“It will be like having an endocrine consultant right there for you,” Kessler says. “So it’s not just didactic, with somebody speaking. Clinicians can approach us with certain of their own challenging cases, and then we can help them with that.”
“The faculty will be there the whole time,” Sadler adds, “so people will be around to converse with at breaks or in between sessions. I think there will be a lot more interaction with faculty than you typically get at conferences.”
In fact, Sadler hopes one of the things NPs and PAs will take from MEDS is a network of colleagues they can contact for “further dialogue” later. And those colleagues will be representatives of both professions, since MEDS brings PAs and NPs together to address common educational needs.
“There are physician meetings, PA meetings, and NP meetings, but in the office setting, we work together,” Urquhart says. “There are some differences in training and philosophy, but put in the same clinical setting, we are expected to have the same outcomes. Quality of care won’t be compromised based on the fact that you’re a PA, an NP, or an MD, as long as you have been trained and the practice you’re working with fully understands your competencies and skill set.”
Skill sets can be enhanced through educational initiatives such as MEDS, and if attendees leave the meeting with “confidence, and maybe even a bit of a passion for endocrinology,” as Kessler hopes, the end result will improve more than just their own professional lives.
“This meeting brings providers together and focuses on our common interest,” Sadler says, “which is taking care of patients.”
Information about MEDS, including registration, can be found online at www.MEDSummit.qhc.com.