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Who Are We?

The Physician Assistant History Society, Inc., is dedicated to the history and legacy of the physician assistant profession through the identification and collection of appropriate papers, manuscripts, magazine and newspaper clippings, newsletters, reports, dissertations, oral histories, and visual artifacts, such as films, slides, videos, photographs, and digital images.

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Establishing the PAHx

As the physician assistant profession surpassed its 35th year of existence, the importance of documenting and preserving its history and achievements became evident. In June 2001, an office for the study, preservation and presentation of PA History (PAHx) was established within the Department of Community and Family Medicine at the Duke University Medical Center (DUMC). Working with a Board of Advisors, Dr. Reginald Carter, PA-C, the office’s Director, began developing appropriate strategies and procedures to collect and present, via the internet, materials related to the profession.

A Collaborative Effort

The office began as a collaborative effort between the DUMC Library and Archives, the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA), the Association of Physician Assistant Programs (APAP), and the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). Other PA organizations soon joined the effort as sponsors of ongoing projects. In October 2001, the office’s Board of Advisors discussed creating a Society for the Preservation of Physician Assistant History (SPPAHx) to eventually supersede the PA History Office as the preeminent leader in fostering the preservation, study and presentation of PA history. The Society was incorporated on January 17, 2002 and became fully operational in July 2002 under the leadership of Dr. J. Jeffery Heinrich, the Society’s first elected president. 

PAHx Today

The PA History Society began as a membership organization that eventually became a supporting organization first of the AAPA and then the NCCPA.  

On June 15, 2011, the Society became a supporting organization of the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). The Society’s archives were transferred from the Duke University Medical Center Archives to the NCCPA headquarters in Johns Creek, GA. The PA History Society is governed by the Board of Trustees.

Get To Know Our

Trustees, Historian, and Staff

Robert S. Smith, PA-C, DHSc, DFAAPA, Texas

President

Richard Vause, Jr., DHSc, MPAS, PA-C, DFAAPA, Nevada

President Elect

Stephen D. Wilson, PA-C,
Maryland

Immediate Past President

William Kohlhepp, DHSc, PA-C, DFAAPA, Connecticut

Secretary/Treasurer

Randy Danielsen, PhD, PA-C, Michigan

Trustee

Robin Hunter-Buskey, DHSc, MPAS, PA-C, North Carolina

Trustee

Debra Munsell, DHSc, MPAS, PA-C, Mississippi

Trustee

Greg Thomas, MPH, PA-C Emeritus,
Florida

TRUSTEE

Bruna Varalli-Claypool, BBA, MHS, PA-C, Oklahoma

Trustee

Alec Williams, PA-S

Student Trustee

Lori Konopka-Sauer,
BS

Managing Director

Dawn Morton-Rias, EdD, PA-C, ICE-CCP, FACHE, New York

Executive Director & NCCPA CEO

Connie Mara

Administrative Support Coordinator

Tricia Marriott, MPAS, MJ, CHC, DFAAPA, PA-C, Connecticut

Historian

Michelle Schabowski,
MSIS, CA

Senior Archivist