PA Profile April 2007

David H. Kuhns, PA-C

David H. Kuhns, PA-C

David H. Kuhns, PA-C, received his PA Certificate from the School of Allied Health Professions of Saint Louis University in 1980. He worked for two years in Missouri, worked at the Islesboro Health Center for two years, then at the Kennebec Valley Medical Center in Augusta for the next two years.

Other professional positions include staff PA at the Maine Medical Center in Portland, ER PA at the Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford, an Epidemiology Consultant with the Maine Bureau of Health, and as the TB Control Project Coordinator for the Public Health Department in Portland.

David was the first physician assistant to volunteer with Doctors Without Borders where he served as Country Medical Coordinator of the Somaliland/Djibouti Project from September 1994 to March 1995. Based in Burao, Somaliland, he worked to develop the primary health care system for a 160-bed hospital and 10 clinics in the Togdheer region of Somaliland. He developed emergency response to civil war in Somaliland and then set up and supervised a cholera treatment center in Djibouti. From December 1995 to May 1996, David served as Project Medical Coordinator in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, where he was responsible for the health care system to an IDP camp of 45,000. He developed and implemented a the MCH program for the region, in collaboration with local authorities, WHO, UNICEP and other NGOs.

From January 2004 to June 2006, he was the Director of the Clinical Simulation Program at the University of New England PA Program. He served as lecturer on topics in emergency medicine, bioterrorism, international public health, refugee health and physical exam skills. David currently holds per diem status in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta, Maine.

In addition, David has been working to promote the PA profession in Ireland and Nova Scotia for the past few years. He has been a Registered Maine Guide since 1995 and has taught wilderness medicine and all levels of EMS for more than 20 years.

He loves the outdoors, hiking and snowshoeing, ocean kayaking and camping, and escaping to his ocean front yurt in southeastern Nova Scotia. He has extended an invitation to all DEAPA members to use his yurt without charge. If you are planning a vacation to Nova Scotia and are interested, you can contact David by email at dkuhns1@maine.rr.com.