HJAR May/Jun 2021

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  MAY / JUN 2021 47 Ken Mitchell, PA Arkansas Urology them that; they start working on it. Some men may feel more comfortable in an all-male setting when it comes to uro- logical care and could benefit from choos- ing a doctor at a men’s health clinic. Spe- cialists and primary care physicians (PCPs) should work together to meet the needs of their male patients. It’s important to bridge the gap by communicating with PCPs and discussing ways to co-manage those pa- tients. If a guy comes in with anA1C of eight, he can take a cereal bowl full of Viagra, and it’s not going to work. AnA1C has to be below eight for them to have the physiology and anatomy healthy enough to respond to Vi- agra. If primary care physicians were made aware of problems and offered to help edu- cate the patient about blood sugar levels in general, everyone could work together to get through to the patient. If it’s a testosterone thing — there’s a link between insulin resis- tance and how guys do with managing their blood sugars when they have low testoster- one — then we can co-manage those patients, because none of us can do it by ourselves. good care, they see results, they get better and they stay healthy. Guys, as a rule, don’t want to feel like they’re weak, and they don’t want to feel judged. It’s a very interesting thing that it’s a sign of weakness to get things checked out, and we all know that’s not true. As someone who has been a physician assistant for more than 25 years, it’s ironic to me that in 2020, a number we associate with clear vision, we were seeing a lot of things clearly about the state of health in men. Many men don’t schedule an appoint- ment until their symptoms can no longer be ignored, but at that point, a lot of avoidable damage could already be done. Symptoms such as erectile dysfunction are often caused by underlying diseases that a man may not even be aware of yet. We find ourselves ask- ing them, “What are you going to do? You’re going to keep treating it with Viagra or Cialis until it doesn’t work any longer or it gets bad enough, then you go see somebody?” But in reality, what they have also been doing is letting their diabetes get worse, causing more damage to their bodies and putting their hearts at risk. The blood vessels and how they work, the way the nerves work, are all dependent upon having good control of your sugars. Guys do well when you tell Being new to Arkansas Urology, I am looking forward to bringing more aware- ness to men’s healthcare. I think it’s so im- portant to work with PCPs and meet across the table rather than online, because I be- lieve that personal connection can make a much bigger impact. It’s not only about caring for men once they are sick but also stressing preventa- tive care at a young age. It’s crucial that men start thinking about their healthcare differ- ently so they can collectively make more informed decisions in the future than they have in the past. n Ken Mitchell is a certified physician assistant with 26 years of clinical experience over- all and with over 24 years of experience in men’s health and male erectile and sexual dysfunction. Ken wrote and implemented an innovative treatment protocol, The Surgi- cal Impotence Management Strategy (SIMS), providing comprehensive patient education and delivery of care for men undergoing prostate cancer treatment. Ken has presented both nationally and in- ternationally on men’s health, male sexual dysfunction, and the utilization of APP’s in a urology practice. Ken actively promotes men’s health and has participated in commu- nity outreach programs throughout the coun- try, educating men about general and sexual health issues. Ken received a Bachelor of Science in biology from Dana College (1988) and a Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) at the University of Nebraska Physi- cian Assistant Program (1995).