Dr. Regina Benjamin, assistant dean for rural health at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, has been selected to serve on the national advisory panel for the Network for Supervising Physicians, a new service from the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA). The panel will help physicians maximize the role that physician assistants (PAs) play on health care teams.

“I am especially interested in getting physician assistants into rural, underserved areas,” said Benjamin, who serves on the state board of medical examiners, which certifies physician assistants in Alabama. “This will also give our physician assistants program a chance to interact with other programs throughout the country.”

Working under the supervision of a physician, physician assistants perform physical exams, diagnose illnesses, develop and carry out treatment plans, order and interpret lab tests, suture lacerations, apply casts, assist in surgery, and provide patient education and preventive health care counseling. In Alabama, PAs can even write prescriptions.

Richard Nenstiel, chair of the University's department of physician assistant studies, said that roughly 80 percent of routine primary care duties are performed by physician assistants. More complicated medical cases are referred to the physicians. Benjamin, the only Alabamian on the panel, added that the supervising physicians network and its products will be a useful resource for physicians who supervise PAs.

Also, Benjamin has been selected by the Kaiser Foundation to meet with health reporters from the across the nation. As part of a weeklong visit to Alabama, the media – representing National Public Radio, the Public Broadcasting System, and newspapers in Philadelphia, Dallas and Milwaukee - will visit Benjamin on Monday, Feb. 7, and accompany her to her family practice clinic in Bayou La Batre. “These are not interviews,” said Benjamin, “but, rather, an opportunity to visit with the national media and discuss health care issues that concern everyone.”

Discussion topics will include the Area Health Education Center (Benjamin is the AHEC project director), USA Telemedicine and children’s health insurance.