Author Archives: Elizabeth Poindexter

Alec Fields, a second-year student in Physician Assistant Studies who began to use his personal 3D printer to create much-needed brackets for personal protective equipment (PPE) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, has received numerous requests for the brackets from around the country. Fields, a veteran and former fleet Marine...

Emily Wilkins is a second-year Physician Assistant Studies student from Rutherfordton, North Carolina who returned to work in neighboring Hendersonville as a paramedic during the COVID-19 pandemic to serve our state. With student clinical rotations on hold, Wilkins decided her experience as a paramedic prior to PA school would be...

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, second-year Physician Assistant Studies student Alec Fields, a veteran and former fleet Marine force hospital corpsman, began to use his 3D printer to create much-needed brackets for personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care providers in eastern North Carolina. Fields’ mother-in-law, who works at CarolinaEast...

The journal published by the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) recently featured an article coauthored by Janelle Bludorn, a clinical assistant professor in Physician Assistant Studies. The article, titled “Inspiring the Future of Physician Assistsant Ultrasound Education,” focuses on integrating point-of-care ultrasound into PA education.

The Physician Assistant Studies program, part of the Department of Allied Health Sciences, welcomed twenty students to the class of 2021 with a white coat ceremony on January 16, 2020. This year’s cohort of students is one-quarter veterans, and nearly forty percent were raised in a medically underserved area. During...

The Society of Emergency Medicine Physician Assistants (SEMPA) has named Janelle Bludorn, a clinical assistant professor in the Physician Assistant Studies program, as its vice president for 2020-2021. According to its website, the society strives to advance, protect, and promote the role of emergency medicine PAs through education, advocacy, collaboration...

The Physician Assistant Studies program, housed in the Department of Allied Health Sciences, held its third commencement ceremony on December 14, 2019. Paul Chelminski, the program’s director, welcomed and thanked the graduates’ supporters, their families, and the commencement speaker, Karen Hills, longtime faculty and former program director of the Duke...

Alec Fields, a former fleet Marine force hospital corpsman, discovered a passion for medicine while in charge of the health and wellbeing of the Marines with whom he was stationed in Afghanistan. “I always knew I wanted to do something in medicine or in the medical field,” Fields said. “I...

Jason Hrdina, PA-C, has graduated from the UNC School of Medicine Teaching Scholars Program, which aims to enhance medical education at the University. He joins Kathryn “Katie” Sorensen, OTD, OTR/L, as part of this year’s scholar cohort.

The Physician Assistant Studies program at the UNC School of Medicine has named William A. Mills Jr. as its 2019 Preceptor of the Year. Mills spearheaded creation of the pediatric rotation for second-year PA students as part of their clinical experience; his involvement with the PA program began with its...