Trauma Caucus

AASPA is proud to introduce the Trauma Caucus

The Trauma Caucus includes AASPA members practicing in trauma, acute care surgery, and surgical critical care.

The focus of the Trauma Caucus is to address current issues for physician assistants in trauma and acute care surgery and develop strong working relationships with the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACSCOT), the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST), the Western Trauma Association (WTA), the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST), and the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM).

Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS)

The ATLS course teaches a systematic, concise approach to the initial management of the trauma patient. This course is vital to guiding care for the injured patient in emergency department trauma rooms. The course training provides a common language that can save lives in critical situations. Valid for 4 years.

Find an ATLS Course in your area
Other Trauma programs available: FACS

ATLS Cards and Cert

The main body of ATLS cards and certs are all the same. The borders have different colors for each professional designation. PA cards have a green border.

Fundamental Critical Care Support Course

A two-day comprehensive course addressing fundamental management principles for the first 24 hours of critical care.

Course Purpose

• To better prepare the non-intensivist for the first 24 hours of management of the critically ill patient until transfer or appropriate critical care consultation can be arranged.
• To assist the non-intensivist in dealing with sudden deterioration of the critically ill patient.
• To prepare house staff for ICU coverage.
• To prepare nurses and other critical care practitioners to deal with acute deterioration in the critically ill patient.
• Valid for 4 years

Course Objectives

• Prioritize assessment needs for the critically ill patient.
• Select appropriate diagnostic tests.
• Identify and respond to significant changes in the unstable patient.
• Recognize and initiate management of acute life-threatening conditions.
• Determine the need for expert consultation and/or patient transfer and prepare the practitioner for optimally accomplishing transfer.

Find Fundamentals of Critical Care Support (FCCS) Course

Residency Opportunities

 University of Rochester Medical Center Crital Care Fellowship

• Brenton LaRiccia PA-C, MS, MBA
• University of Rochester Medical Center
• 601 Elmwood Avenue
• Rochester, NY 14642
• Phone: 585-275-1577

Visit Website

George Washington University Hospital Trauma/Critical Care

• POC: Jonathan Messing, MSN, ACNP-BC
• Education lead Amy Vota, PA-C - co-interim chief of Aps
• George Washington University Hospital
• 900 23rd Street NW
• Washington, DC 20037
• Email:[email protected] -OR- [email protected]

University of Pennsylvania Critical Care Residency

WakeMed Health and Hospitals

• Level One Trauma Center
• Physician Assistant Residency in Trauma, Critical Care, and General Surgery
• 3024 New Bern Avenue
• Raleigh, NC, 27610
• Telephone: (919) 350-8729
• Fax: (919) 350-7633
• Email: [email protected]

St. Luke's Hospital Trauma and Surgical Critical Care

• Post Graduate Fellowship for Physician Assistants
• 801 Ostrum St.
• Bethlehem, PA 18015
• Phone: (610) 954-2207
• Fax: (610) 954-2220
• Program email address: [email protected]

Program Director:

• Laurie N. Wilson, PA-C
• Phone: (610) 954-2207
• Fax: (610) 954-2220

Assistant Program Director:

• Mary Fran Lipinski, PA-C
• Phone: (610) 954-2308
• Fax: (610) 954-2220
• Email: [email protected]

Physician Assistants in Trauma references and articles

If the following hyperlinks do not open for you, then go to the following website and cut and paste the article of interest to search the archives

• Am J Crit Care. 2008 Jul;17(4):357-63; Outcomes of tube thoracostomies performed by advanced practice providers vs trauma surgeons
• J Trauma. 2007 Jul;63(1):128-34; Midlevel providers in a Level I trauma service; experience at Wesley Medical Center
• J Trauma. 2005 May;58(5):917-20; Physician extenders impact trauma systems
• Am Surg. 2004 Mar;70(3):272-9; Comparative use of Physician assistants in a level I trauma center
• J Surg Res. 2002 Aug;106(2):319-22; Ability of the objective structured clinical examination to differentiate surgical residents, medical students, and physician assistant students
• J Trauma. 1999 Aug;47(2):438; Intracranial pressure monitor placement by midlevel practitioners
• J Trauma. 1998 Feb;44(2):372-6; Use of Physician Assitants as surgery/trauma house staff at an American College of Surgeons-verified Level II trauma center
• HMO Pract. 1994 Dec;8(4):187-9; A physician assistant laceration management program
• Am J Surg. 2006 Jul;192(1):119-24; Integrating midlevel practitioners into a teaching service
• Acad Med. 1999 Jun;74(6):641-5; One hospital’s successful 20-year experience with physician assistants in graduate medical education
• J Trauma. 2008 Aug;65(2):331-4; discussion 335-6. Optimal Management Strategy for Incidental Findings in Trauma Patients: An Initiative for Midlevel Providers
• J Trauma. 2008 Feb;64(2):255-63; discussion 263-4. Trauma Training in Simulation: Translating Skills From SIM Time to Real Time

Associated Links

• Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine
• American Trauma Society
• Brain Trauma Foundation
• Federal Emergency Management Agency
• International Trauma Anesthesia and Critical Care Society
• Orthopedic Trauma Association
• The Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma
• The Society of Critical Care Medicine
• International Council of Motorsport Safety
• Western Trauma Association
• American College of Surgeons Fellows Portal
• Trauma, Critical Care and Acute Care Surgery 2008
• AAST Conference Link
• EAST Clinical Guidelines
• SCCM Advanced Practice Provider Series
• Recommended Podcasts: ICU Rounds by Jeffrey Guy
• EAST Traumacasts

Online Publications

Trauma Representative

Jonathan R. Van Horn, PA-C, MPAS

Jon is the current Trauma Caucus and FCCS Chair, and has worked at Legacy Emanuel and Randall Children's Hospital which is a ACS Verified Level 1 Trauma Center in Portland, Oregon. He is a graduate of the US Army Interservice Physician Assistant Program. He is currently a Lieutenant Colonel in the Oregon National Guard, and has served for 28 years. His deployments include Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Hurricane Katrina, and multiple state activations for fires and floods.

He currently serves as the AAPA Liaison to the American College of Surgeons, and is the Immediate Past-President of the American Association of Surgical Physician Assistants. He also is a member of the EAST Military Committee, and APP Task Force.

Please contact him for questions at [email protected].