Jennifer (Jenna) L. Dorn has served as the American Academy of PA’s CEO since 2011, ensuring the professional growth, personal excellence and recognition of the nation’s 123,000+ PAs. Dorn has led multibillion-dollar federal agencies, start-ups and well-established nonprofit organizations, bringing 30 years of management experience in healthcare to AAPA’s leadership team.
Under her leadership, AAPA and its 100+ state-based and specialty organizations have achieved unprecedented progress in legislative barriers to PA practice. Every state has passed PA-positive laws or regulations, and new laws and regulations at the federal level are benefiting PAs, as well. PAs have expanded authority to prescribe medication, diagnose, admit and treat patients; physician proximity requirements have been eased or eliminated; and PAs have been recognized as primary care providers, alongside physicians and NPs.
Dorn has had similarly important impact on AAPA as an organization. During her tenure, AAPA has moved from a $2.5 million annual operating deficit to a balanced budget, while increasing reserves and making important investments in technology. Simultaneously, AAPA membership has increased 32%. In addition, individual and corporate giving to the PA Foundation has increased by more than 37%, driven by a new vision focused on PA leadership in addressing critical health issues, including the opioid epidemic and college student mental health issues.
Dorn has held four Senate-confirmed leadership positions in the federal government, including assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Labor and associate deputy secretary at the Department of Transportation. In addition, she has served as senior vice president of the American National Red Cross and as the U.S. representative on the Board of the World Bank. Dorn currently serves in a volunteer capacity as a member of the Governing Board for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and as a member of the Veterans Administration’s Veterans’ Family, Caregiver and Survivor Advisory Committee.
Dorn is a graduate of Oregon State University and has a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Connecticut.
Acknowledgments: This biographical sketch was prepared by the AAPA . The PA History Society was given permission to reprint it on their own website in 2018. The photograph is courtesy of the AAPA.
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