SearchClose Search
Toggle Menu

Leadership

This first cohort of PALLA Fellows was charged with generating a longitudinal telehealth curriculum for incorporation into existing Maryland PA programs. The project was seen as a vital contribution to build a PA workforce capable of expanding health care access to the underserved regions in the state.

The Physician Assistant Leadership and Learning Academy (PALLA) is a state-wide initiative led by the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) to build PA faculty capacity to educate the next generation of PA students and advance PA education, research, and policy in Maryland. PALLA offers a 10-month fellowship aimed at resourcing PA clinicians with the skills necessary to meet the demands of the role of PA professoriate. The 2019–2020 inaugural cohort of PALLA Fellows includes Dave Bunnell, MSHS, PA-C; Matt Kearney, MS, MPAS, PA-C; Jeffrey Russell, MMS, PA-C; and Kyle Schiller, MS, PA-C.

One phase of the PALLA Fellowship is specifically dedicated to developing fellows to be skilled educators. Through the fellowship, PALLA Fellows engage in a series of educational sessions held both in-person and virtually. Educational topic areas presented include: adult learning theories, the construction of instructional objectives, learning domains, backward design, and evidence-based instructional strategies and assessments within health professions education. Fellows also have access to a robust online resource center and are provided peer mentoring via the PALLA executive team.

This first cohort of PALLA Fellows was charged with generating a longitudinal telehealth curriculum for incorporation into existing Maryland PA programs. The project was seen as a vital contribution to build a PA workforce capable of expanding health care access to the underserved regions in the state. The telehealth curriculum also ensures that Maryland PA programs are prepared to meet accreditation standards to provide a strong foundation in information technology and expertise consistent with the changing nature of clinical practice.

View the complete article celebrating the inaugural cohort of the Physician Assistant Leadership and Learning Academy, written by Karen Gordes, PhD, PT, DSc.  

In February 2020 PALLA faculty and fellows participated in the eighth annual IPE day, an experience designed to build interprofessional collaboration through an experiential learning event with simulated patients. Interprofessional education (IPE) helps put teamwork into practice. Participants attending enhanced their knowledge of this emerging collaborative team-based movement in health care, law and social work. 

Participants discovered how to effectively work and communicate with professionals outside of their areas of study, what specialist skills they can share with other professionals, and how interprofessional communication can improve quality of care. To bring those lessons home, the UMB’s Center for IPE enlisted faculty members, standardized patients in the role of a person suffering from chronic pain, addicted to opioids. Students also heard from retired emergency room physician Tom Fioretti, who overcame an opioid addiction thanks to a multidisciplinary approach from his care team.

Fellows are encouraged to engage in active listening, and problem solving that facilitates dialogue to understand and identify diversity and inclusion, while practicing communication styles that positively impact professional relationships. The PALLA Executive Leadership Team and Academic Fellows participated in a “Crucial Conversations Workshop” facilitated by former Executive Director, Dr. Mary Jo Bondy. Crucial Conversations is training that teaches skills for communicating when the stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong.

 

620 W. Lexington St.
Baltimore, MD 21201
(410) 706-3100

University of Maryland Graduate School. All Rights Reserved.