A Time for Transition:
Charting APAP’s Future

Paul Lombardo, MPS, RPA-C
President Elect, APAP

The PA profession was initiated and nurtured by a group of visionary individuals who saw an opportunity to improve health care delivery and responded to that need. The founders of APAP and our profession, along with others, embraced change and met the challenges associated with new ways of approaching medical education and practice. Since its inception, PA education and practice has continued to evolve, and in doing so, has recreated itself to respond to the demands of the twenty-first century. Consider just some of the important changes in PA education that have occurred over the past decade

• The number of physician assistant programs in the United States has more than doubled and PA programs now produce a greater number of graduates than at any time in the history of our profession
• Graduate-level PA education has become the standard, and the master’s degree is the profession’s most frequently awarded credential
• PA faculty are expected to hold advanced academic credentials and teach more information essential to medical practice — and in more depth — than ever before
• Research and publications by PA faculty have grown and are a recognized part of the body of medical literature
• PA education has evolved to the point that it is being emulated on a worldwide basis

Given the history of PA education and our profession, it will come as no surprise to anyone that the Association that represents PA educators will also need to evolve in order to realize both its mission and full potential. Or put in another context, just as those who were instrumental in conceiving APAP and the PA profession seized the opportunity to make positive change, so must we seize on the opportunity that now presents itself.

Over the next year, our organization will begin to explore the transition to greater administrative autonomy and increased responsibility for matters related to PA education. This transition will outlive my tenure as APAP president and, as with all managed change, will present many opportunities and challenges. Although every attempt will be made to anticipate these and capitalize on them, the road ahead, while promising, is uncharted. That being said, as the gatekeepers to the PA profession, many APAP leaders believe as I do, that this is the path that the times demand, and now is the time to set our feet squarely upon that path.

Greater autonomy for APAP is important for many reasons. First, it will give the Association a stronger, more unique identity, much as the Association of American Medical Colleges has a strong, yet separate identity from the American Medical Association, but one that is no less important to advancing the practice of medicine and related social causes.

Second, establishing the Association as the definitive authority on PA education will offer new opportunities for collaboration with other organizations and help ensure that external organizations and agencies communicate with APAP in this capacity. This will afford APAP and its member programs the opportunity to exert a more significant voice in determining educational and social policy.

Third, assuming full responsibility for matters related to PA education will afford a greater number of faculty the opportunity to develop skills in areas including, but not limited to, association management, policy development, and research. This can only benefit APAP, its members, and the profession.

Finally, increased autonomy and independence will help the Association realize its potential more rapidly. This is especially important as it translates into the provision of new and improved services to member programs and their faculties.

Let me be very clear that neither I, nor other Association leaders, are motivated to pursue increased administrative autonomy out of any dissatisfaction with the existing contractual relationship between APAP and the Academy. In fact, APAP’s leaders and constituents agree that our management contract with the Academy has served the Association well within the constraints that such arrangements always entail. Many feel, as do I, that taking full responsibility for our own affairs would result in an even closer and more productive working relationship between APAP and the AAPA. Leaders and staff of both organizations have discussed how APAP’s disengaging from the Academy would also permit AAPA to reallocate significant in-kind services it provides to the Association towards its own organizational mission. A redesigned APAP is also likely to result in closer collaboration with others integrally involved in our profession, for example with our colleagues at the ARC-PA and NCCPA.

The decision to pursue a more autonomous identity has been made with full consideration for APAP’s current and future resources. Indeed, thanks to the work of previous APAP administrations and the vitality of our membership, we are fortunate to have many resources available to help in this transition. Among the most significant are

• One hundred and thirty-three physician assistant programs and their faculty, most of whom recognize and understand the need for this transition
• Strong APAP leaders, present and past, who have developed significant administrative, managerial, and communication skills and an Association staff that can, and will, grow to meet the daily challenges of the new APAP
• A centralized application process that facilitates entry into PA programs and makes yearly gains in strength and numbers
• An annual forum increasingly responsive to the needs of both new and seasoned members. Attended by increasing numbers, the forum is recognized as the premiere venue to access useful information on PA education that both applies to and assists us in our faculty roles
• A viable organizational infrastructure that is becoming increasingly sophisticated with respect to handling critical issues such as research, legislative initiatives, international relations, educational programming and policy, leadership training, and social responsiveness, including cultural competence
• Colleagues within the Academy and other organizations whose support and advice, particularly during this period of transition, will help us to achieve our goal
• A sound and promising fiscal position

The path forward is clear. As we attempt to embark on this important initiative, I ask you to join the APAP board, your colleagues, and me in taking the steps necessary to realize APAP’s full potential. I invite you to raise suggestions and express your concerns. I count on your support to make this time of transition one that will work for the Association, its constituents, our profession and, most importantly, the students and patients we all ultimately serve.

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