Theresa V. Horvath, MPH, MPhil PA-C Emeritus, DFAAPA, has always been interested in urban health. It was for that reason that she chose the (then) CCNY Sophie Davis PA Program at Harlem Hospital, a historic program of color dedicated to meeting workforce needs in communities of high need such as Harlem. Hence, she worked in family medicine at a CHC in Coney Island Brooklyn, in family medicine at SUNY Downstate in Crown Heights Brooklyn, and in pediatrics at Woodhull Hospital in Bedford Stuyvesant Brooklyn. In 1997, she joined the Columbia University Family Medicine Residency Program, which was located in Washington Heights, teaching family medicine residents Community Oriented Primary Care (COPC).
While working in at school-based health center in Crown Heights, the epidemic of student-on-student violence culminated in her nearly losing a patient to a stab wound to the chest. As a result of this near tragedy, she developed an adolescent anti-violence program for which she received a grant to implement. This project won her the PAragon Award for Inner City PA of the Year in 1996.
Horvath’s advocacy led to her appointment to the National Advisory Council of the US-HHS HRSA National Health Service Corps (2007-2014). Representing the PA profession, she was able to change the federal mandates to allow graduates from master’s level programs, and graduates from dual-degree programs, such as PA-MPH, to be eligible for NHSC scholarships and loans. Although most PAs graduated from master’s level programs by 2008, ineligibility to receive this important federal funding accounted for disproportionately low numbers of PA recipients of the NHSC up until that time.
Ms. Horvath was the AAPA representative to the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) 2001-2005. Horvath was a site visitor for ARC-PA 2002-2020. She was a member of the PAEA Government Relations and External Affairs Council (2011-2017). She was elected to the PAEA Board of Directors from 2011-2012. While in this role, she served as liaison between PAEA, AAPA and HRSA to find ways to increase funding and visibility of PAs within the federal system.
Horvath was the founding director of of the Mercy College Graduate Program in PA Studies )1998-2008), and program director of the PA program at Hofstra University (2008-2013), CCNY (2013-2016), University of Bridgeport (2016-2019) and Marist College (2019-2020).
Horvath graduated in 1976 from the Sociology Ramapo College of New Jersey, Mahwah, NJ. In 1983, she graduated from CCNY-Harlem Hospital’s PA Program. She attained her Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in Community Health Education in 1995 from the CCNY-Hunter College, NY, and her Master of Philosophy degree in Sociology in 2021. She is currently working on her PhD in Sociology from the CUNY Graduate Center Her dissertation will explore the role of social class on admissions decisions of PA faculty.
Horvath has published a number of articles on inner city health, population health and diversity in the PA profession. She is currently on the Board of Directors of the Social Mission Alliance, which is an interdisciplinary organization seeking to change health professions education to integrate social concerns. She lives with her husband, the PA educator Harry Pomeranz in Bronx NY.
Acknowledgments: This biography was prepared by Theresa Horvath with the assistance of PAHx staff and submitted to the Society in June 2022. The photographs are courtesy of Ms. Horvath.
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