Hosting “Physician Assistants: Collaboration & Care” at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Posted by Carolyn Martin on August 30th, 2023 Posted in: News from Network Members, News from NNLM Region 5
Tags: health professionals, NLM Traveling Exhibits

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The Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is one of several libraries and organizations, located in Region 5,  selected to host an National Library of Medicine (NLM) traveling exhibit. Rena Selya, archivist and assistant professor, has graciously provided us with a guest post.  

Cedars-Sinai Medical Library chose to apply to host “Physician Assistants: Collaboration and Care” because the emphasis on the diverse roles that these valuable advanced practice partners play in contemporary healthcare resonates with the history of PAs here at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

We found out last December that we would host the traveling exhibition from June 5 to July 15, 2023. The Cedars-Sinai Historical Conservancy took responsibility for applying to host the exhibition and installing it outside the Ray Charles Cafeteria, which is a high traffic area for staff and visitors.  As the hospital archivist, I researched the history of PAs here and created some CSMC-specific materials to supplement the exhibit.  I found that PAs have been a part of Cedars-Sinai since the early 1990s, and we were delighted to feature one of the first PAs here, Laye Akinloye, in our CSMC exhibition materials. A number of PAs reached out to us over the course of the exhibition, thanking us for featuring their roles in healthcare.

Soon after we heard that we would be hosting the exhibit, Karen Bass was sworn in as Mayor of Los Angeles. Bass was trained as PA in the 1980s, and she is featured in the exhibit as the first PA elected to Congress. I immediately thought, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have her come see it and meet with some our PAs?” I reached out to partners in the Government Relations department to help me issue the invitation, and in her words, she “absolutely jumped at the opportunity.” I also contacted the NLM traveling exhibitions team to ask them to update the exhibit to reflect Bass’s new distinction as the first PA to be elected Mayor of a major American city.

On July 21, Mayor Bass visited Cedars-Sinai for a private viewing of the exhibition at a reception that honored our dedicated PAs. After a warm welcome from CEO and President Tom Priselac, Bass noted that “Although I’ve been out of clinical medicine for a long time, in my heart I’m still a physician assistant,” and compellingly argued that her commitment to providing care to underserved populations animates her approach to the current crisis of thousands of individuals experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles. She praised the Cedars-Sinai PAs for their hard work and encouraged them to get involved in city-wide public health initiatives. The PAs had the chance to speak with Mayor Bass and were treated to box lunch in recognition of their key role in providing quality healthcare to Cedars-Sinai patients.

Hosting this exhibit gave us a wonderful opportunity not only to highlight our Physician Assistants through easily accessible educational materials, but also to strengthen a key relationship with our local elected officials. We look forward to hosting more NLM exhibitions in the future and finding creative ways to connect them to our practitioners, patients, and community.