PA Barbee obtained her Master of Clinical Health Services in Physician Assistant Studies from the University of Washington in 2012 and has worked as a PA in Otolaryngology since that time. Prior to becoming a PA, she earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Washington State University and worked as an inpatient Registered Nurse in Emergency Medicine. She is a member of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, Washington Academy of Physician Assistants, and is nationally certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. As with all PAs, PA Barbee completes at least 50 hours of continuing education yearly and provides medical care based on her years of experience as well as the most up-to-date research and guidelines. She contributes to her profession as a mentor and preceptor of aspiring PAs and active PA students.
PA Barbee provides expert evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of patients presenting with various ear, nose, and throat complaints such as nasal congestion, acute and chronic sinusitis, nasal polyps, nosebleeds, loss of smell, burning mouth, chronic runny nose, post-nasal drip, ear infection, hearing loss, tinnitus, and tonsillitis. She has a special interest in severe chronic sinus diseases such as aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease, fungal sinusitis, autoimmune sinus disease, chronic polyposis, and sinus tumors, having worked exclusively in rhinology and skull base surgery for six years.
As a Washington native, PA Barbee is committed to providing outstanding healthcare to her local community. With a background in nursing, she was trained to see, hear, and treat the entire person, not just the disease, and understands that an acute or chronic illness affects the entire person, not just the ailed body part.
Outside of her medical practice, Katie prefers to be outdoors as much as possible and can be found cheering at various youth sporting events, running, working in the yard, and walking the dog.
What is a Physician Assistant?
Physician Assistants are medical providers, who provide medical assessment, diagnosis, and treatment. Physician Assistants have bachelor’s degrees in science prior to attending PA school, and most PA schools require work experience in the medical field prior to admittance. Many PAs were military medics, firefighters, paramedics, respiratory therapists, or nurses prior to becoming PAs and bring invaluable life experience to their practice. Most PA programs include one to two years of classroom medical studies with one year of clinical rotations prior to graduation. PAs are required to pass the national certifying exam after graduation to earn their certification (the C after PA) and are required to complete continuing education every year to maintain their license. While PAs provide medical care in all facets of medicine, they are especially well suited to surgical practices where they provide medical care in the clinic and hospital before and after surgery as well as assist in the operating room.
How do I address a PA?
The formal way to address a PA is PA followed by their last name. Such as PA Smith or PA Yang. However, you will find that many PAs prefer to be addressed by their first name.