LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
When Air Force Officer in Training Jamie Meyer ran into a former roommate five years ago, Meyer was a parachute instructor, teaching cadets how to jump out of planes at the U.S. Air Force Academy outside Colorado Springs.
His old roomie, on the other hand, had switched gears and joined the military's medical profession - becoming a physician assistant. This chance meeting ended up changing the course of Meyer's military career.
In January, Meyer will become a commissioned first lieutenant and a certified PA through the military's Interservice Physician Assistant Program, ranked No. 13 this year by the U.S. News & World Report among PA programs in the country.
"I was always fascinated with the medical field," Meyer said earlier this week.
Meyer said he was amazed by their knowledge and level of responsibility. So he decided to apply to the program.
IPAP began in 1996, when other armed forces merged their programs into one, covering the Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Navy, Army and Air national guards.
The grueling, rigorous 26-month program starts with classroom instruction at Army installation Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. Phase II enters the clinical part of the job - the hands-on phase. Most can be stationed anywhere in the country for this portion, although the U.S. Navy sends its Sailors to San Diego.
When they're done, they graduate with a master's degree and rank of first lieutenant (although Coast Guard PAs are still ensigns).
The program offers an incentive for enlisted Soldiers to become commissioned officers, further their education and increase their chances of landing a secure, solid job when and if they retire from the service.
The Air Force is "training enlisted personnel to be health-care providers," said Capt. Vicki Bateman, PA at USAF Hospital Langley. "We're taking care of our own people; we're taking care of our active duty, their families and their dependents."
Once they become certified military PAs, through the University of Nebraska, these men and women become an extension of the doctor they're assigned to - working as a unit to provide patient care on deployment and the home front.
When their schooling is complete, they can conduct physical exams, take medical histories, order and interpret tests, design treatments, counsel on preventive health care, assist in surgery, and write prescriptions. The only difference between their education and an M.D., doctors must complete internships and residency requirements to get their degree.
"It's a high-stress program," said Bateman, who graduated the program in 2004, meeting her husband, a PA in the Navy, during her schooling.
Those seeking to get into the program must first pass an arduous application process.
Meyer and 1st Lt. Kimberly Bertrand, who graduated from the program in May, said it took them a year to get their packet together to submit.
They needed a core set of college courses, with a certain number of semester hours before they could enter the program, including general chemistry with a lab, anatomy and physiology with a lab, algebra, biology with a lab, microbiology with a lab, social sciences, English, psychology and medical terminology. Other eligibility details include (but are not limited to):
1. Being on active duty in grades E-3 through E-8 with a minimum of two years active-duty service and less than 14 years active military service (as of Aug. 31, 2013);
2. Scoring a minimum of 80 points on the Armed Service Vocational Aptitude Battery or Air Force Classification Test;
3. Submitting an academic worksheet which includes transcripts and SAT scores (and if you haven't taken the SAT, you must take it and pass with certain scores);
4. Passing physical qualifications and have no history of emotional instability;
5. Receiving numerous recommendations, including ones from a doctor, a PA, your commander and your supervisor;
6. Proving leadership abilities;
7. Recording a video explaining why you should be admitted into the program.
The pair also had to shadow a PA for a week, and shadow a doctor, so they knew what they were getting into. During this time, applicants have to perform their regular military duties, in addition to taking care of their families and earning a living.
But, once you're in the program, that's your job for two years, Bertrand said.
Bertrand, who worked in satellite communications at Cape Canaveral before entering the program, remembers her first year well. She had to take more than 100 exams during that time, she said.
That's because the program covers it all, said Bateman, including pharmacology, cardiology, gynecology, endocrinology, pediatrics, geriatrics, hematology, orthopedics, psychology, and much more.
PAs train to enter a family practice at the end of Phase II, said Bateman - that's "cradle to grave."
At Langley, in an ideal, non-deployment world, a PA is assigned to a team with a doctor, nurse and five medical technicians, said Bateman, Phase II clinical coordinator, overseeing Langley's physician assistant students.
"You learn to adapt to how your preceptor (doctor) practices medicine," Bateman said. "You learn to adapt your style to the way your preceptor wants things done; we're an extension of our physician." At Langley Hospital, nearly a dozen PAs, including three civilian PAs, work with patients.
And, the field is growing. According to Money and payscale.com, in 2009, PAs were the second profession in the top 50 careers with great pay and growth prospects.
As for Meyer, he's waiting to find out where he'll be stationed as a PA after he graduates in January. His commitment to the program and the Air Force, after he receives his National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants certificate, is four years. He is eligible for deployment after six months on the job. After three years, a PA can apply to specialize in a certain medical field.
A warning from Bateman, Bertrand and Meyer, though, before anyone considers diving into the program.
"It's a lot of work," Bateman said. A person must consider their family commitment and support before applying and taking the plunge, she said. "It's an all-consuming program - family has to be on board."
National PA week was Oct. 6 through Wednesday.