Many PAs have an interesting story about their lives prior to entering the PA profession, but none is likely as unique as that of Larry Rosen. Rosen joined the profession after a long career in television, having served as a producer of many shows including the Mike Douglas Show and the Partridge Family.
Rosen initially thought that medical school was his life goal but found the path to get there difficult. Instead, he found himself working in the entertainment industry. After many years working in television, he injured both knees while running and required surgery, which is when he encountered a PA for the first time. Rosen found the profession intriguing. A few years later, in 1992 at the age of 56, Rosen was accepted to the PA program at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine (USC) and successfully achieved his dream of practicing medicine in 1994.
Immediately following graduation from USC, Rosen joined Nobel Community Medical, a family medicine primary care practice in North Hollywood, CA, and remained at the same practice for 27 years. Bringing his and his wife’s prior experiences in television to his new career in medicine, they produced a series of public service announcements (PSAs) about PAs and their role in medicine. Several of those PSAs included appearances by actors and actresses with whom Larry had contact during his TV work, such as Susan Day and Dennis Franz. His PSAs, which were produced during his leadership tenure with the California Academy of PAs (CAPA) were nationally recognized and utilized by more than 20 states as part of their legislative advocacy efforts. He received multiple awards from both CAPA and the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) for his work in this area, including recognition by CAPA as PA of the Decade and AAPA’s Public Education Award in 1997.
Rosen served for many years on the Board of Directors of the California Academy and sat on the Public Relations Committee of the AAPA. At CAPA, he was elected to the position of director-at-large from 1998-2001, then again in 2011 and 2012. He was the vice president from 2002-2010. During his time with CAPA, he spearheaded CAPA’s endorsement of PA Karen Bass, during her first race for CA State Assembly and founded the Pride of the Profession Award which was awarded to Bass in 2007. Rosen continued to support her throughout her career as a legislator and then as the Mayor of the City of Los Angeles.
Due to the difficulty PA applicants were having getting shadowing hours in Southern California, Rosen set up an online network of practicing PAs who were willing and able to allow would-be PAs to shadow them.
Over the course of his PA career, Larry Rosen received many acknowledgements for his dedication and service. Among these are a special commendation from the California Legislature Assembly in 2006, Distinguished Fellow designation by AAPA in 2008, Special Recognition Award from USC’s Keck School of Medicine in 2011, induction into Pi Alpha (the national PA honor society) in 2013, and CAPA’s PA of the Decade award.
Rosen was a true mensch. He was dedicated and passionate about promoting the PA profession and he truly made an impact within the state California, and nationally. He died in 2020 of complications related to treatment of pancreatic cancer. He is survived by his wife and two children, two stepchildren and five grandchildren.
Acknowledgements:
This biography was prepared by Greg Thomas with the assistance of Joyce Davis and Beth Donovan. It was submitted to the Society in March 2026. Information for the biography was also attained through an article about Mr. Rosen’s passing in Deadline. Photographs are provided courtesy of Ms. Davis and Mr. Thomas.
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