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The Society for the Preservation Of Physician Assistant History

The Physician Assistant History Society, Inc., is dedicated to the history and legacy of the physician assistant profession through the identification and collection of appropriate papers, manuscripts, magazine and newspaper clippings, newsletters, reports, dissertations, oral histories, and visual artifacts, such as films, slides, videos, photographs, and digital images. 

As the physician assistant 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, PA-C, the office's Director, began developing appropriate strategies and procedures to collect and present, via the internet, materials related to the 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 January 2004, Duke University, approved the Society’s request to have the DUMC Archives process, maintain and provide archival support for the special collection being assembled by the PA History Society.   Thanks to the generosity of professional leaders, policy-makers, writers, publishers and Society members, the collection has expanded in recent years. 

On May 17, 2011, the Society became a supporting organization of the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA).

The PA History Society is governed by the Board of Trustees:

PA History Society Board of Trustees:

President
Thomas E. Piemme, MD, Arizona

President-Elect
Alfred M. Sadler, Jr., MD, California

Secretary/Treasurer
Karen Mulitalo, MPAS, PA-C, Florida

Trustees:

Ann Bliss, RN, MSW, Connecticut
F.J. ‘Gino’ Gianola, PA, Washington
P. Rea Katz, PhD, PA-C, Illinois
William H. Marquardt, MA, PA-C, DFAAPA, Florida
Gretchen M. Paruch, MHS, PA-C, Pennsylvania
Raisa Polacek, MPAS, PA-C, Ohio
William D. Stanhope, MS, PA, Georgia

Ex-Officio Trustee:

Acting NCCPA CEO
Pamela M. Dean, MBA, Georgia