Chance encounter led Nate Flath to a career in anesthesia
As the Master of Medical Sciences in Anesthesia program welcomes its fourth cohort of students, The Pulse sat down with program director Nate Flath, CAA, to get his thoughts on the program and to share his own journey into the profession.
Nate Flath, CAA, has never been afraid to create his own path.
He was the first person in his family to earn a college degree. He was the first, and for some time, only Certified Anesthesiologist Assistant (CAA) at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. So Flath turned out to be an ideal fit to lead NEOMED’s CAA program, which was the first Master of Medical Sciences in Anesthesia (M.M.Sc.A.) offered by a public institution in Ohio. It is currently one of only 20 M.M.Sc.A. programs in the United States, where students receive the education and training to become a CAA.
Flath was raised by parents who were both paramedics, and he wanted to follow in their footsteps of serving others in the health care field. However, he wanted to carve his own path and do something different, so he studied biology at Bluffton University while he weighed his options. It turns out a stroke of serendipity led him to become a CAA.
Flath was visiting his mother one day while in college and noticed a brochure sitting on the floor. His mom mentioned that it was just a piece of junk mail and to throw it away. Instead, Flath read through it and discovered it was the fit for the medical profession he had been seeking all along. From that point on, he was committed to a career as a CAA. Flath spent eight years at Wexner M.C. as its only CAA before eventually heading to NEOMED to become the program director for the newly announced CAA program.
The new position allowed Flath to move back to his hometown of Wadsworth, Ohio, while getting the opportunity to help build the CAA program at NEOMED.
“It was an exciting new opportunity that allowed me to impact my profession,” Flath said. “I love being a CAA, but being able to influence and model the next generation of this profession will allow me to touch hundreds of thousands of patients.”
Flath has already seen the impact of the program, which welcomed its fourth class in January 2025 after graduating its first class in May 2024.
“It’s been rewarding to see so many of our graduates stay and serve patients in Ohio, with others spreading out to areas where CAAs are greatly needed, like Colorado, Georgia and Florida,” Flath said.
He’s also been struck by the close bond that has developed between students in each class. He referred to them as a “transplanted family,” especially because the program includes students from Ohio as well as from across the country. He noted that the first class still has an active group text, and even prospective students have mentioned hearing about the “family feel” of the program.
Ultimately, Flath is most proud of the program’s broad impact on patients and the health care community.
“The CAA shortage in Northeast Ohio, and throughout the nation, is quite large,” Flath said. “We’re helping to fill that need by providing quality education to motivated students who want to help others.”
CAA Week
CAA Week is February 17-21! According to the American Association of Anesthesiologist Assistants (AAAA), CAA Week is the national week of recognition for the CAA profession. It's a chance to help patients, hospital administrators, health care professionals, policymakers and anesthesiologists to gain a greater understanding and appreciation of CAAs' work. Learn more.
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- Learn more about the CAA program at NEOMED