Macon CardioVascular Institute employs Physician Assistants and certified Surgical Technologists to assist them with their work. Pictured is our PA director, Darrell Clabaugh.  Deborah Bessinger is a physican assisttant who joined the staff of MCVI in August of 2006. She primarily assists in the office with the work up and surveillance of cardiac, thoracic, and vascular patients. Jim Reas is a Certified Surgical Technologist who joined the staff of MCVI in September of 2007. Sandi Candella joined the MCVI staff as a physician assistant in January of 2008. Physician assistants are health care professionals licensed to practice medicine with physician supervision. As part of their comprehensive responsibilities, PAs conduct physical exams, diagnose and treat illnesses, order and interpret tests, counsel on preventive health care, and assist in surgery. Because of the close working relationship these assistants have with physicians, PAs are educated in the medical model designed to complement physician training. Upon graduation, physician assistants take a national certification examination developed by the National Commission on Certification of PAs in conjunction with the National Board of Medical Examiners. To maintain their national certification, PAs must log 100 hours of continuing medical education every two years and sit for a recertification every six years. Graduation from an accredited physician assistant program and passage of the national certifying exam are required for state licensure.