Wyoming Could Have More Medical Professionals If SF 104 Is Passed

Brandi Lunsford wants to come home to Wyoming.

In Wyoming this week there are five job openings that Brandi could fill, but without the Wyoming state AA license she has to continue working in Atlanta.

Ms. Lunsford grew up in Evanston and graduated from high school there, attending and graduating from Utah State before earning her Masters’ Degree as an Anesthesiologist Assistant at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, where she still works.

But she would rather work in Wyoming, close to family and her friends.

This week the Wyoming Senate is considering Senate File 104, a bill to license and regulate the healthcare job role of anesthesiologist assistant.

Anesthesiologist assistants (AA’s) work exclusively in the field of anesthesiology, having taken the same college premedical courses and the medical school entrance exam as part of the incredibly competitive process to go into their two-plus years of training.

With over 600 hours of classroom and 2600 hours of hands-on operating room training, it is not surprising that they actively participate in highly complex cases like open heart and transplant surgeries.

Anesthesiologist assistant's have been around since the early 1970’s and currently work in several states, not including Wyoming.

Yet, academic and tertiary care hospitals staff their anesthesiology departments with them as they are highly trained and effective. Whether it is the University of Florida down south or next door at the University of Colorado, AA’s are respected and working across the United States.

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