{"id":9414,"date":"2016-09-13T12:56:16","date_gmt":"2016-09-13T19:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/medex\/?p=9414"},"modified":"2016-09-13T12:56:16","modified_gmt":"2016-09-13T19:56:16","slug":"influential-pa-kaye-kvam-remembered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/familymedicine.uw.edu\/test\/influential-pa-kaye-kvam-remembered\/","title":{"rendered":"Influential PA Kaye Kvam Remembered"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"dropcap\">M<\/span><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18pt\">EDEX hearts are heavy<\/span><\/strong> with mixed emotion at the passing of Kaye Kvam, DFAAPA, MPAS, PA-C on August 22, 2016. There\u2019s grief for the loss of this amazing mentor\/teacher, but also relief in knowing that she must no longer endure rheumatoid arthritis (RA), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and cancer. In the face of the chronic pain that accompanied too much of her life, Kaye\u2019s energy still shined through to all she met. To the end, Kaye\u2019s loving husband Tom Mosely remembers, she was recruiting the very people who were treating her illnesses to precept physician assistant (PA) students and mentor them on rotations. \u201cHer life was still triumphant,\u201d he says. \u201cShe would tell me, Everyday in the morning, I experience two miracles: I open my eyes.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>*\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Kaye Kvam: A Conversation (2014)\" width=\"1020\" height=\"574\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mrFbf6bdN_s?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"dropcap\">K<\/span><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18pt\">aye\u2019s influence on the PA profession<\/span><\/strong> extends through the many PA students, patients, and colleagues with whom she connected and collaborated over the course of her celebrated career. She was the teacher to respect, the clinician to emulate and the friend to love. She had an inherent perseverance and a relentlessly positive outlook on life. She personified the very best of the medical teaching tradition known as \u201cSee one, do one, teach one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kaye graduated from the Stanford University PA program in 1978. She provided healthcare in the remote village of Chilar, Mexico, an experience that helped to form the foundation of her legacy.<\/p>\n<p>She completed the LA County\/USC Emergency Medicine Residency Program for PAs at Los Angeles County Hospital in 1981, and soon afterwards began a five-year stint as the Clinical Director for that pioneering program. Her innate leadership, humor and keen teaching qualities were already recognizable.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9424\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9424\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/medex\/wp-content\/uploads\/Vert1-Kaye-Steve-Tenaka-supervising-MD-at-GH.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-9424 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/medex\/wp-content\/uploads\/Vert1-Kaye-Steve-Tenaka-supervising-MD-at-GH-400x600.jpg\" alt=\"vert1-kaye-steve-tenaka-supervising-md-at-gh\" width=\"400\" height=\"600\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9424\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kaye Kvam with her Group Health supervising physician, Steve Tenaka, MD.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It was not until after her marriage to Tom in 1985, and birth of her son Madison in 1986, that Kaye set her sights on the Pacific Northwest. She took a job at Group Health Cooperative, working first in urgent care, and then in primary care over the next 24 years. She then began her academic career as a faculty member of the University of Washington\u2019s MEDEX Northwest physician assistant training program. From 1991 to 1997, she graced the halls of the UW School of Medicine\u2019s Health Sciences Building, displaying her enthusiasm for medicine, and imparting her knowledge and clinical skills to many MEDEX students. As a seasoned medical practitioner, Kaye championed the intersection of clinical practice with didactic instruction.<\/p>\n<p>The PA profession is also indebted to Kaye for her political prowess and leadership. She was a dedicated member of the Board of Directors of the<em> Washington Academy of Physician Assistants<\/em> (WAPA) from 2006 until 2016. Under her direction as the President of WAPA<strong>, <\/strong>she spearheaded legislation and policies that strengthened collaboration between MDs and PAs, and enhanced legal protection for PA scope of practice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKaye was determined to make PA\u2019s a household name,\u201d explains Linda Krause, association executive for WAPA. Kaye Kvam maintained and reinforced the relevancy of PA\u2019s in medicine with public education campaigns throughout Washington State. Theresa Schimmels, PA-C, BCHS, an alumni of MEDEX Spokane Class 1 and former WAPA Board President, recalls one way that Kaye made sure people knew about PAs. \u201cThrough WAPA, she got the city buses in Seattle to carry signs about physician assistants, so we could educate patients about what PAs did,\u201d Theresa says. \u201cIt was the first time anybody had really done that.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>[smartslider3 slider=69]<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019d like people to know how much time she put into PA legislation,\u201d continues Linda Krause. \u201cI don\u2019t think people realize how many trips to Olympia she made, how hard she worked on PA legislation. She was really passionate about PA legislation, and allowing PAs to do everything they should be able to do. She made the right connections and made the right friends with people\u2014nationally, locally, and statewide. She was a smart lady, really savvy. Yes, she was funny. Yes, she brought wit into everything from board meetings to CME planning. But you know what? She was as brilliant as she was hilarious.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9426\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9426\" style=\"width: 167px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/medex\/wp-content\/uploads\/Vert3-Kvam-Kaye-2009-AAPA-San-Diego-Student-Reception.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-9426\" src=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/medex\/wp-content\/uploads\/Vert3-Kvam-Kaye-2009-AAPA-San-Diego-Student-Reception-167x250.jpg\" alt=\"Kaye Kvam at the 2009 AAPA San Diego Student Reception.\" width=\"167\" height=\"250\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9426\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kaye Kvam at the 2009 AAPA San Diego Student Reception.