Why is advanced care planning so important, and how can PAs make a difference? Tune in to the latest JAAPA podcast episode with guest Christa Cooper to explore the innovative research she and her colleague Jessica Karl conducted on Telemedicine Advanced Care Planning led by Physician Associates. Discover how this approach enhances communication, reduces burdens on families, and ensures patient preferences are honored. Get the details and earn CME credit at cme.aapa.org!

Valproic acid is one of the most frequently prescribed mood-stabilizing agents for bipolar disorder, and in some regions of the world, it now competes with lithium as the preferred treatment of choice for bipolar maintenance. There may soon be restrictions on the use of valproic acid, however, because of the risk in neural tube defects and major congenital malformations in children born to mothers and fathers who take it.

In this podcast, Dr. Samuel Dotson, from the Northeast Georgia Health System in Gainesville, Georgia, and Emory University in Atlanta, and Dr. Andrew Nierenberg, from the Dauten Family Center for Bipolar Treatment Innovation at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, discuss the current state of research regarding the benefits and risks of valproic acid in comparison to lithium use. They also discuss the importance of informing patients about their options, noting that lithium use has sometimes been perceived as riskier than it is. Dr. Dotson and Dr. Nierenberg are the authors of a Guest Editorial titled “Growing Concerns Over Valproate Teratogenicity Present an Opportunity for Lithium” in the March-April 2025 issue of The Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology.

Dr. Donald C. Goff, Marvin Stern professor of psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, gives an overview of a new combination drug recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of schizophrenia. It will be marketed as Cobenfy, and its component active ingredients are xanomeline and trospium chloride, representing the first non-dopaminergic antipsychotic approved by the FDA. Dr. Goff briefly explores the decades of pharmaceutical treatment of schizophrenia and lays out the steps toward developing the new combination drug. He offers details on next steps, treatment, more extensive trials of the new drug, related approaches, and refers listeners to his editorial for prescribing information.

His guest editorial, “At Last, a Nondopaminergic Agent for the Treatment of Schizophrenia: The Combination of Xanomeline and Trospium (Cobenfy),” is published in the March-April 2025 issue of The Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology.

"Designer benzodiazepines" are lab-created chemical derivatives of prescription benzodiazepines. They have not been approved for medical use and there is limited information on their safety and toxicity. More potent than their prescription counterparts, this subset of novel psychoactive substances have been growing in popularity in recent years and pose the potential for dangerous levels of intoxication.

In this podcast, Dr. Sahil Munjal, program director of the Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist psychiatry residency program, leads a discussion of the article “Clinical Management of Designer Benzodiazepine Intoxication: A Systematic Review," with his coauthors Dr. Gregory Noe, Katelyn Li, and Nicholas McDuffee. They provide an overview of designer benzodiazepines in comparison to prescription benzodiazepines and describe the findings from their review of 35 case reports. They discuss clinical presentations of designer benzodiazepine intoxication, common approaches to clinical management, and key takeaways from their review of the literature. Their article appears in the March-April 2025 issue of The Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology.

Recently, a team of researchers at the NCCPA examined the impact of educational debt on PA specialty selection - tune in as we discuss their work as recently published in JAAPA. We know that the decision to specialize is nuanced, involving a PA’s individual goals, experiences in PA school, job availability for each physical location, compensation, and levels of debt accrued in training. Listen as Andrez Kozikowski, Alicia Quella, and Mirela Bruza-Augatis discuss this important topic.

The American population is aging. In one century, life expectancy in the US rose from 47 to 78. In 2050, 20% of the U.S. population will be older than 65. With this in mind, we must identify ways to improve the quality of the final days of life. In this episode, we explore how the PA profession contributes to palliative care, focusing on symptom management, quality of life, and communication with JAAPA Authors Rebecca Jones and Natalie Mohammad. 

Additional resources mentioned during the podcast available here: 

Palliative Care for PAs: Physician Associates in Hospice & Palliative Medicine (PAHPM) PAHPM - Home

CAQ in Palliative Medicine & Hospice Care Specialty Certificates - NCCPA

End of Life Training and Serious Illness Conversation Guides

Ariadne Labs Serious Illness Conversation Guide: Serious-Illness-Conversation-Guide.2023-05-18.pdf

RE-MAP: REMAP: A Framework for Goals of Care Conversations | JCO Oncology Practice

Training Courses for breaking bad news & having serious illness conversations

Vital Talk: Home - VitalTalk

PalliTalk: PalliTALK and WeTALK Communication Workshops | Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin–Madison

End of Life Education (from nursing)

ELNEC: End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC)

Join our hosts Joe and Kim as they interview three influential leaders in the Physician Associate/Assistant (PA) profession: Jim Cawley, Rick Dehn, and Rod Hooker. These guests have made significant contributions to PA education, research, and workforce development.  Join us as we discuss the evolution of the profession since its early days in the 1970s and what has led to its success.

HAPPY PA WEEK! To celebrate, AAPA President Jason Prevelige, DMSc, MBA, PA-C, DFAAPA shares with us strategies to leverage advocacy efforts in the PA profession. Our co-hosts also describe the current crisis in healthcare, and discuss the future of the PA profession in a team-based model, the future of modernized PA practice laws, and modern advocacy efforts that can help bridge that gap in PA practice laws. They highlight how PAs Go Beyond, and are specially equipped to be an advocate for modernized healthcare, and policy change, while reminding us of the essence of our profession.

We know that many PAs switch specialties during their career; however, little is known about the PA and employer's experience. Tune in to hear what JAAPA authors, Eliana Ward-Lev, Clair Kuriakose, and Jay Navoa discovered through their research on this topic. To learn more, check out their publication “Career flexibility for PAs: What makes switching specialties successful?” from the May 2024 JAAPA issue.

Be sure to follow JAAPA on social media! Their Instagram handle is @jaapaonline.