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This version of NSU News has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of NSU News, visit news.nova.edu.
This version of SharkBytes has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of SharkBytes, visit sharkbytes.nova.edu.
Tampa Bay’s Inaugural Graduating Class of Anesthesiologist Assistants to Receive Degrees
The first ever Anesthesiologist Assistants (AA) students from NSU’s Tampa Student Educational Center will graduate on Aug. 28, helping to meet the healthcare needs of Tampa Bay residents.
“The Tampa area, Florida, and the nation in general has a need for more providers of anesthesia,” said Richard E. Davis, EdD, PA-C, dean of NSU’s College of Allied Health and Nursing which runs the AA program. “With only seven AA programs in the nation, we educate and provide quality AA’s who are ready to work.”
Anesthesiologist Assistants allow doctors to perform additional surgeries which is needed in areas like Tampa where the demand is high. They are highly trained allied health professionals who provide top-quality patient care under the medical direction of a doctor of anesthesiology. AA’s work in a care team format with a physician anesthesiologist to render complete anesthesia care.
The 25 NSU graduating anesthesiologist assistant students began their 27- month program in 2009. Because the field is in high demand, all of these graduates are guaranteed jobs that offer a starting salary between $120,000 and $150,000 according to William Orr, M.M.Sc., AA-C assistant professor and department chair of the anesthesiologist assistant program at Tampa’s NSU campus.
According to Orr, most of the students will begin jobs immediately upon graduation. “Many of our students will be staying in Tampa at Brandon Regional Hospital and New Port Richey Community Hospital, said Orr. “Others are going to Shands in Gainesville, Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and Capitol Regional Medical Center in Tallahassee.”
“Approximately 50 percent of the class are from outside of Florida and have jobs secured in their home states,” Orr added.
NSU professor and department chair Robert Wagner, M.M.Sc., AA-C, past president of the American Academy of Anesthesiologist Assistants, said the more anesthesiologist assistants NSU can matriculate and educate, the greater the chances are for Americans to get access to health care.
Of the five universities nationwide that offer the anesthesiologist assistant program, NSU is the only university to offer it in multiple locations: Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale. “Increasing the number of anesthesiologist assistant will open up more access for patients to have surgery,” said Wagner.
The university has been offering quality programs in the Tampa area for more than 30 years. NSU is the fifth university in the United States to offer an AA program and the only university in Florida to have the program. Florida is one of 17 states that allow anesthesiologist assistants to practice their trade.