New Nova Southeastern AA Program

We have learned that an anesthesiologist assistant (AA) program is planning to open in June 2006 at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Extensive information about the program is on Nova's Web site at http://www.nova.edu/mhs/anesthesia/. This program will offer a Master of Health Science and will be part of Nova's College of Allied Health and Nursing in the Health Professions Division and will be "under the auspices of the College of Osteopathic Medicine." When this program opens, it will be the fourth AA program in the country, joining Emory University in Atlanta, Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, and South University in Savannah, Georgia, (which is conducted in conjunction with the Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, Georgia).

According to the Nova Southeastern University Web site, entrance requirements for the 27-month-long program will include submitting scores from either the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) and completion of required coursework. The minimum cumulative GPA is 2.75 on a 4.0 grading scale, with a minimum of 3.0 preferred. Robert Wagner, MMSc., AA-C, the immediate past president of the American Academy of Anesthesiologist Assistants, will be a program director. The program is issuing application packets for the June 2006 entering class.  The Web site claims that total clinical hours will be a minimum of 2500. Some courses, according to the program brochure posted on the Web site, "are designed to be completed in a distance learning format." Such courses include "APA Writing Seminar," "Writing for Medical Publication," "Research Methods," "Directed Studies in Anesthesia," "Principles of Life Support," "Practicum- Senior Seminar in Anesthesia 1," "Epidemiology and Biostatistics," "Ethical Issues in Health Care," and "Principles of Health Care Management."  In December, we will revise the AA fact sheet to reflect this information, distribute it to you, and post the updated fact sheet on the Members side of the AANA Web site.  As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or comments.
 

Barbara L. Anderson, J.D.
State Government Affairs Associate
AANA
222 South Prospect Ave.
Park Ridge, Illinois 60068-4001
Direct: (847) 655-1133
Fax: (847) 655-8830
E-mail: blanderson@aana.com