Coalition of Outdoor Medicine
Physician Assistants
(COMPAS)
Home Page
Who We Are
The Coalition of Outdoor Medicine Physician Assistants is an organization dedicated to extending knowledge, skills and passion for the wilderness and wilderness medicine to others in the community and medical field. As health care providers we further promote our profession. As a society, we pursue our passion for the outdoors. The organization addresses legal issues specific to Physician Assistants in wilderness and travel medicine and their utilization as wilderness medical providers. We provide resources for Wilderness Medicine training courses, as well as resources for Wilderness Medicine continuing education. It is our desire to not only further our own knowledge of Wilderness Medicine, but also extend that knowledge to others through wilderness medicine presentations to both medical providers and various groups within the community. We enjoy promoting our profession, while sharing in the camaraderie of wilderness adventures and the outdoors.
Our Leadership
D. Cristopher Benner – Director
Cristopher graduated from Emory University’s PA program and currently lives in the San Francisco bay area where he works in emergency medicine and has formerly worked in trauma surgery. A competitive triathlete who enjoys spending as much time on the bike as in the water, whether swimming or paddling. He spent much of his childhood in Ecuador and El Salvador, exploring the natural beauty these countries have to offer. When not working he spends as much time as possible in the Sierras on the snow, with a tall mug of ultra high octane coffee.
Sara Squyres – Deputy Director
Sara graduated from University of Houston, BS Biology 1976 and from University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas with BS and certificate as Physician Assistant 1982. She received her Masters in PA Studies from the University of Nebraska in 2004. She is a member of VAPA, AAPA, Wilderness Medical Society, International Society of Mountain Medicine and COMPAS. She has worked at the Michael E. DeBakey VAMC in Houston since 1986 in internal medicine, neurology, physical medicine and is now in urology, and has done moonlighting in ERs. Sara loves combining medicine with the outdoors.
Fred Wu – Deputy Director
Fred lives in central California and currently works in emergency medicine. He is a recent graduate of the Quinnipiac University Physician Assistant Program (Hamden, CT), where he earned a masters in health sciences. Prior to the PA profession, he was a Paramedic and EMS educator. Fred has been involved in outdoor education at the high school and college level. His wilderness medicine experience includes rural EMS and working as a volunteer ski patroller. He is also affiliated with the UCSF-Fresno Emergency Medicine Parkmedic Program, which trains National Park Service Rangers from all over the country as Parkmedics.
Christy Mayfield – Consultant
Christy Mayfield lives in Colorado and works in Family Practice. She graduated from the University of Southern California School of Medicine PA program. She has acted as the COMPAS "Chair" from its inception in 2003 until 2005, and she has written for the column "From the PA’s desk” for the Wilderness Medical Society quarterly magazine. She loves living in Colorado where she is surrounded by the wilderness every day, and enjoys camping, fishing, and hiking in the Rocky Mountains.
The Coalition of Outdoor Medicine Physician Assistants is an organization dedicated to extending knowledge, skills and passion for the wilderness and wilderness medicine to others in the community and medical field. As health care providers we further promote our profession. As a society, we pursue our passion for the outdoors. The organization addresses legal issues specific to Physician Assistants in wilderness and travel medicine and their utilization as wilderness medical providers. We provide resources for Wilderness Medicine training courses, as well as resources for Wilderness Medicine continuing education. It is our desire to not only further our own knowledge of Wilderness Medicine, but also extend that knowledge to others through wilderness medicine presentations to both medical providers and various groups within the community. We enjoy promoting our profession, while sharing in the camaraderie of wilderness adventures and the outdoors.
Our Leadership
D. Cristopher Benner – Director
Cristopher graduated from Emory University’s PA program and currently lives in the San Francisco bay area where he works in emergency medicine and has formerly worked in trauma surgery. A competitive triathlete who enjoys spending as much time on the bike as in the water, whether swimming or paddling. He spent much of his childhood in Ecuador and El Salvador, exploring the natural beauty these countries have to offer. When not working he spends as much time as possible in the Sierras on the snow, with a tall mug of ultra high octane coffee.
Sara Squyres – Deputy Director
Sara graduated from University of Houston, BS Biology 1976 and from University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas with BS and certificate as Physician Assistant 1982. She received her Masters in PA Studies from the University of Nebraska in 2004. She is a member of VAPA, AAPA, Wilderness Medical Society, International Society of Mountain Medicine and COMPAS. She has worked at the Michael E. DeBakey VAMC in Houston since 1986 in internal medicine, neurology, physical medicine and is now in urology, and has done moonlighting in ERs. Sara loves combining medicine with the outdoors.
Fred Wu – Deputy Director
Fred lives in central California and currently works in emergency medicine. He is a recent graduate of the Quinnipiac University Physician Assistant Program (Hamden, CT), where he earned a masters in health sciences. Prior to the PA profession, he was a Paramedic and EMS educator. Fred has been involved in outdoor education at the high school and college level. His wilderness medicine experience includes rural EMS and working as a volunteer ski patroller. He is also affiliated with the UCSF-Fresno Emergency Medicine Parkmedic Program, which trains National Park Service Rangers from all over the country as Parkmedics.
Christy Mayfield – Consultant
Christy Mayfield lives in Colorado and works in Family Practice. She graduated from the University of Southern California School of Medicine PA program. She has acted as the COMPAS "Chair" from its inception in 2003 until 2005, and she has written for the column "From the PA’s desk” for the Wilderness Medical Society quarterly magazine. She loves living in Colorado where she is surrounded by the wilderness every day, and enjoys camping, fishing, and hiking in the Rocky Mountains.
Contact Information:
wildmedpa@yahoo.com
