AAPA Volunteers Give Back By Serving as Professional Liaisons

Kasel, Coll, Scherer and Garcia-Herrera Step Up for PAs

October 11, 2019

AAPA has a long history of collaboration with other professional societies including the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American College of Emergency Physicians, and National Hispanic Medical Association. Each year, AAPA asks for volunteers to serve as liaisons to these professional organizations. Here are the generous and talented PAs who are currently serving as liaisons to our important partner organizations.

Liaison to the American Academy of Family Physicians
John F. Kasel, DHA, MS, PA-C, DFAAPA
The AAPA Board of Directors appointed John F. (Jack) Kasel, DHA, MS, PA-C, DFAAPA, as liaison to AAFP. His term runs through June 30, 2021.

Kasel serves as Director of Advanced Practice Providers for the Central Texas Region of Baylor Scott and White Health (BSWH). He works closely with the system’s department of family medicine as a leader and a provider. He is involved in their transition from the patient-centered medical home model of primary care delivery to a patient-centered care model and is participating in efforts to identify optimal practice models for PAs and nurse practitioners in the system. Prior to his tenure with BSWH, Kasel worked in primary care in large health systems including Mayo Clinic, U.S. Veterans Administration Health System, and the U.S. Army.

“I believe that as PAs we are exceptionally suited to provide excellent quality care in the primary care setting. Striving to create and maintain a strong working relationship with our family medicine physician colleagues is key for us to demonstrate the optimal scope of practice,” Kasel said.

Jeffrey A. Katz, PA-C, served as AAPA’s liaison to AAFP from 2017-2019.

Liaison to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
Daniel J. Coll, MBA, PA-C, DFAAPA
AAPA’s Board of Directors appointed Daniel Coll, MBA, PA-C, DFAAPA, to serve as liaison to AAOS. His appointment runs through June 30, 2021.

Coll is employed at Tahoe Forest Hospital District, a federally designated Critical Access Hospital in Truckee, California. Coll received his undergraduate degree at UC Davis, PA Certification at Western University of Health Sciences, and Master of Health Sciences at Pacific University. He recently completed his MBA in health administration at CU Denver. He is currently enrolled at Northeastern University in the AAPA Center for Healthcare Leadership and Management certificate program.

Coll says, “I have been an active member of my national academy and my state and specialty constituent organizations. My engagement has provided opportunities to experience the constituent organizations’ operations through committee work while also refining my communication skills in these varied settings.”

Clinically, Coll participates in the evaluation and admission of patients with orthopedic injuries who present to the emergency department, practices in the orthopedic clinic, is first call for all inpatients, and assists multiple orthopedic surgeons. He previously directed the hospital’s orthopedics and sports medicine service line.

Coll has published multiple papers in orthopaedic journals and serves as AAPA’s representative to the National Quality Forum Rural Health Workgroup. He is an active member of the AAPA, AAOS, PAOS, OTA, and the PA state academies in Nevada and California.

Aaron Hewitt, PA-C, who served as a speaker during recent AAOS conference sessions on team practice, most recently served as AAPA’s liaison to AAOS.

Liaison to the American College of Emergency Physicians
Lynn Scherer, MS, PA-C
PAs who practice emergency medicine have had a strong relationship with ACEP for more than 25 years. AAPA’s Board of Directors appointed Lynn Scherer, MS, PA-C, as liaison to ACEP through June 30, 2021.

Scherer is familiar to ACEP leaders due to her membership on ACEP’s Academic Affairs Committee and her participation in the ACEP Directors Academy. Scherer served on the Society of Emergency Medicine PAs board for many years, including as president in 2015-16. She currently serves as SEMPA liaison to the Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors (CORDEM).

In addition to leadership experience in professional associations, Scherer has 19 years of clinical and leadership experience at Albert Einstein Healthcare Network Department of Emergency Medicine in Philadelphia. An active member of Einstein’s leadership team, PA Scherer serves as associate director of Advanced Practice Provider Services, program director of the Emergency Medicine PA Residency Program, and co-chair of Einstein’s Advanced Practice Clinician Council, in addition to practicing clinically as a member of the emergency medicine faculty.

“As medical liaison, I will do my best to elevate the PA profession and the strategic relationships of AAPA with national physician and medical organizations to improve the PA practice environment and patient-centered care,” Scherer says.

Most recently, the ACEP liaison was Thomas Chambers, PA-C, MBA.

Liaison to the National Hispanic Medical Association
Ron Garcia-Herrera, PA
The AAPA caucus, PAs for Latino Health (PALH), for many years cultivated the relationship between NHMA and AAPA, and in 2011, the AAPA board appointed an official liaison to NHMA. The board has appointed Ron Garcia-Herrera through June 30, 2021.

Garcia-Herrera has spent most of his career in the Latino community, giving him an intimate understanding of their healthcare issues and needs. In addition, having cared for many migrant workers, he has seen first-hand the disparities they face. He has more than 20 years of experience practicing in occupational medicine, orthopedics, physical medicine and rehabilitation, family practice, and urgent care. Garcia-Herrera also has 30 years of military service as a PA in family practice, urgent care, and aeromedical evacuation. His clinical experience includes managing patients with complex medical and psychosocial problems and Workers Compensation patients in California, New Mexico, and Texas. He holds medical Spanish certification, is fluent in French, and has studied American Sign Language.

Now semi-retired, Garcia-Herrera lives in New Mexico and practices part-time in orthopedics and pain management in California. He volunteers at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque and has served on a community advisory committee to the New Mexico State Legislature for a Medicaid Buy-In pending legislative act that would cover those working uninsured who do not have insurance through employment and do not meet the usual Medicaid income eligibility criteria.

Most recently, the NHMA liaison position was held by PA Robert Smith of Lewisville, Texas, whose term ended in June.

To see a complete list of AAPA liaisons to national medical organizations click here https://www.aapa.org/about/aapa-governance-leadership/aapa-volunteers/aapa-medical-liaisons/