First Lts. Alexandra Minth, U.S. Army, and Payton Quinnell, U.S. Air Force, donned their white coats Jan. 30 at the National Mall, becoming the most recent graduates of the Interservice Physician Assistant Program (IPAP).

The IPAP graduation’s white coat ceremony, a rite of passage for medical, nursing and health students, marked their entry into clinical practice after completing their Phase 2 at Walter Reed.

The rigorous 29-month program trains individuals to become physician assistants (PAs) who play a critical role in readiness in caring for warfighters and their families.

“I pursued IPAP because I wanted to be able to give medical care to those who are risking their lives for our country,” Quinnell said. “Whether that's taking care of them on the battlefield or having their trust to provide care to their friends and family back home.”

Minth agreed, adding, “I wanted to do something that involved helping others. I had thought about applying to nursing school or even med school until I met a PA at a unit in Hawaii who told me he was a PA. I immediately started researching what it was, and then I knew I wanted to try this route.”

“I think the history of a physician assistant/associate and the training is what makes it a unique program,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Barbara Jean, site director for IPAP Phase 2 at Walter Reed.

“In 1971, the Air Force, Army and Navy each started their own PA training program. But in 1996, the services combined their programs to form IPAP with a mission of providing the uniformed services with highly competent, compassionate PAs who model integrity, strive for leadership excellence, and are committed to lifelong learning,” Jean explained.

“Our graduates are commissioned into the officer corps of their respective service and take their place beside other military health care professionals in providing medical services to active-duty military personnel, their dependents, and retirees,” Jean said.

She explained IPAP enhances readiness by training highly competent, uniformed PAs to deliver essential, on-site primary and emergency care in combat, operational, and peacetime environments.They serve as “force multipliers, strengthening the military by reducing medical evacuations, supporting unit sustainability, and ensuring service members remain in the fight when deployed,” according to Defense Health Agency officials.

Individuals selected for the program begin the 16-month Phase 1 at U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence on Fort Sam Houston, Texas. This phase includes more than 100 semester hours encompassing 40 subjects and 101 exams, said Jean.

After completing Phase 1, students earn a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, and receive military orders for Phase 2.

“The second phase of training is where students gain their clinical expertise,” Jean said. “All students in the program are assigned to one of the 25 military health care and treatment facilities qualified as Phase 2 sites.”

She shared that this phase includes 13 months of nearly 2,000 supervised clinical clerkship hours in 19 different clinical and surgical specialties. Minth and Quinnell also had more than 1,300 patient encounters and performed over 300 procedures each.

“They also presented three professional medical lectures and passed 11 end-of-rotation exams,” Jean added. “Completion of Phase 2 earned each their Master of Physician Assistant Studies degree, also accredited by the University of Nebraska Medical Center.”

Jean described the recent IPAP graduates as intelligent, compassionate and mission driven. She also shared that Quinnell was inducted into Pi Alpha National Honor Society for physician assistants, “a rare honor reserved for the top 15 percent of a graduating class. “It requires a minimum GPA of 3.5, and the embodiment of its motto: Scholarship, Service, and Leadership.”

“First Lieutenants Minth and Quinnell are more prepared that they know to do great things at their next duty station and beyond,” Jean added.

“I am looking forward to practicing on my own [and] finding within medicine what I love the most,” said Minth, whose next assignment takes her to Ansbach, Germany. “I really enjoyed family medicine though, so maybe I will stick with that.”

Quinnell, who will head to Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, shared similar sentiments. “I can't wait to be able to watch us grow as PAs,” she shared.