APAP Changes Its Name to Physician Assistant Education Association

By Steven Lane

At their annual business meeting at the 2005 APAP Education Forum in Puerto Rico, APAP’s member programs voted almost unanimously to approve a motion presented by the APAP Board of Directors to change the Association’s name to Physician Assistant Education Association. Through the same motion, the Association also adopted a new logo and tagline: Scholars. Leaders. Partners. Of the 88 member programs present and voting at the business meeting, 82 voted for the motion, two programs voted against, and four abstained.

The name change comes in the context of the Association’s impending move to independent management and its relocation to new headquarters next spring. The Association is currently managed under contract by the American Academy of Physician Assistants, as it has been since 1973, shortly after the Association was formed in 1972.

The name change was recommended by the Association’s Transition Task Force (TTF), the body charged by the APAP Board of Directors with overseeing all aspects of the move to independent management. The board approved the TTF recommendation and formally proposed it to the membership for consideration at the business meeting.

There are several reasons for the change. First and foremost, the former name contained no reference to education, the core function of the Association’s member programs. And the word “programs,” while well understood within the PA community, is sometimes confusing to groups in the larger health care and educational communities. In addition, many PA “programs” are now divisions or departments within their sponsoring educational institutions, reflecting the broader establishment of PA education within the structure of academia. The move to independent management provided an excellent opportunity to establish a new name, logo, and graphic identity.

The new name will become official as soon as the required legal processes are completed. The Association’s attorney has been charged to file the necessary paperwork with the District of Columbia, where the Association is incorporated, to change its articles of incorporation. Over the next few months, the name and logo will be incorporated into the Association’s Web site and publications as these are redesigned to reflect the organization’s new graphic identity.

APAP Update - December 2005