Features
Meet some of the people of MEDEX Northwest – students and faculty, founders and visionaries – who have helped to forge the forward path for PAs and affect change in world of progressive and responsible healthcare delivery.
Giving Back What Was Given To Me
This video portrait of MEDEX alumni Forest Hofer, PA (Seattle Class 14, 1981) touches on his professional and personal passions—emergency medicine, music, powerlifting and dogs. More than anything we learn that Forest loves working with physician assistant students. To date, he’s precepted more than 60 MEDEX students, deeply influencing their [...]
Advocating For Dental Access Despite His Profession
After a 10-year hiatus from dentistry, Dr. Louis Fiset broke ranks with his fellow dentists to focus on growing the dental therapist profession in Native Alaskan communities. The DENTEX program has been a collaboration between the UW MEDEX program and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC). Now, 10 years [...]
A 12-Year Plan To Transform PA Education
Since 2004 Dr. Linda Vorvick has worked for MEDEX Northwest, largely under the title of Director of Academic Affairs. Now moving on to another full-time job for the University of Washington, Linda reflects back on her 12 years with MEDEX and her accomplishments collaborating with a team of faculty and [...]
You Do What You Have To Do
Jeff Stubblefield spent considerable time traveling and working around the world— 21 years with the Air Force as an Independent Duty Medical Officer. Now a PA neurological surgical first assist at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage, Jeff meets the challenges of delivering specialized medical care in a region [...]
Always Ask Why
A graduate of MEDEX class 20 (1988), and now retiring after 27 years of service as a physician assistant in the Pacific Northwest, June Betsch talks about various aspects of her career. Healer, activist, educator and politician, June sets her sights on the future, including contributing to early childhood development. [...]
The Othello Pioneers
In 1969 MEDEX graduated it’s first class. Among the 14 graduates were John Betz and Paul Snyder, former military corpsmen. Together, Betz and Snyder moved to rural Othello, Washington— population 4,000— to work under Richard Bunch and Kenneth Pershall, two rural doctors struggling to keep up with their patient load. [...]
A Little Bit Bigger Fish
In 1967, John Betz was a recruited by Dick Smith to train for a new category of mid-level practitioners at MEDEX Northwest. During his preceptorship phase, Betz was assigned to rural clinic in Othello, WA where he remained in practice for 44 years. This digital story captures Betz’s life and [...]