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Emory Critical Care Center NP/PA Residency Program first to receive national accreditation under newly designed pathway

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Janet Christenbury

The Emory Critical Care Center's NP/PA Residency Program is the first dually accredited clinical post-graduate programs for physician assistants and nurse practitioners in the country.

ATLANTA – The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) has granted Accreditation-Clinical Postgraduate Program status to the Emory Critical Care Center Nurse Practitioner and Physician Assistant (NP/PA) Residency Program, sponsored by Emory Healthcare. The Emory Critical Care Center is the first center in the country to achieve post-graduate PA accreditation under the ARC-PA newly developed pathway for post-graduate PA residency programs.

“We are honored that the Emory Critical Care Center NP/PA program was the first post-graduate PA program accredited under the novel pathway,” says Aimee Abide, MMSc, PA-C, co-director of the NP/PA Critical Care Residency Program with the Emory Critical Care Center, and PA program lead.

“The ARC-PA has rigorous, evidence-based standards for quality and excellence in PA education. Those physician assistants who successfully complete ARC-PA accredited programs gain confidence in the caliber of the program and reassurance that their education has met the highest possible standards,” explains Abide.

Physician assistants and nurse practitioners are collectively called advanced practice providers (APPs). APPs are licensed health care clinicians authorized to diagnose illnesses, develop and manage treatment plans, prescribe medications and provide evidence-based health education to their patients. In the Emory Critical Care Center NP/PA residency, APPs undergo specialized training for one year after graduation from PA or NP school to become highly skilled in taking care of patients in the intensive care unit.

“The Emory Critical Care Center NP/PA program attracts qualified applicants from all over the country, all seeking a structured education program in order to become experts and leaders in their field,” says Heather Meissen, ACNP-BC CCRN, co-director of the NP/PA Critical Care Residency Program, and NP program lead. “The Emory Critical Care Center NP/PA Residency Program has been accredited as a Practice Transition Program by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Commission on Accreditation since 2015 and recently received Accreditation with Distinction at the 2021 re-accreditation review.”

“We are honored to receive this accreditation from the ARC-PA and proud to be recognized as the first dually accredited clinical post-graduate programs for physician assistants and nurse practitioners in the country,” says Kate Nugent, MD, assistant professor of emergency medicine and anesthesiology, Emory University School of Medicine and medical director of the NP/PA residency program. “This dual accreditation gives physician assistants and nurse practitioners alike the assurance that Emory Healthcare offers the highest quality clinical post-graduate education.”


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