The Physician Assistant Student's Guide to the Clinical Year: Family Medicine

Gerald Kayingo, PhD, PA-C, is the director of the Master of Health Services, Physician Assistant Studies program, and an assistant clinical professor at the University of California (UC), Davis. Prior to his UC Davis appointment in 2014, he was a faculty member at the Yale School of Medicine Physician Associate Program and practiced at the Yale New Haven Hospital Primary Care Center in Connecticut. Dr. Kayingo has extensive experience in scholarship, education, clinical practice, and global health. He is a graduate of the Management Development Program at the Harvard Institutes for Higher Education, following a master of medical science-physician assistant degree at Yale University School of Medicine, and a PhD in microbiology from Orange Free State University in South Africa. He completed his postdoctoral education in infectious diseases at Yale, where he studied microbial pathogenesis, membrane transport, and signal transduction. He is a recent graduate of the UC Davis Interprofessional Teaching Scholars Program. Nationally, Dr. Kayingo serves as a trustee of the Physician Assistant Foundation, serves on the editorial board for the Journal of BMC Health Services Research, and is a member of the PAEA board of directors. He is a co-editor of the Health Professions Educator: A practical guide for new and established faculty. He was recently inducted into the prestigious Uganda National Academy of Sciences and has been widely published in several peer-reviewed journals. Deborah Opacic, M.M.S., EdD, PA-C, DFAAP received a Bachelor of Science - Physician Assistant at St. Francis University in Loretto, PA in 1982. She completed her graduate studies and received a Master of Medical Science, at St. Francis in 1994, and a Doctoral Degree in Educational Leadership from Duquesne University in 2001. Dr. Opacic has held clinical and academic appointments at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, the University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University and Allegheny General Hospital. Her clinical experience is in Adult Psychiatry, Hematology/Oncology, Cardiothoracic Surgery; Heart, Lung and Liver Transplantation and Gastroenterology. During her 12 year tenure at Duquesne University, Dr. Opacic served as Academic Coordinator, Clinical Coordinator and Vice Chair of the Department of Physician Assistant. In 2010, she received the Pennsylvania Society of Physician Assistant's "Educator of the Year Award". Dr. Opacic is the founding Director of the Physician Assistant Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh. She recently returned to clinical practice in the Division of Gastroenterology at the Allegheny Health Care Network. Dr. Opacic received both the Pennsylvania Society of Physician Assistants Award as PA Educator of the Year 2010 and the Pennsylvania Society of Physician Assistants Award as Humanitarian of the Year 2018 for her work as a Primary Care volunteer provider and grant writer for Sheep Inc. Free Health Care Center located in East Pittsburgh, PA. She is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, Member of the AAPA's Research and Strategic Initiatives Commission, Fellow of the Society of Gastroenterology Physician Assistants, and the Pennsylvania Society of Physician Assistants. Mary Carcella Allias MPAS, PA-C, DFAAPA, is the Director of Didactic Education and an Assistant Professor in the Physician Assistant Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh. Her instructional themes include health policy, clinical reasoning, therapeutic communication, and medical care across the lifespan. She is a graduate of Saint Francis University earning a Bachelor of Science and Master of Physician Assistant Science there. She is currently a Doctoral student in the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh. Ms. Allias has received awards for distinguished teaching and for her use of standardized patients in the curriculum, and has also been awarded a University of Pittsburgh Office of Diversity and Inclusion grant. She has practiced clinically in Emergency Medicine, and currently practices in Family Medicine. Ms. Allias has presented her work at state and national forums. Her memberships in professional organizations have been highlighted by committee service and leadership roles including serving as a committee chairperson, proposal reviewer, and coordinator of scholarly poster presentations. Maureen Knechtel, MPAS, PA-C, received a bachelor's degree in health science and a master's degree in physician assistant studies from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. She is the author of the textbook EKGs for the Nurse Practitioner and Physician Assistant, 1st and 2nd editions. Knechtel is a fellow member of the Physician Assistant Education Association, the American Academy of Physician Assistants, and the Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants. She is the academic coordinator and an assistant professor with the Milligan College Physician Assistant Program in Johnson City, TN, and practices as a cardiology PA with the Ballad Health Cardiovascular Associates Heart Institute. Knechtel has been a guest lecturer nationally and locally on topics including EKG interpretation, chronic angina, ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, hypertension, and mixed hyperlipidemia.