2011 Annual Meeting

Past President Carol Quillen and Rulon Gardne

Laramie, WY – Physicians and PAs from across the state joined in Laramie this past June 2011 for a joint conference of the Wyoming Medical Society and the Wyoming Association of Physician Assistants. This year marked the fourth time that WMS and WAPA have partnered for what has proven to be a very educational and memorable experience. Conference attendees noted two major differences that set these sessions apart from the WMS/WAPA meetings of the past.

First, the venue this year was the beautiful Hilton Garden Inn Hotel and Conference Center in Laramie. The Gem City proved to be a popular location, with easy access to providers traveling from out of town, recreational opportunities and plenty of excellent dining and shopping. Attendees all agreed that the conference center itself exceeded expectations and rivaled even the best in comparable facilities.

Second, the CME offered at this year's conference took on a different look with two separate simultaneous tracks of education. Providers interested in administrative and management roles had classes which focused on those areas, and those who were looking for more clinical topics could easily step next door to hear different lectures focusing on a myriad of interesting medical topics. One of the most interesting of these was the Saturday morning wilderness medicine seminar, which was hosted by staff from the National Outdoor Leadership School in Lander. These sessions mixed classroom learning with hands-on instruction, exposing newcomers to the basics of wilderness medicine and providing an excellent refresher to seasoned veterans.

Before the conference began, the WAPA Board of Directors met to conduct their quarterly business meeting, and on Friday the WAPA general membership had their annual meeting over lunch. Mike Doll, PA-C, AAPA BOD Director-at-Large flew out from Pennsylvania to meet the Wyoming members and to brief us on current events in the PA profession. The bulk of the discussion during the meeting centered on reimbursement issues and on guaranteeing that the PA-physician relationship remains strong in our state. Mr. Doll congratulated WAPA on having achieved such a healthy and mutually beneficial relationship with our collaborating physicians and commended Wyoming PAs for working with our legislators to maintain a strong medical practice act supportive of PAs.

The capstone event of the weekend was the Saturday evening banquet. Ron Taylor, PA-C of Baggs was recognized as the PA of the Year for 2011. Mr. Taylor stood out head and shoulders above an already highly qualified group of nominees for this prestigious award, and he vowed to use his voice to increase membership in our organization and to continue to work as Vice-President of WAPA to further PA interests in the state. Following the awards, former Olympic gold medalist wrestler Rulon Gardner spoke to the dinner guests, giving a very motivational speech and surprising everybody when he announced his intention to try out for a third Olympic team.

Finally, a recap of the 2011 conference would not be complete without a tip of the hat to all of the people behind the scenes who made it possible. Notably this includes our own Jennifer Frary, PA-C of Casper who chaired the 2011 CME committee and arranged lectures, sponsors, and vendors. Along with her are the full-time staff of the WMS, who were constantly working hard to make sure everything ran smoothly.

For 2012, Steve Platz, PA-C of Lander has stepped up to organize another stellar conference for us in his neck of the woods (2012 WAPA annual meeting scheduled for Lander, July 13-15). Next year will be a WAPA-only conference, but look for us to have another joint conference in 2013 with WMS, location TBA. Thanks to all who attended and made 2011 another great session – hope to see you in Lander next year!