Jonathan Bowser, MS, PA-C, is a PA educator with the University of Colorado’s Child Health Associate/PA (CHAPA) Program and is currently its program director. He has served the PA profession by being an advocate for oral health and for PA education. He is a former president of the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA).
Bowser attained his Bachelor of Arts degrees in Chemistry and Biology in 1987 from Clark University, Worcester, MA. In 1997, he received his Master of Science in Cell and Molecular Biology from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO. During his graduate training at Colorado State, he began to explore health professions careers. As a second-career professional, Bowser was looking for a path that did not entail a lengthy training period and the PA model was a perfect fit. He graduated in 2001 from the University of Colorado’s Child Health Associate/Physician Assistant (CHAPA) Program.
After graduating PA school, Bowser worked in family medicine in the Denver area. He began his career as a PA educator in 2006 as an instructor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in the CHAPA Program. In 2012, after six years on the faculty, he became the interim program director of the CHAPA Program and then program director and associate dean in 2013.
During his career as a PA, Bowser has been passionate about the importance of oral health in primary care. He has lectured on the subject numerous times at the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) Annual Conference and the Physician Assistant Leadership Summit on Oral Health in Colorado. He was the PA profession’s representative at the National Interprofessional Initiative on Oral Health/American Academy of Pediatrics Workgroup on the Oral Health Risk Assessment Tool (2013) and to the Smiles for Life Steering Committee hosted by the Society of Teachers for Family Medicine (2011-2018). He was PAEA’s representative to the Interprofessional Oral Health Core Competencies Meeting hosted by the Health Resources, and Services Administration (HRSA) in 2012.
Bowser is a member of the American Academy of PAs (AAPA), the Colorado Academy of PAs (CAPA), the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.
Bowser has worked on numerous committees with PAEA, such as the Education Subcommittee, the Physician Assistant Clinical Knowledge Rating Assessment Tool (PACKRAT) Committee, and the Conference Curriculum Committee. He became a member of the PAEA Board in 2014 and became the organization’s president in 2019. As President of the Board, he oversaw the transition to a new CEO following the retirement of Timi Barwick. He was appointed co-chair of the Joint Pandemic Response Taskforce for the PAEA and the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the PA (ARC-PA) in 2020.
Bowser has been recognized by many awards and honors, such as the PAEA Rising Star Award (2012), the Student Academy of AAPA’s PA Student Mentor Award (2013), Excellence Award for Outstanding Student Organization – Faculty Advisor (2013), Chancellor’s Diversity Award – Student Organization (2013), and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine’s Smiles for Life 10th Anniversary Award (2014).
Acknowledgments: This biography was prepared by PA History Society Staff with the Assistance of Jonathan Bowser. It was submitted to the Society in February of 2023. Photograph is courtesy of Mr. Bowser.
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