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Tampa Bay’s First Graduating Class of Anesthesiologist Assistants Will Receive Their Degrees from Nova Southeastern University
Newswise — TAMPA, Fla. — The first ever Anesthesiologist
Assistants (AA) students from Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) Tampa
Student Educational Center will graduate on Aug. 28, helping to meet
the healthcare needs of Tampa Bay residents.
“The Tampa area,
Florida, and the nation in general has a need for more providers of
anesthesia,” said Richard E. Davis, EdD, PA-C, dean of NSU’s College of
Allied Health and Nursing which runs the AA program. “With only seven
AA programs in the nation, we educate and provide quality AA’s who are
ready to work.”
Anesthesiologist Assistants allow doctors to
perform additional surgeries which is needed in areas like Tampa where
the demand is high. They are highly trained allied health professionals
who provide top-quality patient care under the medical direction of a
doctor of anesthesiology. AA’s work in a care team format with a
physician anesthesiologist to render complete anesthesia care.
The
25 NSU graduating anesthesiologist assistant students began their 27-
month program in 2009. Because the field is in high demand, all of
these graduates are guaranteed jobs that offer a starting salary between
$120,000 and $150,000 according to William Orr, M.M.Sc., AA-C assistant
professor and department chair of the anesthesiologist assistant
program at Tampa’s NSU campus.
According to Orr, most of the
students will begin jobs immediately upon graduation. “Many of our
students will be staying in Tampa at Brandon Regional Hospital and New
Port Richey Community Hospital, said Orr. “Others are going to Shands
in Gainesville, Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and Capitol Regional
Medical Center in Tallahassee.”
“Approximately 50 percent of the class are from outside of Florida and have jobs secured in their home states,” Orr added.
NSU
professor and department chair Robert Wagner, M.M.Sc., AA-C, past
president of the American Academy of Anesthesiologist Assistants, said
the more anesthesiologist assistants NSU can matriculate and educate,
the greater the chances are for Americans to get access to health care.
Of
the five universities nationwide that offer the anesthesiologist
assistant program, NSU is the only university to offer it in multiple
locations: Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale. “Increasing the number of
anesthesiologist assistant will open up more access for patients to have
surgery,” said Wagner.
The university has been offering quality
programs in the Tampa area for more than 30 years. NSU is the fifth
university in the United States to offer an AA program and the only
university in Florida to have the program. Florida is one of 17 states
that allow anesthesiologist assistants to practice their trade.
About
Nova’s College of Allied Health and Nursing: The College endeavors to
train health care professionals in the art and science of improving the
quality of life and health of their patients and communities. Through
undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate degree programs, its goal is
to produce highly motivated and well educated practitioners who will be
integral members of the healthcare team. The college is composed of
students in nursing, occupational therapy, physician assistants,
anesthesiologist assistants, vascular sonography, audiology, health
science and cardiovascular sonography.
Anesthesiologist Assistants
(AAs), also known as an anesthetist, are highly educated and skilled
allied health professionals who work under the supervision of physician
anesthesiologists to develop and implement anesthesia care plans. AAs
work exclusively within the anesthesia care team environment as
described by the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). AAs
possess a premedical background, a baccalaureate degree, and also
complete a comprehensive didactic and clinical program at the graduate
school level. AAs are trained extensively in the delivery and
maintenance of quality anesthesia care as well as advanced patient
monitoring techniques. The goal of AA education is to nurture the
transformation of qualified student applicants into competent health
care practitioners who aspire to practice in the anesthesia care team.
About
Nova Southeastern University (NSU): The main campus is located in
Davie, Florida and one of its seven Student Educational Centers is
located in Tampa. NSU is a dynamic is a dynamic fully accredited
Florida University dedicated to providing high-quality educational
programs of distinction from preschool through the professional and
doctoral levels. NSU has more than 29,000 students and is the seventh
largest not-for-profit independent institution nationally. The
University awards associate’s, bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees,
specialist, and first-professional degrees in a wide range of fields,
including business, counseling, computer and information sciences,
education, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, dentistry, various health
professions, law, marine sciences, early childhood, psychology and other
social sciences. Classified as a research university with “high
research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching, NSU was also awarded Carnegie’s Community Engagement
Classification in 2010 for the University’s significant commitment to
and demonstration of community engagement. For more information about
NSU visit www.nova.edu.
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