Vasco Deon Kidd has practiced orthopedic surgery for over 15 years and is an alumnus of the Orthopaedic Surgical Fellowship Program at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC). Dr. Kidd holds a Bachelor of Health Sciences Degree from California State Dominguez Hills, a Master’s Degree in Health Professions Education, and a Physician Assistant Certificate of Completion from Western University of Health Sciences.

Dr. Kidd has completed an Executive Master of Public Health Degree in Management and Health Policy from UCLA, and a Doctorate Degree in Health Science, with a concentration in Global Health from A.T. Still University, Arizona School of Health Sciences. In addition, Dr. Kidd completed a Teaching of Excellence Fellowship Program at the University of Texas Health Science, San Antonio. Dr. Kidd is the recipient of the Outstanding Teaching Appreciation Award in the area of orthopedics from Kaiser Permanente Family Medicine Residency Program.

Currently, Dr. Kidd is the Chief Administration PA and Fellowship Director of the Orthopaedic Surgery PA Fellowship Program (OSPAF). Dr. Kidd holds multiple faculty appointments such as Assistant Clinical Professor at Loma Linda University, Assistant Clinical Professor of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery at Western University of Health Sciences, Adjunct Assistant Professor at the College of Osteopathic Medicine – Orthopaedic Surgery at Touro University, Assistant Professor at Lynchburg College in the Doctor of Medical Science Program and Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Public Health at California State University Los Angeles (CSULA) where he teaches public health administration. He is also an Associate Editor for JBJS JOPA.

Dr. Kidd has previously taught at the Riverside Community College District and University of Texas. Dr. Kidd is active in scholarship and is published. He loves spending time with family and friends.

Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion and Education from Oregon State University in Corvallis Oregon 1999. Career began as a Medical Assistant in internal medicine for 10 years while raising her 3 children. She received her Masters of Physician Assistant Studies from Oregon Health and Sciences University School of Medicine, Portland, in 2006.

She returned to her home in Northern California to begin working in rural health wherein 2009 she was the Recipient of the Circle of Champions Award from the Tehama County Coordinating Council for Developmental Disabilities for her work with the developmentally disabled and service in group homes.

Also in 2009 she started at Shasta Community Health Center in Redding California, where she served as the Medical Director of their Anderson clinic from 2012-2014. After a brief move to physical medicine and pain management, she returned to SCHC to develop the NP/PA Primary Care Post Graduate Fellowship Program.

As program director, PA Bratton is in charge of recruitment and development of the Fellowship along with precepting, lecturing and general program administration. She has developed a model of care called Team PCC, where clinicians work in teams with the goal of increasing access and quality of care for their primary care patients.

She is a member of several committees at SCHC, including Executive Leadership Committee, Safe Prescribing Committee, Medical Information Systems Quality Committee and Medical Directors Committee.

This year SCHC begins a second year of the Fellowship called ‘Pathway to Practice’; supporting Fellows with a full panel of patients and staff that includes a nurse and scribe. PA Bratton believes that post graduate training is essential as the demand for PAs grows and we become leaders of our clinical teams.

Amber Brooks-Gumbert completed her Bachelor of Science in Health Science at the University of Nevada, Reno in 2001 and her Masters of Medical Science from Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona in 2005. She worked as a staff PA in the Division of Hospital Internal Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Arizona from 2005-2018. She previously served as the Assistant Program Director for the Mayo Clinic Postgraduate PA Fellowship in Hospital Internal Medicine at the time of its inception in 2007 and served as Program Director from 2015-2018. She joined the faculty at Northern Arizona University as Assistant Professor in the PA Program in 2018.

Ms. Brooks-Gumbert has an interest in interprofessional education and simulation lab teaching. She is adjunct faculty at Arizona State University and Midwestern University, Glendale. She has been lecturing at the national level since 2007 on various topics such as hypertension, liver disease, delirium, hematologic and oncologic emergencies, VTE and sepsis. Ms. Brooks-Gumbert has an interest in post-graduate PA education, interprofessional education and simulation lab teaching.

Amy joined UPMC in 2009 as a Senior Surgical Physician Assistant in the Department of Minimally Invasive Bariatric and General Surgery where worked as the lead PA working with the Department Director. In 2012, she alongside direction of the Department of Surgery and Office of Advanced Practice Providers created and launched UPMC Advanced Practice Provider Surgical Residency Program and was selected as Director. In 2018, she joined the UPMC Office of Advanced Practice Providers and was named Director for the UPMC Center of Advanced Practice Education.

Her clinical duties include outpatient/inpatient care, and assisting in OR across the UPMC Health System as clinical needs arise. As director of the residency program, she is responsible for overseeing the education and clinical training of the PA/NP residents, as well as all administrative details of the program.

Amy graduated from Duquesne University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Sciences and a Master’s Degree in Physician Assistant Studies and went on to attend and graduate from the Yale/Norwalk Hospital Surgical Residency for Physician Assistants. She is currently enrolled in the Master’s of Business Administration program with concentration in Healthcare Administration at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA . She joined the leadership of APPAP in 2014 and serves as Secretary/Treasurer which she has enjoyed working with top PA/NP leaders across the nation. She enjoys teaching and inspiring other clinicians to achieve their full potential.

