Profile

Angela Kapalko

AAHIVM COMMITTEE MEMBER
BETA TESTER

Contact Details

Chester, PA

Professional Bio

Education
I have been in practice since graduating from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Physician Assistant Program in October 2007.

Clinical Role
I am a full time clinician at AIDS Care Group as of August 2023. Prior to this, I was a full time clinician at the Jonathan Lax Treatment Center at Philadelphia FIGHT Community Health Centers from Oct 2007- June 2023, providing primary care for people living with HIV. My areas of clinical specialties and interests are in multidrug resistant HIV medicine, diabetes management, medication assisted treatment and preventive medicine. 
I  also served as the Education Coordinator for Advanced Practice Clinician Students at the FQHC, and have a passion for not just teaching patients about health and health advocacy, but students and other healthcare providers as well. I have been an educator for PA programs since 2010 and a preceptor for multiple PA and NP programs since 2011.

AAHIVM Role
In 2018, I became the chair of the physician assistant Committee for the American Academy of HIV medicine, with the main goal of getting active academy members to understand the value and importance of training the next generation of healthcare providers, specifically physician assistants and their value in the HIV healthcare space. As of Sept 2020, I took over the role of secretary of the AAHIVM National Board, and am excited for the opportunity! 

Personal Life

I have been a resident of South Philadelphia since 2002. I love the grittiness of my city and enjoy running throughout the neighborhoods to see different "front window" dressings. If you are from Philly, you will understand! I am a long distance runner, slow and steady. I also love Olympic lifting, even though I am very beginner. I spend my evenings with my partner, Aaron and my cat. 

Detailed Biography

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Practice Setting

The office I practice at is The Jonathan Lax Treatment Center, which opened in 1997 after my organization, Philadelphia FIGHT, and AIDS service organization which opened in 1990 as a place of advocacy, activism and clinical research, realized it needed its own dedicated clinic for the community. As the only stand alone, non hospital affiliated ASO with a clinic in Philadelphia, FIGHT grew to meet the needs of the community it served. In 2012, FIGHT became an FQHC, expanding services for not only people living with HIV but those at high risk. The Lax Center serves approximately 2500 people living with HIV, providing comprehensive primary care and infectious disease care to adults 18 and older living with HIV. Our team consists of 8 clinicians: 3 MDs, 3 PAs and 2 NPs. Additionally we have a PharmD, Pharm tech, two nurses, and a whole host of ancillary staff highly trained to care for our patients. We are a one stop shop with onsite phlebotomy, medical case management, mental health services, substance abuse services, educational and advocacy services as well as dental care.

Unique Opportunities

I am so fortunate to have so many amazing opportunities throughout my career. I will start with being in research: for the first 10 years of my career I split my time between seeing patients in the clinic and running our research program at FIGHT.I was the research coordinator for anywhere between 10-15 clinical trials at a time, while also serving as a sub-investigator. I was integral in the running of the trials at FIGHT and because of it, I feel like my clinical practice only was stronger. I understood the data, I saw medications before they came on the market, and I got to see the behind the scenes of how a drug comes to market. A PA in this position is not the norm so it was a great opportunity for me.

Experience

I have been in practice since Oct 2007, and have always been in HIV care