Skip to content
  • Trustee Login
  • Associate Login
  • Trustee Login
  • Associate Login
  • Trustee Login
  • Associate Login
PA logo
DONATE

search

  • About The Society

    Who Are We

    Dedicated to the history and legacy of the physician assistant profession

    Collection Description

    Chronicles the development of various professional organizations

    Founding Members

    Individuals who joined us during our first year

    Mission, Vision & Values

    Learn about our mission, vision & values

    PA Veterans Garden

    Visit the McElligott PA Veterans Garden

    PAHx History & Projects

    Explore our history and projects

    News & Events

    See what’s new at PAHx
    X icon
  • Information & Links

    Initial State Recognition of Physician Assistants

    Find out when your state started recognizing the PA profession

    Our Associates

    View the Associates of the PA History Society

    Past Presidents of the National Organizations

    View our past presidents

    National Conference

    View the locations & dates for the National Conference

    PA Glossary

    Abbreviations, acronyms & titles associated with the physician assistant profession

    Preserving History

    Find several resources for preserving, documenting & archiving historical documents and materials

    Trivia

    Test your PA history knowledge

    Newsletter

    Read the most recent issue

    Helpful Links

    Find links and additional resources

    Search Options

    View our different search options

  • Illustrated History

    Archival Research

    Use finding aids for our collections

    Biographies

    Read our numerous biographies

    Collection & Exhibits

    Our collection features artwork, artifacts and exhibitions

    Oral Histories

    Listen or watch oral history interviews from PAs or those close to the profession's history

    Research Library & References

    Library collections, books and serials

    Videos

    Our moving image collection includes film and video

    Photos

    Slides, photographs, negatives & others

    Historical Perspectives

    Essays, personal narratives and long articles on aspects of PA history

    PA Timeline

    View important milestones and events

    International PA Timeline

    View international milestones and events

    Historical Highlights

    Orgs that are saving and preserving their history

    Celebrating 50

    PA programs that have celebrated their 50th anniversaries

  • Support The Society

    How To Support Us

    Help our staff work with organizations, institutions, researchers and archivists

    Friends of the Society

    View our friends and find out how to become one

    Our Associates

    Become an active partner

    First Class Photos

    First class photos of our Associates

    PA History Books

    Find out how to order your copy

    PA History Products

    Lapel pins, posters, and art prints

    Become an Active Participant

    Learn how to support us
    X icon
  • Contact

Deborah Atherton Gerbert, MS, PA-C

X icon

Ms. Deborah Gerbert left the south where she’d grown up and attended college to enter Physician Assistant education at the University of Oklahoma. She completed her undergraduate degree in biology at Emory University in Atlanta in 1976. It took two years to accumulate the necessary patient care experience hours required for admission before moving to Oklahoma in 1978. The University of Oklahoma program, at that time was led by four PAs who collectively had been AAPA President for six years of its ten year history. It was steeped in the politics of the profession and Ms. Gerbert caught the bug. Her professional political career began as a national student officer. She then went on to serve and chair various committees and councils within the American Academy of PAs. Her service in the AAPA House of Delegates, is perhaps her most favorite. She was a House Officer from 1989-1993, including serving as Speaker of the House from 1991-1993. She became AAPA President in 1994. She proudly represented the PA profession at meetings of the American Medical Association’s House of Delegates from 1996-2004.

Her clinical career has been spent in pediatrics, in Jacksonville, Florida. It has included working in an outpatient clinic within the University of Florida teaching hospital, the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in Wolfson Children’s Hospital and currently hospitalist PA for the general pediatric service of the same hospital. In all of these settings she has enjoyed working with PA students and pediatric residents. Ms. Gerbert took a 5 year hiatus from clinical practice to become the founding Program Director at Nova Southeastern University’s PA Program in Jacksonville. In each new encounter she was the first PA to function in that role.

Her mark on the PA profession in Florida started soon after moving there in 1980. Ms. Gerbert was elected Secretary of the Florida Academy of PAs in 1982 and President in 1984. She has represented Florida in the AAPA House of Delegates since 1980. She has served on numerous committees, her favorite being the Legislative and Governmental Affairs Committee. She was appointed to the PA Council of the Board of Medicine in 2003 and served as its Chair from 2006 to 2010. She now serves on one of the Probable Cause Panels of the Board of Medicine, which is the disciplinary arm of the agency.

Other areas of service include a 2 year term on the Finance Committee of the Physician Assistant Education Association and 3 years of service on the PA Foundation Board of Trustees. She was appointed to the PA History Society’s Board of Trustees in 2015.

Ms. Gerbert is a 1998 recipient of the AAPA House of Delegates Outstanding Service Award, a 2002 recipient of the Florida Academy of PAs Lifetime Achievement Award and a 2013 recipient of the Faculty of the Year Award at Nova SE University Jacksonville PA program.

She has been married to Jeff for 21 years. In 1998 they adopted their daughter, Kim, from China who is now a high school junior.

Acknowledgments: This Biographical Sketch was prepared by Deborah Atherton Gerbert and submitted to the PA History Society in June 2015. The photograph is courtesy of Ms. Gerbert.

When using information from this biography, please provide the proper citation as described within the PA History Society Terms of Use

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email
PA logo
Facebook-f Twitter Instagram

About Us

  • Who Are We
  • Collection Description
  • Founding Members
  • Our Mission, Vision & Values
  • PAHx History & Projects
  • Newsletter

Information

  • Initial State Recognition Of PAs
  • Past Presidents
  • National Conference
  • PA Glossary
  • Preserving History
  • Helpful Links

Support Us

  • How To Support Us
  • Friends Of The Society
  • Our Associates
  • PA History Books

Contact Us

(678) 417-8682

Contactus@pahx.org

12000 Findley Road Suite 100
Johns Creek, GA 30097-1409

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Cookie Notice
  • Collection Development Policy

© 2023 Physician Assistant History Society® All Rights Reserved