| Course | PA 624 Clinical Clerkship: Underserved Population |
|---|---|
| Week | 6 |
| Paper type | Referral memo |
| Length | About 400 words, 4 pages |
| Format | Memo with APA 7 citations |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PA 624 Week 6
Memorandum
To: County health department teleretinal screening program, intake coordinator
From: PA student, Eastside Community Health Center
Date: September 22, 2026
Re: Referral for diabetic retinal photographs: J.P., 54
Why This Person, in One Line
J.P., 54, newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes with A1C 9.4 percent, no insurance, no prior eye examination, cannot take an unpaid day for a dilated examination during roofing season.
The Route In
Service: county health department teleretinal clinic, Tuesday afternoons 13:00 to 17:00, walk-in or scheduled. Scheduled for Tuesday, September 29, 15:30, booked by phone with the intake coordinator on September 22. Fee: $10 on the county's sliding scale. No dilation; J.P. can drive after.
What the Patient Carries
Photo identification. The appointment card in Haitian Creole with the address and a map. The clinic's referral letter. A list of current medications.
What Travels From This End
Sent by secure fax on September 22: the referral letter; the most recent A1C and blood pressure; the medication list; a note that J.P. prefers Haitian Creole and needs an interpreter. The county program uses the same telephone interpreter service.
Why This Service
Teleretinal screening in a large safety-net system shortened the wait for diabetic eye screening from a median of 158 days to 17 and raised annual screening rates (Daskivich et al., 2017), which suits a patient who cannot easily attend a specialist visit.
The Loop, Closed by a Named Person
The clinic's referral coordinator will check on September 30 whether J.P. attended and will request the reading report. If the reading shows retinopathy or the images are unreadable, the coordinator will arrange an ophthalmology referral and tell the PA on duty. If J.P. did not attend, the coordinator will call J.P. through the interpreter line to rebook.
What the Clinic Asks of the Program
Please send the reading report by secure fax to the clinic's referral coordinator within 10 working days, marked with the grade of any retinopathy found and whether the images were gradable. If the reader recommends an ophthalmology visit, please state how soon, so the clinic can judge whether a self-pay visit must be found quickly or can wait for a Medicaid decision. If J.P. needs to reschedule, the coordinator can be reached directly at the clinic's referral line between 08:00 and 16:30, Monday through Friday. A reply in this form lets the coordinator close the loop the same day the report arrives.
References
Daskivich, L. P., Vasquez, C., Martinez, C., Tseng, C.-H., & Mangione, C. M. (2017). Implementation and evaluation of a large-scale teleretinal diabetic retinopathy screening program in the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. JAMA Internal Medicine, 177(5), 642-649. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2017.0204
PA 624 Week 6 instructions, in plain terms
The sixth week asks for a referral memo that is practical rather than discursive. Identify the service the patient is actually being sent to, then spend most of the memo on how the patient gets there and what happens next. Give the reason for referral in one line. Describe the route in: hours, booking, cost and anything that makes attendance possible. List what the patient carries and what travels from your clinic. Close the loop with a named person who will check that the patient attended and that the result came back. A real local organization is not required; a composite works if it is labeled. Cultural or language needs belong in what travels from your end. Cite evidence that the service is a reasonable choice.
How the PA 624 Week 6 example is put together
The memo is addressed to the county program's intake coordinator on September 22, 2026. The one-line reason gives new diabetes, an A1C of 9.4, no insurance, no prior eye examination and no unpaid day available for dilation. The route section gives Tuesday afternoon hours, a 15:30 booking on September 29 made by phone, a $10 fee and no dilation. The patient carries identification, a Haitian Creole appointment card with a map, the referral letter and a medication list. The clinic faxes the letter, recent results and a note on the interpreter need. A section cites Daskivich et al. (2017) for shorter waits. The loop section names the referral coordinator, a September 30 check, an ophthalmology referral if needed and a rebooking call if J.P. misses the slot.
PA 624 Week 6 rubric: what full points look like
Referral memos lose the most when they name a service without a route in, leaving the patient to find hours, costs and bookings alone. Next comes no named person to close the loop, so a missed visit or an unreturned result goes unnoticed. Graders deduct when what travels from the clinic is not listed, including language needs. Faculty reward a one-line reason, a booked appointment, a list of what the patient carries and a dated check by a named person. Evidence that the service is appropriate earns a defined share. Memo format and APA citation round out the grade.
PA 624 Week 6 help from the desk
Referral memos tend to be one line in a plan, such as "refer to eye screening," with nothing about how the patient gets there. Another common problem is sending a patient without the records the receiving service needs. Some memos also forget to say who will check that the referral was completed. If your patient is being sent somewhere else, such as a free dental clinic, a food program or a specialty service, send what you know about its hours and intake; we would give the reason in one line, describe the route in, list what the patient carries and what you send, and name the person who closes the loop. Cultural or language needs would be listed with what travels from your clinic.
Get a PA-624 Week 6 example written to your instructions
Send the assignment wording, the rubric rows and the name of the service your section set, plus anything you know about how its intake runs, and a model memo comes back inside 24-48h, free the first time. Without a named service the example uses a placeholder you can overwrite in one pass.
More PA 624 papers and MPAS samples
- PA 624 Week 1: Chart Instruction Test Post
- PA 624 Week 2: Next Best Option Memo
- PA 624 Week 3: Medication Affordability Note
- PA 624 Week 4: Language Access Documentation
- PA 624 Week 5: Sliding Scale Eligibility Note
- PA 624 Week 7: Local Option Inventory
- PA 624 Week 8: Missed Visit Note
- PA 622 Week 6: Collateral Contact Note
- PA 620 Week 6: Postpartum Day Note
- PA 648 Week 6: Evidence of Closure Memo
- PA 618 Week 6: Parent Phone Call Note
PA 624 Week 6 questions, answered
Do I have to use a real organization?
Your section decides. Where a real one is named, the model memo treats its published hours and intake route as given and builds around them; where none is named, it runs on a described service with the same fields filled in. Either way the structure is identical, and swapping a placeholder for a real name later costs you a few minutes rather than a rewrite.
How much of the memo should cover what the service cannot do?
One line, placed where a reader meets it before making the call. Exclusions are part of the route: an age limit, a residency requirement, a closed waiting list. Writing them is not pessimism, it is what stops a patient being sent twice. The examples keep that line short and specific rather than turning it into a general observation about provision.
My rubric asks for cultural considerations. Where do those go?
Inside the mechanics, not in a paragraph of their own. Language at intake, whether a service asks about immigration status, whether the hours suit somebody working two jobs: each of those is a fact about the route and belongs beside the phone number. Sections that score a separate row still tend to reward the concrete version over the general one.
Where can I find a free PA 624 Week 6 sample paper?
A complete PA 624 Week 6 safety net referral memo to a county teleretinal program is on this page.
Who closes the loop in the PA 624 Week 6 sample?
The clinic's referral coordinator, who checks attendance and requests the reading report on September 30 and rebooks if the visit was missed.