Donna Chiechi Elam, who is employed at Puget Sound Psychiatry Center and ADD Clinic of Bellevue, is one of 240 certified physician assistants nationally to recently earn a specialty credential called a Certificate of Added Qualifications from the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. She is one of only 22 certified PAs in Washington and approximately 800 nationally to earn a CAQ since the program’s inception in 2011.

Certified PAs can take histories, conduct physical exams, diagnose and treat illnesses, order and interpret tests, counsel on preventative health care, assist in surgery, perform a variety of procedures and write prescriptions.