DATE: Tuesday, July 1, 1997                 TAG: 9707010267

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B6   EDITION: FINAL  

SOURCE: BY MARIE JOYCE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   51 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: ***************************************************************** There are still some openings for the first class of Eastern Virginia Medical School's physicians assistant program. A story in Tuesday's Hampton Roads section implied that all slots had been filled. Correction published Wednesday, July 2, 1997. ***************************************************************** EVMS DELAYS START OF PHYSICIAN-ASSISTANT PROGRAM THE DIRECTOR OF THE PROGRAM QUIT, PUSHING BACK THE DATE TO AUGUST 1998.

Eastern Virginia Medical School will delay the start of its physician-assistant program because the woman who came here to launch it has resigned.

The original target date was January 1998. The new date, said a school spokesperson, is August 1998.

Catherine Gemmiti, the program's director, recently stepped down, school officials confirmed. No reason was given for her departure.

Gemmiti is a physician assistant who formerly directed a program at the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine.

Norfolk's medical school is looking for a new director, but officials had to delay a visit by the commission that accredits physician assistant programs.

A physician assistant works under a doctor's supervision, examining patients, making diagnoses and prescribing some medications.

It's a growing field in medicine. Health plans like physician assistants because they are paid less than doctors, and, by handling routine work, free the doctors to focus on more complicated cases.

It's also a popular career choice because it takes less time to become a physician assistant than a medical doctor, and because the responsibility is not as great.

Twenty students have been chosen for the first class. Officials expect that most or all of them will stay with the program, said school spokeswoman Sheila Sands.

Aside from the schedule change, the program plan remains the same. The two-year course will include one year of basic science and one year of rotations in medical settings, such as pediatrics.

Meanwhile, another new program at EVMS has started on schedule. The new master's program in public health, a joint effort with Old Dominion University, started last week. The program is run by Dr. Suzanne Dandoy, former head of the Virginia Beach Health Department.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu