First observed by a special day in 1987, Physician Assistant (PA) week is celebrated each year from October 6 through October 12 to recognize Physician Assistants and their contribution to healthcare. The first PA Day was celebrated on October 6, 1987, to mark the 20th anniversary of the first PAs to graduate from Duke University’s pioneering Physician Assistant program. October 6th also happens to be the birthday of Eugene A. Stead, Jr., MD, who is credited as the founder of the PA profession.
With a goal to educate physicians quickly and efficiently for military service, Dr. Stead first set out to develop a fast-track physician curriculum at Emory University during World War II. The war was creating shortages of people and resources all over the United States, and our nation was short on physicians as well. During this time, he utilized residents to staff Emory University Hospital, which laid the groundwork for the PA curriculum that he eventually developed for Duke University.
The shortage of healthcare providers continued to be an issue in the US long after World War II had ended, which led the American Medical Association to call for the expansion of the use of “mid-level” providers. In an answer to this call, Dr. Stead wrote a letter to the Administrator of Duke Hospital announcing his intention to develop a program for the “physician assistant.” And who better to train to fill this critical need than former military corpsmen, as they had been being informally trained to perform in similar roles for decades.
The first PA program was inaugurated at Duke in 1965, and consisted of a class of four former Navy medical corpsmen. Today, there are more than 100,000 certified PAs across the country. They can be found in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the majority of US territories. Physician Assistants continue to fill a vital need in the healthcare industry, allowing more patients critical access to care.
Because of this, and because of the wonderful PAs we have worked with in the past and continue to work with today here at Aureus Medical Group, we celebrate National Physician Assistant Week!
Liz Lord is an Account Manager with the Aureus Medical Group Advanced Practice division.