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08/21/2024 08:00 AMIn a dizzyingly complex healthcare system, medical professionals and their patients often recognize the gaps which are faced every day, making advocacy and policy change an important part of the job for professionals such as physician assistants (PAs). John DeFrancisco, a local student at Quinnipiac University's School of Health Sciences, will become more involved in that type of progress while participating in a fellowship program aimed at advocating and implementing change.
This fall, John will participate in the prestigious Physician Assistant Education Association Student Health Policy Fellowship, a program for PA students like himself who are committed to making significant impacts on the healthcare system, its professionals, and education.
John is a second-year graduate student at Quinnipiac, having started his undergraduate studies in its entry level master’s PA program.
“That’s their direct entry program. I did my four years [of] undergrad and then went straight in after graduation. I think 12 days later we started classes for grad school,” John says.
John has been very involved person at Quinnipiac both in and out of the classroom, and being proactive in various opportunities and leadership roles was an enjoyable part of his undergraduate career. He was involved in the university’s student-run EMS program and was twice captain of the school’s men’s rugby team. John credits the faculty at Quinnipiac for encouraging leadership in their students and offering many opportunities for personal development for students like himself.
This reached a new peak for John when he was elected to the student delegation for the American Academy of Physician Associates House of Delegates Meeting, representing students in the PA discipline at the national level.
“It's this annual meeting where they enact policy position statements on behalf of the profession,” he says. “That was a really important opportunity in terms of my professional development, getting the opportunity to be a part of that kind of discussion, hear a bunch of different viewpoints and opinions from a number of different representatives from across the country.”
John says this experience is what “stoked the flames” of his passion for attaining new leadership positions in healthcare policy and advocacy—something which he will continue with the PAEA fellowship.
There are two halves to the fellowship, explains John.
“Over a three-day period in September, we’ll be doing a virtual workshop,” he says. “That’s where we meet with different leaders in the field, different members who are involved in health policy development and advocacy efforts.”
John will have the chance to learn about healthcare policy from legislators, as well as the process of advocating and implementing change from the local to state level.
The second half will consist of a project developed by the fellows “to demonstrate a positive impact on either the PA profession or the local or state community or different PA programs in the area and we do that under the guidance of a program faculty member,” says John.
John feels grateful that his mentor in this half of the fellowship will be Quinnipiac’s own Bill Kohlhepp.
“I'm pretty grateful to have him kind of lead me through it. He's super knowledgeable in the field, a very experienced individual within the profession, and served in a number of different advocacy positions, from the national to the state level and everything in between,” says John.
As part of the fellowship, John hopes to “amplify” the voices of patients in support of legislation to close gaps in healthcare.
For PAs, advocating for positive change within the American healthcare system begins with being advocates for patients—a responsibility which John says goes “beyond the responsibilities or just being a high-level care provider.”
“The way that I like to describe it is we’ve demonstrated PAs to have the ability to be a part of the solution in closing gaps in healthcare. But a lot of that progress isn’t able to be made and developed unless we’re able to practice to the full extent of our academic and professional training,” John says.
John believes that supporting a more fulfilling practice starting at the “grassroots level” of patient advocacy is something which can then reach the national level of conservation.
“I think it's important that...every PA is pretty involved in terms of trying to advocate for the profession, advocate for their patients, and work to enact laws that progress us forward,” he says.
John also recognizes that breaking into advocacy efforts later in life can be a difficult task in any profession. Consequently, John knows it’s important that students who have a unique role to play in fellowships like his get started early in their careers. This is one other thing for which he wants to advocate.
“I hope to be able to help other students discover this undiscovered passion and pursue the ability that they have to be leaders in their communities and leaders for their healthcare teams,” says John.