red, white, and blue star with initials B V A
PA Michelle O’Connor and a furry companion at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

National Physician Assistant Week, recently completed last week, occurs every year in October. Treating patients in today’s complex health care settings requires a complete team of professionals. Among these medical workers are Physician Assistants (PA’s), broadly trained in a wide spectrum of conditions and tasks.

Low vision member, Michelle O’Connor of Fredericksburg, Virginia, joins BVA Past National President Dr. Tom Zampieri as a professional in the field. Michelle currently works as a PA at Fort Belvoir Army Installation near her home. The training Tom and Michelle both received undoubtedly focused on patient education, preventive care, and chronic care management. In convention assembled this past July 9, the BVA membership approved Resolution 1-24, which relates to the PA profession and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). 

The resolution urges the VA Secretary to recruit and hire the most qualified health care occupations, including PA’s, to meet the challenges of health care access and to include PA’s in dual posting for vacancies across the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to provide high quality, industry-leading health care services for veterans and expand the appropriate diversity of professional backgrounds in clinical areas of mental health, primary care, women’s health care, emergency medicine, and geriatric care.

The resolution proposes further that VHA consider an expansion of the PA Health Professions Scholarship Program and double and all PA Residencies along with a new strategic national veterans’ recruitment policy to support the increase in the number of veteran PA’s, particularly in the realm of mental health and critical specialized care.

Michelle’s assessment of what it is like to work as a devoted PA with sight loss underscores the importance of the aforementioned BVA resolution. She asserts:

As a PA with a vison impairment, I have faced numerous challenges in the workplace, but one of the hardest parts of my job is knowing that I can still provide quality care while constantly navigating the barrier around reasonable accommodations. While my passion for my patients remains unwavering, it is often misunderstood that individuals like me require support to ensure that we can do our jobs effectively.

Many supervisors do not fully understand their role in facilitating these accommodations, which adds an extra layer of difficulty. When someone with visual impairment doesn’t use a cane, guide dog or obvious visual aids, it is easy to assume everything is normal. However, our world is far from that. The lack of understanding around these invisible challenges makes it even more important to advocate for what we need in order to succeed.

While there have been challenges along the way, this experience has strengthened my dedication to the field and underscored the importance of resilience and adaptability in health care. I’ve learned to adapt and thrive in a demanding medical environment. My journey has been shaped by the use of visual aids, which allow me to continue providing quality care to my patients. It is a reminder that with the right tools and support, barriers will be overcome and our ability to serve others will remain unaffected.