Rob Grabenkort graduated from Bethel University with majors in Biology and Chemistry and received his Masters in Medical Science from Emory University. He has been a cardiothoracic critical care PA for over 35 years, the last 25 years practicing at Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, GA. For the last 5 years he has been the Director of the NP/PA Critical Care Residency Program under the Emory Critical Care Center. During this period 36 Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) have completed training, most of whom have remained within Emory Healthcare. His additional activities have included active participation in the Society of Critical Care Medicine, where he was PA Section chair from 2000 to 2002. He has lectured and authored several book chapters and articles on the use of APPs in critical care. He was one of the first PAs to be elected as a Fellow of the College of Critical Medicine. His most recent interest is in the accreditation of clinical postgraduate training programs for PAs.

Ben Philip completed his undergraduate studies in Binghamton University in 2001 and his Physician Assistant studies from Touro College/Winthrop campus in 2005. He went on and completed the Postgraduate PA Surgical Residency at Montefiore Medical Center in 2006. He stayed on staff at Montefiore as a surgical PA and ultimately became Chief PA of Surgery in 2014. In addition to his clinical work, he became program director of the Postgraduate PA Surgical Residency at Montefiore in 2016 and he is part of the Medical Leadership committee at Montefiore/Wakefield. His passion is to effectively guide clinicians in determining their passion and achieving their goals.

Chris Lopez completed his Bachelor of Science in Journalism, with an emphasis in Public Relations, from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas in 2001 and his masters of business administration degree from the University of Houston in 2008. He has worked in the marketing industry by serving as a public information officer for the North Houston District – a commercial business improvement district in one of Houston’s northern suburbs – from 2002 – 2007. He has previously served as marketing and operations manager for Executive Education at the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University from 2007-2011. While at Rice, he was introduced to the physician assistant profession and the growing educational initiatives targeting physician assistants at MD Anderson. He joined MD Anderson in April 2011 and has served in various roles within the Office of Physician Assistant Programs.

Over the years, his career has evolved from marketing to education and healthcare. He has a passion for education and working with students at all levels. He also serves on the Career and Technology Education Advisory Council for Klein Independent School District in Houston, serves as a career mentor for students at Texas A&M and is interested in serving on MD Anderson’s Diversity Council. He enjoys working with postgraduate PA professionals and current PA students as they complete fellowships and student rotations at MD Anderson so that an impactful and memorable educational experience can be achieved.

Jen Spisak hails from the Midwest, where she attended Purdue University and earned a Bachelor of Science in Neurobiology and Physiology with Honors in Research. During her years in undergrad, Jen acquired a strong interest in research, earning the Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant for three consecutive years in support of her work. Jen delayed her pursuit of clinical medicine to obtain a Master’s Degree in Health Administration and to take advantage of a research opportunity at the University of Chicago, where she worked in a research lab devoted to hormonal regulation of energy metabolism within the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism there. Jen devoted six years to various projects in the lab, and had several opportunities to publish and present her work at national conferences before moving to NYC to pursue a Master’s Degree in PA Studies at Touro College in Manhattan. After graduating, Jen dedicated 18 more months to her education in a postgraduate fellowship in Emergency Medicine at Staten Island University Hospital. Jen has been working as a PA in Emergency Medicine at NYU Langone Health since 2015 and serves as their EMPA Fellowship Program Director.

Assistant Director, MCP Advanced Practice Providers
APP Fellowship Director, APP Fellowship Program Director – Critical Care
Physician Assistant, Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care Anesthesia
Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI

Sarah Vanderlinden, MPAS, PA-C is the Assistant Director for Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). In her role, she focuses on APP Transition to Practice promoting a foundation for clinical and professional practice. To improve onboarding satisfaction and quality, she developed and implemented the APP Phased Onboarding Program providing a stepwise onboarding structure improving communication and training consistency. Since 2016, Sarah is the APP Fellowship Director and Critical Care Program Director innovating the first centralized post-graduate fellowship at MCW. She is excited to lead APP fellowship expansion across the organization, increasing recruitment and retention in complex and rapidly growing practice areas. Sarah has practiced in critical care since 2006, where her experience as the first APP in adult critical care at MCW and rapid growth of APPs inspired her interest to elevate APP practice.

Synergizing her leadership skills, clinical expertise, and passion for process improvement, Sarah is engaged in inpatient team workflow optimization and clinical quality. Currently, she is developing an inpatient team assessment method to better understand teams and member roles, especially APPs, allowing comparison of current state against high-reliability team practices. With her experience as an Epic Provider Builder, she is involved with optimizing workflows to increase quality of patient care and promote top of license work.

Sarah received her bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Notre Dame and master’s degree in Physician Assistant Studies from Marquette University. She is a native Wisconsinite where she lives with her husband and daughters.