About the PAHx Center

Who are We? | Our Vision | Our Mission | Our Goals | Our Objectives

Who Are We?

As the physician assistant (PA) profession surpassed its 35th year of existence, the importance of documenting and preserving its history and achievements became evident. In June 2001, an office for the study, preservation and presentation of PA History (PAHx) was established within the Department of Community and Family Medicine at the Duke University Medical Center (DUMC). Working with a Board of Advisors, Dr. Reginald Carter, the office’s director, began developing appropriate strategies, processes and procedures to collect, process, digitize and present via the Internet materials related to the cultural development and legacy of the PA profession.

The office began as a collaborative effort between the DUMC Library and Archives, the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA), the Association of Physician Assistant Programs (APAP), and the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). Other PA organizations soon joined the effort as sponsors of ongoing projects. In October 2001, the office’s Board of Advisors discussed creating a Society for the Preservation of Physician Assistant History (SPPAHx) to eventually supersede the PA History Office as the preeminent leader in fostering the preservation, study and presentation of PA history. The Society was incorporated in January 2002 and became fully operational in July 2002 under the leadership of Dr. J. Jeffery Heinrich, the Society’s first elected president.

In July 2002, funding from the State Library of North Carolina, Exploring Cultural Heritage Online Digitization Grants, allowed Reginald Carter (Director of the PA History Office) and Thomas Clark (Special Collection Project Manager) to work with Pat Thibodeau (Associate Dean for Library Services), Charlie Lackey (Head of Cataloging Department), Russell Koonts (Archivist) and other members of the library staff to organize, catalog, create metadata and digitize selected items from a collection of materials housed in the DUMC archives. These materials collected over 35 years and occupying 50 feet of linear space were used as the foundation to build a digital collection useful to researchers and publishers and to develop exhibits for the Illustrated PA History Website.

In January 2004, Dr. Ralph Snyderman, Chancellor of Health Affairs, Duke University, approved the Society’s request to have the DUMC Archives process, maintain and provide baseline archival support for the special collection being assembled by the PA History Office and Society. Thanks to the generosity of professional leaders, policy-makers, writers, publishers and SPPAHx members, the collection has been expanded in recent years.

On June 1, 2007 the Society became a supporting organization of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA). The Society serves as the Academy’s historic arm much like the PA Foundation serves as its philanthropic arm. Under the new arrangement with the Academy, Dr. Carter relinquished his role as the Society’s Executive Director to Kevin Bayes, the Academy’s Assistant Director of Communications and his role as Director of the PA History Center to Adonna Thompson, the Society’s archivist employed by DUMC archives. Dr. Carter remained on as the Society’s historian. Mr. Bayes and the Society’s administrative offices are located in Alexandria, VA and contact information for the Society and Mr. Bayes can be found on the Society’s website. The PA History Center is located at Duke University and serves as the Society’s academic base for accomplishing its stated mission, goals and objectives. Contact information for the PA History Center, Ms. Thompson and Dr. Carter is found on the PA History Center’s website. As part of its responsibilities, the PAHx Center staff is responsible for maintaining the Stead Office Museum, Prentiss Harrison Reading Room and historic displays in the Eugene A. Stead, Jr. Center for Physician Assistants owned and operated by the North Carolina Academy of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) and located in Durham, NC. An office is provided at the Stead Center for Ms. Thompson and Dr. Carter to maintain research, biographical and reference files, as well as, display materials.

Our Vision

This special collection will be the most important center for study and research of the evolution of the PA profession and the health care team approach to the delivery of medical and preventive health care services within the USA.

Our Mission

Our mission is to promote the professional and personal development of physician assistants and to make known their clinical and non-clinical contributions to the delivery of high quality, cost effective patient care services. Our desire is to encourage scholarly dialogue on the benefits of team-oriented practice, changing professional roles and the development of better models for delivering health care services with measurable outcomes. We strive to use best practice standards developed by historians, librarians, archivists and digitization experts to achieve and expand our mission. We believe that the special collection being assembled and displayed will create a collective memory that is necessary to shape the professional identity of future generations of PAs as they continue to work with other health professionals and to serve the general public during a time of rapid change in the American Health Care System.

Our Goals

Our goals are to:

Develop and maintain an on-line searchable database that identifies the existence and location of key documents, articles, books, films, oral history audio or videotapes, and other artifacts that detail the development and evolution of the PA profession.
Develop and maintain a web site presenting an illustrated history of the PA profession.
Collect, house and preserve media, documents, artifacts and other related materials that are not currently maintained in a suitable academic or physical environment.
Assist national PA organizations, education programs and newsletter and journal publishers to develop educational modules, media, brochures, informational displays, articles, books and related materials.
Identify areas needing more documentation; foster studies and dialogue about the PA profession.
Continue to improve, maintain and expand the archival database and illustrated history websites Provide academic, research and literacy services to users and clients of the archival database and illustrated history websites.
Assure appropriate migration (preservation) of the digital collection of materials being assembled.

Our Objectives

This website is your portal into a special collection being assembled and maintained by the Society for the Preservation of Physician Assistant History (SPPAHx, Inc.) in collaboration with the Duke University Medical Center Archives. The Cultural History of the Physician Assistant (PA) Profession Collection is one of the largest digital and original collections of material relating to the development of the health team approach to the delivery of medical and preventive health care services in the U.S.A. The collection could not have been established without the generous support of Dr. and Mrs. Eugene A. Stead, Jr., the DUMC Department of Community and Family Practice, the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA), the National Commission on the Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA), the Association of Physician Assistant Programs (APAP), the Physician Assistant Foundation (PA Foundation) and the North Carolina Academy of Physician Assistants (NCAPA).

The Main Objectives of the Collection, the Society and its collaborating organizations and sponsors are:

To provide research facilities and expert guidance for anyone wishing to study the cultural history of the PA profession and its ramifications and impact on the delivery of heath care team services.
To investigate and promote the usefulness of the collection in the education of PA and other health career students about their respective professional identities and future collaborative working relationships.
To disseminate information through publications, exhibits and via the Internet to health professionals and the general public about the cultural history of the PA concept and its incorporation into the main stream of American Medicine.
To promote a discriminating understanding of the nature of the PA profession, its achievements, failures, prospects and potential for helping address current problems of providing quality, cost effective medical and preventive health care services within the USA and internationally.