In 2019, we launched two new blog series to shine a light on the great work our alumni do. We celebrated anniversaries of being in the PA profession: Omar Fernandes’ one-year, Joy Adams’ and Kelsey McFarlane’s five years, Miranda Schoenecker’s ten-year and Peter Lindbloom’s twenty-two-years. Scroll through the blog feed and look for the “Alumni Anniversary Series” heading in order to read more. More recently, we started the “Living the Mission” series that highlights alumni working to provide medical care to underserved populations.

In November, we celebrated Sandy Fevig’s fifteen plus years of service to Augsburg. Sandy always looked after the students’ every need and was a friendly face to all department guests. We wish her well in her future endeavors! November also marked the program’s 23rd commencement for the Class of 2019. Clinical preceptor Vinh Dang, PA-C delivered the keynote speaker address, Nathan Kleppe gave the Student Commencement Speaker and Dr. Farhiyo Abdulle was honored as the Clinical Preceptor of the Year.

At the beginning of December, the program welcomed two new staff members: Emily Gomez and Sherrie Luetgers. Emily will lead the administrative team and work with department leadership as the program manager. She has a history of working in program management in several healthcare realms including hospice, epilepsy and oral health. Sherrie joins the team as another administrative assistant. She is no stranger to the world of healthcare after working for 18 years in roles as an HUC, EKG tech, and ER Tech. Ryane Lester comes to the PA department as another faculty member. Ryane practices clinically at Twin Cities Orthopedics. She is looking forward to contributing to the excellence of the Augsburg PA program and its students to help them gain a foundation to become confident clinicians.

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Several of our students were recognized with scholarships of their own. For the second year running, an Augsburg PA student was selected as part of the Health Professional Scholarship Program through Veterans Affairs. Brandon Cottrell knew about the scholarship prior to PA school admission from his medical professional acquaintances while in the army. After graduating from Augsburg, he will work for at least 2 years at a VA healthcare center. The CVS Health Foundation Advance Practice Nurse and Physician Assistant Scholarship Program selected Augsburg as one of its grant recipients. The Augsburg PA Program was then able to award Miranda Lacroix, PA-S1, Taneasha Muonio, PA-S1, and Kamini bose Sundar bose, PA-S2, with $1,000.00 scholarships.

This past spring, the Augsburg PA Program was awarded a Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) grant. Through the grant, our program is committed to expanding rural and urban underserved primary care clinical education sites, partnering with clinics like the People’s Center Clinics and Services, who focus on team-based practice and community health care. Through this grant, our students will also receive substance use and opiate addiction training, through a ground-breaking program with��CHI-St. Gabriel/Little Falls, MN tele-ECHO program. This training prepares Augsburg PA students for medication-assisted treatment (MAT) certification waiver through the DEA, making Augsburg PA students even more practice-ready upon graduation. We are excited that MDH has funded our efforts to continuously develop clinical education partnerships and improve PA training throughout Minnesota.

We look forward to the New Year and the next decade!

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Hoshmand knew he always wanted to pursue a career in medicine because he is fascinated with how the body functions. The PA profession was first introduced to him during high school. As he pursued an undergraduate degree at Metropolitan State University, he enrolled in core science courses to prepare for PA school. “I leaned toward the PA route because it allowed me to practice medicine but also have a work/life balance.”����

There was no gap in between high school, undergraduate and graduate school for Hoshmand. He applied to ten schools during his last year at Metropolitan State University. A program in Pennsylvania accepted him but a week later he received an invitation to participate in a phone interview with Augsburg. Augsburg accepted him shortly thereafter! He was excited that his first choice extended an offer and he could stay in Minnesota.

The highlight of the didactic phase for Hoshmand was the hands-on skills workshops including casting and suturing. He recalls, “You were around a bunch of other adults, but yet we had the chance to act like kids again because we were all learning something new.” He remembers it being so interesting as it was a glimpse of his future. A challenging moment came during his first rotation where the political side of medicine was exposed. Hoshmand learned that sometimes you need to take out the umbrella in order to weather the storm. Throughout rotations, he remembered to always stay humble and really focus on the true reason he went into medicine.

After graduation, Hoshmand and two other classmates applied and were accepted at Emergency Physicians Professional Association (EPPA). EPPA was hiring new PA graduates so that they could train them in the EPPA model. Essentially, the first 7 months was a fellowship where Hoshmand worked directly under a physician and staffed every patient. Hoshmand recalls that he learned so much during his time there; “It was the best decision I could have made after graduate school because it made me more confident.”����

After a year and a half at EPPA, Hoshmand decided to look for another position that allowed for a better work schedule. Advanced Practice Solutions was hiring for a correctional medicine position to staff Boys Totem Town, the county workhouse, jail, prison, and juvenile detention center. During his clinical year, Hoshmand completed a six-week rotation at Rochester Federal Medical so he was familiar with the correctional healthcare environment.����

Although correctional medicine may seem on the opposite end of the spectrum from emergency medicine, Hoshmand believes that it is different yet the same. “These are the same types of patients who utilize a large amount of the ER resources because they are coming from similar socioeconomic backgrounds whether that be homelessness or poverty. They don’t necessarily follow up with their primary care provider or specialty appointments. When they are in pain or something goes wrong, they go to the ER.” The difference now is that Hoshmand is able to follow up with his patients instead of never seeing them again. For a period of time, he is able to establish a relationship and provide continuity care when something does go wrong. Over time he can see blood pressure lower, blood sugars get better, fractures heal, pain improve, and overall, quality of life improve.��

Not too far after starting with Advanced Practice Solutions, he started work at NorthPoint Wellness and Health Center located in North Minneapolis. North Minneapolis has a large underserved population including many patients from the refugee and immigrant communities. The majority of patients that Hoshmand sees identify as Hispanic, Hmong or Somali. NorthPoint has in-house translators for four different languages. Instead of Hoshmand utilizing an interpreter service, the translation can happen in-person which helps with the overall provider and patient communication.��

When Hoshmand is at NorthPoint many of his patients are new. Patients from the refugee or immigrant communities have a different mindset around medicine than those who grew up in America. “A lot of times they do not have that routine care” and oftentimes Hoshmand sees patients when a medication runs out or a side effect from an untreated condition becomes intolerable. NorthPoint will see any patients no matter their ability to pay. NorthPoint Coverage is a program through the federal government available to patients who qualify based on their household, dependents and income level. If patients qualify for the program, their healthcare is completely free. The majority of patient Hoshmand treats fall under this coverage.��

After being in practice for five years, Hoshmand has learned to hear what the patient is not saying. He believes there are different motivations for why an appointment is made. “They don’t necessarily say what is on their mind. . . and you have to pick up on what words they are using and how they are saying it, as it will mean different things.”��

His advice to current students is to “learn as much as you can right now.” It’s easy to study for a test, to know enough to pass; but if you do it that way, you will find there is a significant gap in your knowledge when you are practicing. If you really study into the why’s of certain diseases, you’ll retain the information much better.”

In his free time, you’ll catch Hoshmand working on cars, traveling and enjoying life! When we met for the interview he was preparing for a three-week trip to Kurdistan to visit extended family. The last time he had been there was before PA school. In the past five years, Hoshmand is now in a place that he feels more settled in his career and can also enjoy the work/life balance that comes with being a PA.��

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