Latest News

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  • March 20, 2023 8:03 AM | Becca Liebers (Administrator)

    Free the Pill | March 16, 2023

    HRA Pharma has submitted an application to the FDA for an over the counter (OTC) progestin-only birth control pill (POP). If approved, Opill would be the first OTC birth control pill available in the United States. This research summary highlights the safety and efficacy of POPs, experiences with and interest in using them, and the challenges and barriers to accessing birth control pills in the current prescription-only environment.

    Read more.

  • March 09, 2023 10:25 AM | Becca Liebers (Administrator)

    March is Women’s History Month and ORWH is joining the NIH Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion colleagues and the nation in celebrating the Women who Tell our Stories. Throughout the month on social media, they will be sharing Pearls of Wisdom video profiles, which tell the stories of groundbreaking women in STEMM whose research has helped advance the health of women.

    ORWH will also commemorate National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on March 10. Last month, they announced an exciting joint signature program with the NIH Office of AIDS Research to advance research on HIV and women. Read more here. In addition, ORWH is excited to highlight several events, funding opportunities, and communication resources, such as the new webpage below.

    SEX AND GENDER

    ORWH has a new webpage on Sex & Gender! Visit the webpage to read up on concepts, differences, and interactions between sex and gender and why they are important to advance health for us all—in particular for women.

    MATERNAL MORBIDITY & MORTALITY (MMM)

    Thursday, March 9 they will host: Implementing a Maternal health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) initiative Awardee Workshop to learn how NIH-funded research is tackling pregnancy-morbidity and mortality. Other upcoming events and recent announcements related to MMM include:

    • Innovative Approaches to Improve Maternal Health Hybrid Workshop: On May 8 – 9, 2023, NIH will host a free event that will bring together technology developers, medical device experts, small business innovators, implementation scientists, MMM researchers, as well as academic, industry, and community-based partners to foster new approaches to solving MMM challenges. Please register for this hybrid (virtual and in-person) event to reserve your space. 
    • Connecting the Community for Maternal Health Challenge: NIH recently announced the first-phase winners of this challenge, which encourages and rewards nonprofit, community-based, or advocacy organizations to develop research capabilities and infrastructure to pursue research projects to address MMM.

    CAREERS

    In addition to celebrating women in biomedical careers, ORWH and NIH are committed to supporting their advancement. NIH is seeking applicants for two important initiatives:

    • Advancing Gender Inclusive Excellence (AGIE) – Coordinating Center (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) (RFA-OD-23-004): The purpose will be to provide the organizational framework for the management, direction, and overall coordination of all common activities aimed at investigating strategies, approaches, and interventions promoting gender equity or addressing barriers to gender equity, including for women, at the faculty and leadership levels in many areas of science, technology, and engineering. Letter of intent due date: April 28, 2023; Final application due date: May 31, 2023
    • Request for Information (RFI): Re-envisioning U.S. Postdoctoral Research Training and Career Progression within the Biomedical Research Enterprise (NOT-OD-23-084): Responses due by April 14, 2023

    FUNDING OPPORTUNITY RESOURCES

    Twice a month ORWH distributes “FOA Friday,” which features funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) and notices about research that ORWH directly supports or otherwise provides funding. The posts also include FOAs and notices from NIH as well as other agencies. To receive FOA Friday, sign up for ORWH email updates and select ‘funding opportunities.’ Opportunities with upcoming deadlines include:

    SAVE THE DATE

    ORWH will host several exciting events over the next few months. Visit their events webpage for the dates, times, and registration information (where applicable): 

    IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

    The latest issue of Women’s Health in Focus at NIH discusses disparities and workforce diversity in mental health. You are also invited to check out the following resources in case you missed them:

    For additional ORWH communications, please sign up for ORWH email updates. Please contact them if you have any questions.

  • March 03, 2023 9:53 AM | Becca Liebers (Administrator)

    March 10th is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, a day to address the impact of HIV on women and girls. When we reduce HIV stigma and promote testing, prevention, and treatment for women, we can help #StopHIVTogether. https://bit.ly/3xF4x1j #NWGHAAD 

  • March 03, 2023 9:52 AM | Becca Liebers (Administrator)

    International Women's Day - March 8th - is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. Significant activity is witnessed worldwide as groups come together to celebrate women's achievements or rally for women's equality. Learn More: https://www.internationalwomensday.com/ 

  • March 02, 2023 9:02 AM | Becca Liebers (Administrator)

    The California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) released a Request for Information (RFI) for information and planning purposes, including identifying qualifications (experience and expertise) for a contractor that will partner with HCAI to establish the California Reproductive Health Service Corps as described in Health and Safety Code Section 128560 et seq.  

    Click here to see flyer.


  • February 28, 2023 2:39 PM | Becca Liebers (Administrator)

    NIH Research Matters

    Sepsis is a severe life-threatening immune response to infection or injury. It is a leading cause of maternal and newborn deaths worldwide.

