The American Association of Postgraduate Physician Assistant Programs (APPAP) recently approved the STARS (Surgical Trauma and Acute Resuscitative Service) program at Capital Health to offer the country’s first designated acute care surgery physician assistant (PA) fellowship program.
“This certification provides national recognition of our STARS program at Capital Health and is a shining example of our dedication to the education of medical professionals within the STARS and our dedication to providing the highest levels of care to our patients,” said Dr. Michael Kalina, an acute care surgeon and medical director of Acute Care Surgery at Capital Health. The fellowship program has started at Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell and PAs in the STARS program are completing the educational and procedural requirements.
The STARS program at Capital Health brings together the focused and coordinated care needed for critically ill surgical patients. The program includes a team of acute care surgeons, who are all fellowship trained in surgical critical care, and a closed surgical intensive care unit at Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell. In addition to providing care to patients in the immediate area, the program is available to other hospitals that have patients who require transfer to a tertiary level program.
The program is led by Dr. Kalina and Dr. Steven Johnson, vice chairman of the Department of Surgery and director of Surgical Critical Care at Capital Health.