ERIC Number: ED649895
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 160
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 979-8-3529-5385-3
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The Other Pandemic: How US Physician Assistants Teach about Obesity--A National Curriculum Survey
Antoinette Polito
ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Northeastern University
Overweight and obesity are extremely significant healthcare concerns, particularly for those living with these conditions. Individuals in fat bodies often experience stigma in our culture and within our system of health care; we label this obesity bias. This study focuses on the role of the physician assistant (PA) educator in this context. Research questions consider to what extent PA educators are teaching obesity-related topics, whether the amount of obesity-related content taught in PA programs is associated with its declared importance among PA educators, and whether the amount of teaching is in any way correlated with their own obesity bias (if any). This study was designed as a quantitative, cross-sectional design utilizing a novel survey tool, distributed by email to a specified list of 700 current physician assistant educators with positions of academic leadership. The 101 respondents represented the national cohort well. Overall, PA programs aren't teaching obesity-related topics as well as they could, although they do so to a greater extent than comparable physician training programs. There were no educator or program demographics significantly correlated with the number of topics taught, but a significant finding was that the number of barriers identified to teaching the content was inversely correlated to the number of topics taught. And while PA educators do exhibit some obesity bias (as do most health care clinicians according to the evidence), it does not appear to be directly correlated with the amount of obesity-related teaching. Further exploration of these questions is warranted in order to optimize care for those living with overweight and obesity. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
Descriptors: Allied Health Personnel, Physicians, Teaching Methods, Allied Health Occupations Education, Obesity, National Curriculum, Social Bias
ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Tel: 800-521-0600; Web site: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml
Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A