PRINCESS ANNE, MD - Peninsula Regional Medical Center announced a gift of $150,000 today to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) to help fund a faculty position in the Physician Assistant (PA) Department. Over the next three years, Peninsula Regional will supplement a faculty line in the PA Department with annual donations of $50,000.

UMES will name the Peninsula Regional Medical Center Physician Assistant Clinical Laboratory in recognition of the establishment of the Peninsula Regional Physician Assistant Clinical Instructorship. The announcement takes place in the newly named lab on the second floor of Hazel Hall in the Physician Assistant Department on Tuesday, October 9, at 2:30 p.m.

“We are grateful for Peninsula Regional’s vote of confidence in one of UMES’ premier programs,” said UMES President, Dr. Thelma B. Thompson. “Peninsula Regional is recognized nationally as one of the best regional hospitals in the country and our Physician Assistant Department is nationally accredited and acknowledged for the rigor of its coursework. This appears to be a marvelous match, a first-rate partnership.”

“This collaboration between Peninsula Regional and UMES will further expand the training and educational opportunities available at the University. The more the Medical Center can support these types of programs the better our facility will be in the future by having these health care professionals available to care for residents in our region,” said Alan Newberry, President/CEO of Peninsula Regional Health System.

Physician assistants (PA's) are health care professionals licensed to practice medicine with physician supervision. As part of their comprehensive responsibilities, PA's conduct physical examinations, diagnose and treat illnesses, order and interpret tests, counsel on preventive health care, assist in surgery, and in most states can write prescriptions.

The Physician Assistant Departmentis a baccalaureate degree granting educational program. The program, committed to providing equal opportunity, promotes health and wellness through the provision of quality primary health care education. Its diverse environment values the discovery of knowledge, the development and dissemination, and practical application of that knowledge through community outreach and service. The PA Department is part of the School of Health Professions, which also includes the departments of Exercise Science, Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science

The Physician Assistant Department is fully accredited through the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA). Graduates meet the educational requirements for eligibility of the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants) NCCPA examination and state licensure.

“This gift goes a long way to solidifying the PA/physician team concept, under girding our PArtnership in Medicine relationships and strengthening the current relationship that already exists between PRMC and the UMES PA Department,” said Darlene Jackson-Bowen, chair and program director of the UMES Physician Assistant Department. “This gift is a vehicle that allows educational attainment; and as a result, we are able to reduce the health disparities in access to healthcare by graduating mid-level primary care physician assistants, a number of whom live and work in the region. Special recognition goes to Christjon Huddleston, M.D., medical director at UMES, for his efforts in acquiring the Peninsula Regional gift.”

This is the second clinical instructorship at UMES funded by the Medical Center. Last year, Peninsula Regional established the Physical Therapy Clinical Instructorship with a gift of $60,000.

For more information about the UMES Physician Assistant program, please contact the Office of Public Relations at 410-651-6669.