Best of the Best - 2024

Experienced Physician Assistant with a demonstrated history of working in the hospital & health care industry and developmental role in the Physician Assistant program. Skilled in Healthcare Information Technology (HIT), Electronic Medical Record (EMR), Clinical Research, and Medical Terminology. Accomplished published author and experienced international speaker. Strong administrative professional with a Master’s Degree focused in Physician Assistant studies from University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and an eMBA degree through the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

• LinkedIn

Zachary Hartsell currently works as the leader of the APP Workforce Practice at SullivanCotter and has over 20 years of experience as a certified physician assistant (PA-C), clinical leader, administrator, and educator. Zachary has worked as a PA in hospital medicine, emergency medicine, and cardiology in academic medical center, community hospital, and private practice settings. Before joining SullivanCotter, Zachary was an associate professor at the Wake Forest Schools of Medicine and taught courses in the PA program and at the Wake Forest School of Business. While at Wake Forest, he also served as administrative director of anesthesiology and pain at Wake Forest Baptist Health and PA program director, and was the first director of PAs for the health system. He continues to serve as an adjunct instructor at the George Washington University School of Medicine and speaks nationally on optimizing physician assistants and nurse practitioners. He also sits on the Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants’ editorial board.

• LinkedIn

• LinkedIn

• LinkedIn

• LinkedIn

Dr. Laurel Short is a Family Nurse Practitioner at the Roeland Park, Kansas location. She earned her undergraduate degree in Nursing from Luther College and a master’s degree in Nursing from the University of Kansas. She completed her Doctor of Nursing degree at the University of Missouri-Kansas City with an emphasis on self-management for chronic migraine. Self-management for chronic conditions has been a focus for Laurel throughout her nursing career, and she is passionate about partnering with patients to maximize their function and wellness. Prior to joining Sunflower Medical Group, Laurel worked in the area of physical medicine and rehabilitation for ten years. This specialty involves addressing functional issues for orthopedic and neurologic conditions, and she enjoys blending this experience with primary care. Procedures and special skills Laurel offers include muscle and joint evaluation and injections, headache management, durable medical equipment (DME) consultations, and therapeutic lifestyle coaching. She is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and has a Certificate of Added Qualification in Headache Medicine. Laurel is an active leader with the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and the Academy of Spinal Cord Injury Professionals.

• LinkedIn

• LinkedIn

Adler was one of the first PAs nationally to practice in the specialty pain management and is a co-owner at Pacific Pain Medicine. After receiving his undergraduate degree locally at UCSD, he earned his PA degree in New York at one of the top public programs in the country, SUNY, Stony Brook. He graduated at the top of his class with a summa cum laude designation. He completed a specialty Masters’ Degree in Pain Management/Physical Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and has earned a Doctor of Medical Science from the University of Lynchburg. He is a Founder’s Society member of the American Academy of Pain Medicine Foundation. PA Adler has been an active advocate for appropriate pain care for all patients. He recognizes that people with pain can have markedly improved quality of life when multiple tools are utilized in a rational fashion. He has mentored under a national educator on interventional pain management and believes that the identifying an accurate diagnosis is key to developing a therapeutic plan. Despite controversies around opioid based pain medication, PA Adler believes that in well selected and monitored patients, these medications can be a part of a comprehensive treatment plan when certain treatment objectives have been achieved. He is a published author, lectures nationally on a variety of pain topics and is well respected by his peers. PA Adler is a co-author on evidenced based clinical practice guidelines jointly developed by the American Pain Society and American Academy of Pain Medicine on the use of opioids in non-cancer pain. He has also served as a course developer and presenter for the California Academy of PAs Controlled Substance Education Course which trains PAs on the use of controlled substances and increases the PAs scope of practice. He additionally has been passionate about increasing utilization of California’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program database.

• Visit speaker's website
• LinkedIn

Aleece Fosnight, MSPAS, PA-C, CSC, CSE has been a physician assistant for the past 10 years and has been a sexual health counselor and educator for almost 6 years. Aleece opened up her own private practice June 2020, Fosnight Center for Sexual Health, in Asheville, NC. She is a provider of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health, basic urologic care, and gynecological care for Western North Carolina and the Southeast. Aleece provides all-inclusive urologic care to all generations. Her interests include pelvic floor dysfunction, biofeedback, urinary incontinence, urodynamics, pelvic organ prolapse, pelvic pain, low libido, interstitial cystitis, menopause, female sexual health, low testosterone and erectile dysfunction. She is also a nationally certified sexual health counselor and educator, providing sexual health education, information and personalized counseling to patients of all ages. Aleece recognized the lack of sexual health awareness not just in the Western North Carolina community but in its providers as well and founded the Fosnight Foundation in 2016. Her hope for this foundation is to provide a place for sexual health providers to collaborate, gain vital educational and up-to-date information on the ever changing sexual health field, and to promote referral resources across WNC and its surrounding regions. More information on this organization can be found on their website, www.fosnightfoundation.org. Aleece is also currently an AASECT sexuality counselor supervisor and is taking new supervisees for both individual and group supervision.

• Visit speaker's website