    An NIH-supported study previously found that infusions of the low-cost antibiotic azithromycin could significantly reduce the risk of infections among women who had a cesarean delivery. As a result, experts now recommend that women receive the antibiotic during cesarean delivery.

    It’s been unclear if the drug would have similar effects among mothers planning a vaginal birth. Two small studies have hinted that oral azithromycin might reduce infection and death among mothers and newborns after vaginal delivery.

    Read more.

  • February 28, 2023 8:11 AM | Becca Liebers (Administrator)

    Michele Lee is a doctoral candidate at Northern Arizona University in the Interdisciplinary Health PhD program. PAs are welcome to participate in her research study. 

    The purpose of the study is to explore how primary care providers (PCPs) make decisions on recommending cervical cancer screening to women with Intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD).

    Examples of I/DD include autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Down syndrome. Should you decide to participate in this study you will be asked to identify what factors you consider when recommending cervical cancer screening to women with I/DD.

    Practicing MD/DOs or PAs who live in the United States with a specialty in one of the following areas: family medicine, internal medicine, or OBGYN meet inclusion criteria for the study.

    The one on one interview will take place remotely over Zoom and will be scheduled for one hour. If you participate in this research, you will receive a $25 Target gift card.

    If you are interested in participating this this study please email (Michele.Lee@nau.edu) to set up an interview time or use the following google form.

    Michele Lee, MA
    Interdisciplinary Health Doctoral Candidate
    Northern Arizona University

  • February 15, 2023 2:10 PM | Becca Liebers (Administrator)

    Hello friends and colleagues!

    My name is Nisha McKenzie. I am a practicing PA in Grand Rapids Michigan and your APAOG Membership Committee Chair. I transitioned from Family Practice into OB/GYN in 2011 and as of June 2022 I have had the amazing opportunity to open my own multispecialty medical center focusing on Gynecology, Sexual Medicine, Pelvic Health and Mental Health. It can be done! And APAOG was instrumental in my ability to achieve this goal. I am reaching out in hopes of connecting with you to see what you would like to see APAOG do for you? 

    Over the past few years, we have doubled our membership and begun hosting an annual conference at a low cost for members. This year our conference will be an in person event and will host many interesting and useful workshops!

    Throughout the years we have been able to develop and provide our members with OB/GYN onboarding documentation to help prepare you to work within a team of OB/GYN medical professionals, as well as Core Competencies for PAs working within or wanting to bridge the gap into Obstetrics and Gynecology. 

    There are more and more PAs working within OB/GYN and I feel very strongly that PAs fill a void in this specialty that is unable to be filled by any other medical professionals. With our surgical, procedural, and comprehensive medical training, we are able to fulfill both office/clinic positions as well as surgical/hospital positions. 

    APAOG is YOUR organization, and we are consistently working to continue to provide the most up to date and clinically useful training to our members in the form of conferences, social media educational posts, our journal The Artemis, our podcast, on-demand webinars, and even within our community forum.

    Really, I would love to hear from you! Please let me know what I can do to help your professional journey. You may reply to this email or members can post questions or de-identified cases in our member forum

    If you are not a member yet, I hope you will consider joining us! 

    Love and Lube,
    ~Nisha McKenzie PA-C

    Owner and Founder Women's+ Health Collective
    APAOG Membership Committee Chair
    AASECT Certified Sexuality Counselor
    NAMS Certified Menopause Practitioner
    Fellow of the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health

  • February 15, 2023 9:20 AM | Becca Liebers (Administrator)

    APAOG is sharing the information below. Members are invited to participate if they wish. 

    "I’m a researcher at the University of Southern California where I lead the Maternal Cannabis Lab. Our research looks at how maternal health providers make decisions about patients who use cannabis during pregnancy.

    We are looking for providers who:

    • Provide care to people who use cannabis during pregnancy (e.g., labor and delivery nurses, midwives, doulas, OB-GYNs, etc.)
    • Practice in California
    • Remote participation, one-time 60-minute discussion via Zoom
    • Compensation provided! 

    If you’re interested in participating, please click here for next steps and you'll be connected to our screener and scheduling portal.

    Best Regards,
    Rachel

    Rachel Carmen Ceasar, PhD
    Assistant Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences

    Maternal Cannabis Lab
    https://sites.usc.edu/maternal-cannabis-lab/"

    VIEW FLYER

  • February 14, 2023 10:24 AM | Becca Liebers (Administrator)

    A Call to Action for PAs and PA Students

    Governor Hochul released her proposal for the 2023-2024 New York State Budget including comprehensive changes that advance the PA profession in New York State - especially elimination of outdated physician to PA ratios and removal of supervision for PAs in many settings.

    In the coming weeks, we will be amplifying our calls to the New York State Legislature as they draft their own proposals and begin final budget discussions. 

    We need your help! NYSSPA is urging members to: 

    1. Contact your NY State Senator

    2. Contact your State Assembly person

    3. Contact key legislators to thank them for their support and ask for continued support of the Governor’s proposed budget including:

    Read more.

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