By Sara Pisoni
CHS Contributor

In early March, three alumni of the UK Physician Assistant Academic Residency Program became published authors, along with two of their faculty members.

Tyler Pape, Kristyn Bossle, and Kacy Clinkenbeard graduated in 2021 from the residency program as part of its first graduating class. Their faculty mentors — Leslie Woltenberg, PhD, and Sibu Saha, MD, MBA — are co-authors with them on the article, “Time to Hip Fracture Surgery and Mortality: A Retrospective Cohort Study,” published by the Southern Medical Journal.

“I am so very proud of these truly incredible and talented PAs,” Woltenberg said. Serving as their primary research mentor, she assisted and guided the students through the process, from data acquisition to analysis to writing a full manuscript. They began working on this project as students in 2020-2021 in the residency program.

And before that, Woltenberg got the chance to know and teach them during their time in the master’s program. She said she loved to watch the students grow and develop their strong research skills.

Research is a crucial part of the field in providing evidence-based care, especially for physician assistants, she said. As a whole, the profession does not have a large body of literature.

Virginia Valentin, DrPH, PA-C, and chair of the Physician Assistant Studies department, says increasing that research is a major focus of the residency program, which is only in its third cohort.

Saha agreed, and said he believes in the importance of research for the field.

Saha serves as the medical director for the Physician Assistant department and one of the administrative leaders for the Residency Program. Saha and David Fahringer, MSPH, PA-C, developed the residency program, and based it around five pillars. Research and scholarly activity is one of those pillars.

“Research is essential to develop a critical mind and for evidence-based practice of medicine,” Saha said.

Completing a research project while also managing clinical work during their residency required a lot of time management and teamwork from Pape, Bossle, and Clinkenbeard.

“We all had interest in surgical specialties and acute interventions, and that led us to exploring research in orthopedics and outcomes of patients with hip fractures at the University of Kentucky,” Clinkenbeard said.

“What started out as a curious idea developed into an important and compelling project,” Woltenberg said, one that could directly impact and improve patient care going forward.

The article has important implications. Providers can now easily access this information and understand that significant delay in hip fracture surgery is likely to increase post-operative complications. They can share this with the patient and family to make informed decisions about their care. Time is often a crucial factor in healthcare regarding efficiency and functionality of the system as a whole and improved health of the patient.

Valentin believes that the future leaders of the Physician Assistant profession will be trained here, and she wants the program to continue to, “get PAs to come to Kentucky and to stay in Kentucky.”

Woltenberg says she is “proud of our program for prioritizing evidence-based medicine through research-based projects like this one.”

When talking about these former students, who have continued to serve the profession well, she said, “pride is the word that comes to mind, but that doesn’t even do it justice. They are brilliant clinicians, compassionate human beings, and exceptional people.”

Find out more about the PA program here. 

Or, are you interested in the Physician Assistant Academic Residency Program?