD is recognized as the "Father" of the PA profession. Dr. Stead was born near Atlanta, Georgia on October 6, 1908. October 6th would, incidentally, also become the graduation day of the first class of PAs and the official date of National PA day. One of five children, Dr. Stead helped his father as a child, selling patent medicines door-to-door in Atlanta neighborhoods. Many of these neighborhoods were poor, and he was intrigued by the effects of poverty. As a boy, he noticed that poverty had two effects on people - either they were consumed by it or they rose to the challenge of overcoming it. He would later apply these same observations to different patterns of behavior among patients. Eugene A. Stead, Jr., MD received both his undergraduate and graduate education at Emory University, and in 1942, he became the youngest person to chair the Department of Medicine at his prestigious alma mater. In 1946, he was named Dean of the School of Medicine at Emory, but he left a year later to accept a position as Professor of Medicine and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Duke University. It was the patient, not the illness that most fascinated Dr. Stead. When his residents and he came across a complicated medical case they could not solve, Dr. Stead was often heard to say “What the patient needs is a doctor.” He often reminded his young learners that “A doctor makes a mistake if he thinks he knows more about a patient than the patient does himself.” Eugene A. Stead, Jr., MD firmly believed that it was possible to meet many patient needs without the time and cost overhead of a traditional medical education, and in 1965, Dr. Stead established the first U.S. Physician Assistant Program at Duke University with ex-military corpsmen. "We started the first PA Program with four students, all veterans . . . we had to have people who could stand their ground," stated Dr. Stead in PA Profession in Review: A Founder's Perspective, "Nurses and physicians at Duke Hospital were not overly enthusiastic about our idea. It was not easy to become a PA in those days." Over the course of his lifetime, Dr. Eugene Stead watched the PA profession grow from a small few struggling against criticism to a thriving and respected role within the medical community. He attributed a great deal of this success to the determination and ambition of the PAs themselves and felt that opportunities for Physician Assistants would only continue to grow. "PAs sought and found the opportunity to see people in a way that nobody else but a doctor had ever envisioned. PAs have the ability to take that and parlay it into all kinds of ventures in business, industry, and law," concluded Dr. Stead, "All that remains is for each PA to seize the opportunity." Eugene A. Stead, Jr., MD remained an advocate for positive change within the medical industry until he passed away on June 12, 2005 at the age of 96.

National PA Week ends today. For the last seven days, we highlighted exceptional Physician Assistants - all with inspiring achievements both in the clinical realm and in leadership. These seven PA s are truly a strong representation of ALL PA s practicing in the U.S. - currently 81,000 and growing. We would like to extend a special THANK YOU to these colleagues for representing the PA profession so well, for making us all proud, and for sharing your career highlights as a PA. Read about all of them below.

[caption id="attachment_992" align="alignright" width="216" caption="Margaret Allen, PA-C"][/caption]Margaret Allen, PA-C. A PA since 1992, Margaret works in Family Medicine at Ravenswood Family Health Center in East Palo Alto, California, and is currently Chair of the Committee on Diversity for the California Academy of Physician Assistants. In 2009, Margaret won the AAPA award for Service to the Underserved. She has been wearing Medelita since 2009, and is seen here wearing her Baltic Clinician Scrubs.

[caption id="attachment_974" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Lawrence Herman, MPA, RPA-C, DFAAPA"][/caption]Lawrence Herman, MPA, RPA-C, DFAAPA, who is shown here with his colleague Natalie Cher, DO. He is an Associate Professor and Director of Primary Care Initiatives at the New York Institute of Technology and is shown here at Bay Shore Family Medicine, where he practices and serves as the Medical Director for Island Medical Physicians, a large multispecialty group with over a dozen offices throughout Long Island. A PA for almost two decades, he serves on the AAPA Board as a Director-at-Large. Larry has been wearing Medelita since 2008, and is seen here wearing his Laennec lab coat.

[caption id="attachment_983" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Leslie Sormillon- Potenciano, MBA, RPA-C, LCCE, IBCLC "][/caption]Leslie Sormillon- Potenciano, MBA, RPA-C, LCCE, IBCLC has been practicing since 1999. Currently full-time at Richmond University Medical Center in New York, she also co-founded Staten Island's ten toes, a modern company that educates families and new parents on pregnancy and parenting information with a retail arm in related items. She additionally provides private lactation consultation, CPR certification, infant massage instruction and lamaze education. Leslie has been wearing Medelita since 2008, and is seen wearing her Baltic Clinician Scrubs.

[caption id="attachment_975" align="alignleft" width="247" caption="Maureen Regan, MBA, RPA-C"][/caption]Maureen Regan, MBA, RPA-C, who has been practicing since 1985. Maureen is currently working as the Administrative Director of Surgical Subspecialties at Winthrop University Hospital and clinically in an Occupational Medicine practice at Kennedy International Airport. She also serves on the Board of the New York State Society of Physician Assistants and as Chair of their Leadership Committee. Maureen has been wearing Medelita since June 2011, and is seen here at The Today Show on October 6th 2011 wearing her Estie lab coat.

[caption id="attachment_976" align="alignright" width="168" caption="Catherine Gaines, PA-C "][/caption]Catherine Gaines, PA-C since 1993. Catherine is currently working as a cardiothoracic PA after retiring from the Air National Guard. Catherine is the Southeastern Director for the American Association of Surgical Physician Assistants. Her therapy dogs volunteer at a local Hospice house. (She chauffeurs them as the Border Collie has not quite mastered driving yet. But probably will shortly.) Catherine has been wearing Medelita since 2008, and is seen here wearing her Callia Lab Coat.

[caption id="attachment_1001" align="alignleft" width="211" caption="Jamie Huggler, RPA-C, "][/caption]Jamie Huggler, RPA-C, surgical PA since 1999. Jamie is currently working in the Cardiothoracic Unit of Long Island Jewish Hospital. She was the very first PA in the state of NY to perform robotically assisted lobectomy. Jamie has been wearing Medelita since 2008, and is seen here wearing her Pool Clinician Scrubs and Callia Lab Coat.

[caption id="attachment_978" align="alignright" width="237" caption="Justine Roberts, MPAS, PA-C, RVT"][/caption]Justine Roberts, MPAS, PA-C, RVT, who has been practicing in reconstructive, plastic and hand surgery, and varicose vein treatment since 2009. Justine is currently working as a Physician Assistant and Registered Vascular Technologist at Plastic Surgical Associates of Johnstown. In 2009, she founded and launched the company's Vein Center, for minimally invasive varicose vein solutions. She is also an adjunct instructor for Saint Francis University's Physician Assistant Program. She is a member of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, the Pennsylvania Society of Physician Assistants, and the American College of Phlebology. Justine has been wearing Medelita since 2009, and is seen here wearing her Pool Clinician Scrubs and Callia Lab Coat.