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Linda Dale, the Program Director of Physician Assistant Education for Heritage University, concurs. \u201cKaye had so many different layers. If you looked at just the surface layer you\u2019d see her goofiness, her ability to make everyone laugh, to find humor even in the most serious conversations. The very first time I met here, I thought, \u2018Oh my gosh, she\u2019s such a character. Why is she on the WAPA Board when we need some serious help?&#8217; And then within minutes of that thought, she really got to the meat of the matter, a situation we were looking at for the legislation. Here was a woman with this knowledge and experience of how PAs should be. She\u2019s not putting up with any crap from supervising physicians, legislators or those trying to push the PA program down. Underneath, Kaye was a very smart lady. She was very dedicated to her students, to the PA profession and to her patients.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Kaye\u2019s significant contributions were recognized when she received the <em>Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Physician Assistants<\/em> (DFAAPA) status for decades of work with the PA profession.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>*\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"dropcap\">B<\/span><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18pt\">ut for many, her influence<\/span><\/strong> within the PA profession was best demonstrated by her passion for precepting PA students. Throughout her career with Group Health, she worked with hundreds of PA students. To those students, Kaye was the teacher who demonstrated humor that broke down barriers, strengthened learning neurons and built bridges. They will likely never forget her hugs, big sloppy kisses, over-sized sunglasses, or the whoopee cushion that served as one of her favorite teaching tools. She believed strongly in daily doses of laughter and oxytocin, the \u201clove hormone.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9425\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9425\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/medex\/wp-content\/uploads\/Vert2-Kaye-Team-on-ALS-Walk.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9425\" src=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/medex\/wp-content\/uploads\/Vert2-Kaye-Team-on-ALS-Walk-400x600.jpg\" alt=\"Kay Kvam (second from right) and team on the ALS Walk.\" width=\"400\" height=\"600\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9425\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kay Kvam (second from right) and team on the ALS Walk.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Kaye\u2019s unwavering devotion to teaching emboldened many of her students in turn to invest in the next generation of PA\u2019s as teachers and preceptors themselves, and so to continue her legacy. Constance Daruthayan, MPH, PA-C and Anju Jain, MS, ATC, PA-C, both current faculty members of MEDEX Northwest, are among those students that were enlightened and galvanized by her mentorship and devotion to teaching well, an experience that they carry with them to this day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKaye taught PA students to always ask questions\u2014not simply to defy convention, but to strengthen their convictions,\u201d remembers Daruthayan. \u201cShe taught them to test the limits of their knowledge constantly, and strive for higher learning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Henry Stoll, PA-C, worked as a MEDEX colleague with Kaye from 1991 to 1997. \u201cShe was an excellent classroom teacher, of course, but what stood out about her was that she loved the students unreservedly,\u201d he says. \u00a0\u201cShe was a champion for students, and she was always on their side. \u00a0And of course they loved her accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ever the consummate teacher, Kaye continued to teach to the very end. Shortly before her passing, says Anju Jain, \u201cshe discussed the intersection between the mind, body and spirit. As one form begins to fail, others take flight. Even at this challenging time in her life, Kaye shared her experiences. In the face of the inevitable, she remained grounded, calm and resolved, without losing her sense of humor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>All who knew Kaye Kvam\u2014whether as a teacher, mentor, colleague or friend\u2014can testify that she changed their lives for the better, and are forever grateful. Kaye taught more than just medicine. She exemplified wit, compassion and intelligence. She taught what was most important by simply living her life to the fullest every day with positivity, love, and grace. Kaye will be missed for her constant encouragement, her witty humor, her words of wisdom, and her prolific contribution to the PA profession.<\/p>\n<p>We will remember her in the students we teach, the patients we care for, and the connections we forge with other medical professionals. On behalf of all the students she has instructed, the patients she cared for, and the profession she loved, we thank you, we miss you and will remember you always.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9422\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9422\" style=\"width: 824px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/medex\/wp-content\/uploads\/Kaye-2013-GH-Award.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-9422 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/medex\/wp-content\/uploads\/Kaye-2013-GH-Award.jpg\" alt=\"kaye-2013-gh-award\" width=\"824\" height=\"400\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9422\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kaye was recipient of the Group Health Outstanding Advanced Practice Clinician Award in 2013.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over a career span of 36 years, Kaye Kvam occupied multiple roles as a physician assistant: clinician, teacher, mentor, politician, preceptor and advocate for PAs. From 1991 to 1997 she taught at MEDEX Northwest, delivering the didactic curriculum with humor and love.  At this time of Kaye\u2019s passing, we celebrate her significant contributions to the profession.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9423,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-medex-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/familymedicine.uw.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/familymedicine.uw.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/familymedicine.uw.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familymedicine.uw.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familymedicine.uw.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/familymedicine.uw.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familymedicine.uw.edu\/test\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/familymedicine.uw.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familymedicine.uw.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familymedicine.uw.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}