Hello Dr. Doherty,
I am on the National Affairs Cmte of the American Academy of Anesthesiologists Assistants and on our Board of Directors. AAs in NH currently can practice under delegatory authority, not licensure. States that do not have licensure for AAs typically have fewer AAs because their position is less secure and because anesthesiologists are less familiar with using AAs. Under delegatory authority, if an anesthesiologist is willing to hire the AA and the hospital is willing to credential AAs then there is no obstacle to using an AA. However, the AANA is a savvy political organization and they often attempt to thwart AA employment when the AA does not practice under licensure. However, several states successfully use AAs under delegatory authority (TX and CO among others) and have no problem recruiting AAs and then once they have practitioners, pursuing legislation for licensure. I recommend you contact AAAA to get in touch with our National Affiars Chairperson, Ellen Allinger in addition to pursuing student rotations. If you have a position open, posting it on gaswork.com and on on the AAAA website (anesthetist.org) will certainly yield inquiries. Thank you for your interest and support of the AA profession!
Megan Varellas, AA-C