ReachMD

Allan Platt graduated with a BS in health systems engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1977, a BS in medical science from the Emory University School of Medicine physician assistant program in 1979, and a MMSc in career physician assistant from Emory in 2006. He has worked as a PA at Grady Memorial Hospital for 25 years, providing care for under-served patient populations. Upon graduation, he started the triage center to assess and direct the 300 ambulatory patients a day to the proper level of clinical care in the 1000 bed county supported teaching hospital. He also worked in the adult walk-in clinic until 1984. There he mentored first and second year PA students. He wrote his first handbook on differential diagnosis mnemonics, published and distributed by AAPA Press in 1983.

From 1984 until 2004 he was program coordinator, and physician assistant at the Georgia Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center at Grady Health System. This is the world's first dedicated 24 hour emergency center for sickle cell patients. The Center is one of the largest in the world, currently providing primary and emergency care for 1700 sickle cell patients. He is the web designer of the Sickle Cell Information Center at www.SCInfo.org. The web site has an international outreach with million hits a month and email questions from all over the world. There are several online books that provide up to date information for patients and clinicians world wide. The center won AAPA Innovations in Health Care winners in 2000. Mr. Platt has co-authored a patient guide book on sickle cell disease and trait for the general public titled Hope and Destiny, a Patient and Parents Guide to Sickle Cell Disease, distributed by Hilton Publishing in October 2002 and updated June 2006.

Mr. Platt is a senior associate in the department of family and preventive medicine, Physician Assistant Program, Emory University School of Medicine beginning December, 2002 and a Clinical Instructor since 1979. He is the course director for teaching patient communications skills and the medical history to first year PA students and Assistant director of the Career Masters program, a web based masters degree for working PAs. He received the Emory PA Program "Outstanding PA of the year" in December 1992 and "Teacher of the Year" award in December 1993. In 2002 he won the Teacher of the Year, Paragon Award from the American Academy of Physician Assistants. He won the Humanitarian of the Year Award from the Georgia Association of Physician Assistants in 2003. He won the Student Association of the American Academy of Physician Assistants Presidents award in May 2007.

Mr. Platt is co-inventor of the Multidimensional Pain Score (MPS) and a consultant in pain assessment and pain management. The MPS won the 2002 National Association of Public Hospitals Innovations in Technology Safety Net Award. The MPS is a new documentation tool for patients and clinicians to communicate about pain. Allan has been a speaker at two of the JCAHO National leadership summits on Pain Management and co-author of Chapter 5 in Approaches to Pain Management: An Essential Guide for Clinical Leaders, published by Joint Commission Resources in 2002. He is co-author of Overcoming Pain from Hilton Publishing published in September 2006 and author of Evidence Based Medicine for PDAs: A Guide for Practice Published by Bartlett and Jones March 2008.