Continuing Medical Education for the MAPA

National Links: AAPA ARC-PA PAEA AAPA Census Data Site: National Map		The national organization of Physician Assistants (PAs) in the United States is the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) with offices in Alexandria, VA. PAs working in the United States must be graduates of an accredited PA program. The national accrediting organization for PAs is the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). Following graduation, PAs are certified through a boarding process by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). PAs are one of the few professions which must undergo recertification (take and pass boards) every six years as long as they are in practice. This is in addition to continuing medical education requirements of 100 hours every two years. In addition to the national organization there are 57 chartered chapters, 24 specialty organizations, 12 caucuses, and 25 special interest groups of the AAPA. PA policy is legislated at the AAPA House of Delegates which is held during the annual conference. PAs in different states have different capabilities due to each state's unique laws and regulations. States also rank differently in recent studies such as the JAMA article on quality of care which rates states based evaluation of care given to their Medicare patients, or the CMS study on health care spending per capita in the US. These ratings as well as other information on each state can be found on our national map.