Physician assistants strong support for military medical units

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Mark Munsey
  • 15th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii (AFPN) --  Every 15 minutes, Maj. James Kahler lifts a medical record from the rack, enters an exam room, and his hunt begins anew.

Part medical detective, part complaint department head, part confession-hearing priest, Major Kahler weighs verbal feedback against diagnostic examination to determine a prognosis of health or ailment.

Then on to the next chart, the next exam room, the next patient. Every 15 minutes.

Major Kahler is a physician assistant, the backbone of any military medical unit.

He joins Capt. Jacqueline King and 1st Lt. Steven Kelham as the 15th Medical Group's sole PAs here, and they combine to see close to 20,000 patients a year.

One every 15 minutes.

Duke University graduated the first PAs on Oct. 6, 1967. To celebrate this anniversary, Oct. 6 though 12 was designated as National PA Week.

With physician supervision, PAs are health-care professionals licensed to practice medicine. They can diagnose and treat illness, conduct physical exams, counsel on preventative health care, assist in surgery, diagnose and treat illness, and write prescriptions, according to the American Association of PA Web site.

"It's a fulltime job," Major Kahler said.

And all three swapped stripes for bars, crossing into the PA world from enlisted Air Force medical and laboratory technician backgrounds.

Captain King became a PA to expand her horizons.

Having been a lab technician for 18 years, she said she had rotated through all the different departments and supervising challenges in the clinical lab.

"I wanted to see firsthand how the lab test I ran affected patients in the 'big picture,'" she said.

That meant close to 26 months of training before donning the PA lab coat, though she still uses her enlisted experiences daily.

“When I order a test, I know how the test is done and what it measures to help put it all together for my patients benefit,” she said.

"I find my enlisted experiences help to establish a rapport with the patients and put them at ease," she added.

As PA roles, experiences and medical value have evolved and expanded throughout the years, so have the variety of places they can hang their shingle, Major Kahler said.

Orthopedics, internal medicine and oncology, once considered off-limits to their profession, are now common fields of PA expertise, he said, adding their vista is not confined to base hospital walls.

"We're even moving into fields of readiness and special operations," the major said, "and we regularly deploy with the troops anywhere they get called to serve."

Patients are not the only people benefiting from their presence, said Staff Sgt. Taliah Martin, a 15th Medical Group medical technician.

Sergeant Martin has applied for the PA program, in large part because of the mentors she works alongside every day.

The PA program always seemed like the next logical step, she said, and with some well-intentioned meddling, she is on the road to her own lab coat.

"Major Kahler always tells me I'm smart and need to go to PA school," she said. “Day after day he would offer me little words of encouragement and provide me with tons of information about the PA career field. Captain King helped me start the application package, too. They've both helped me realize the potential that I have and the good things I can do in PA.”

Every 15 minutes.