We would like to encourage all Fellow members to participate in the AAPA Board of Trustees (BOT) election. Voting is now open and will remain open through the extended deadline of Monday, December 13, 2021 at 11:59 pm CST. Those who are attending the 46th Annual Conference: The Future of Pathology in person will have the opportunity to cast their vote onsite. All other Fellow members are invited to cast their vote online via SurveyMonkey (check your email for the ballot).
To learn more about a candidate, click on their name above to be taken to their feature page. For this election, you will be able to cast your vote for up to three of five candidates.
Results will be announced later in December, and elected members will begin their terms in January 2022.
Thank you in advance for your participation!
Name: Erika Paulsen, MS, PA(ASCP)CM
Organization: Rush University Medical Center
Location: Chicago, IL
Fellow Member Since: 2011
Current AAPA Position: BOT Adjunct to the CoC, Section Author Grossing Guidelines
Please tell the AAPA membership about yourself, and describe your past volunteer work.
After being a histotech for six years, I entered the Rosalind Franklin Pathologists’ Assistant Program and graduated in 2010. My first job was at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, and I am still here eleven years later. I am currently adjunct faculty with the RF program, and I lecture there and participate in candidate interviews. I became involved with the AAPA when I was still a student, then volunteered as the AAPA Liaison to RF right after graduation, from 2010-2012. I was also involved in conference speaker recruitment for a few years. I have been involved with the Grossing Guidelines since its inception. I am currently the prostate subsection author and GI and GU section editor. In 2017, I became the AAPA BOT Adjunct to the Commission on Cancer and am still in that role. Finally, in August of 2019, I presented a lecture called “Human Colors: The Rainbow Garden of Pathology” at our annual conference. I live in Chicago with my husband, two kids, and two cats. I love cooking and baking (and eating all the things I make), singing, and listening to anything with electric guitar.
Why are you interested in serving on the AAPA BOT?
Being a PA is one of the true joys of my life. Yes, some days I have a hard time coping with a resident, some days my wrist is sore, some days I stay late to get it all done – but for me the joy comes with knowing that I provide care directly to patients by doing work that is precise, technical, and personally satisfying. I hope that all of our members feel the same way. As an organization of skilled professionals working hard in our own respective labs, our group can only be a community if every member contributes. As a BOT member, I can contribute my organizational skills, communication style, and passion for our field to help keep our organization running and thriving.
What is your understanding of the mission and vision of this organization?
Our vision and mission statements combined describe the depth and breadth of our practice. The word ‘support’ is used on both our mission and vision statements. ‘Support’ is a broad term that for us encompasses providing education and advocacy. Education can apply to PA students, new PAs, and seasoned PAs – we all need updates and refreshers. And we all need the opportunity to spread our own knowledge to the rest of our community. Education is also directed outward to the greater health care world, so they know our vital role in patient care and that we are the experts in gross pathology. The more other health care professionals know about our field, the easier it becomes to advocate for ourselves, in order that they recognize our value.
What do you think should be the most important priority for AAPA?
The work that the AAPA is doing on developing the Grossing Guidelines is one of the most ambitious projects happening in our field right now. There has not been a grossing manual published in many years. I think we need to be working toward completing the guidelines and publishing it as a manual for the greater pathology world to use. We are the experts in gross pathology, and we should be setting the standard for grossing around the country.
Is there a particular area that you feel could be improved within AAPA?
I was thinking about this question while I was grossing biopsies last week. My mind went to how busy we are and how much non-grossing work I also had to do. Which made me think of all the PAs who have non-grossing work tied to their positions. In addition to grossing work, you may be expected to be a preceptor teaching a PA student, a teacher/lecturer for residents, a supervisor of a team of techs, a manager of lab inventory, etc. The positions in our field are so variable, and because of our professional training, we fall easily into other roles – whether we are prepared for them or not. I would like to see the AAPA provide resources on teaching and supervising. When I was a new PA, I would have benefitted from learning some general principles of education and how to deal with staff in a supervisory setting. I also think it is important to strive for greater diversity in our community. As our numbers continue to grow, we need to be thinking of ways to include, recruit, and make the AAPA accessible to everyone. Education efforts should also be projected to the general public, particularly to those who do not know that our rewarding, stable, and accessible field is an option.
What is the biggest challenge your lab faces today?
Being expected to do more with less – it’s not a new or glamorous issue. I’m sure all pathologists’ assistants would say the same thing if asked. As widespread as this notion is in the greater health care world, I think this is a particular problem in pathology. In most hospitals I have seen, pathology departments are underfunded and overlooked. Just this year, the hospital did not seem to recognize that our department was at risk working with covid-positive specimens or had to make concessions for extra bodies in the morgue. Because we do not work face-to-face with patients, it seems we are not considered to be providing patient care. But as we all know, this is far from the truth.