In Memoriam

Mickey Knutson

Marion “Mickey” Knutson, RN, MN, FNP, founder and director of the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) program at the University of North Dakota (UND) that later became the physician assistant (PA) program, died on January 2. She was 70 years old. She leaves a husband, son, and grandson.

Ms. Knutson earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from UND and a master’s degree in teaching from the University of Washington. In 1972 she founded and directed the FNP program at UND, which from its earliest days was a member program of the then-Association of Physician Assistant Programs (APAP). Under Ms. Knutson's leadership, the UND program became a PA program between 1991 and 1992.

Ms. Knutson was director of UND’s Division of Health Practitioners, codirector of the PA program, and an associate professor of community medicine and rural health at the university. She was a consultant to many PA programs and wrote and published scholarly articles on various topics of medical interest. She traveled extensively in the United States and abroad as a consultant on health care education and served as curriculum writer for many health programs in third-world countries. She held positions in many professional organizations, including the American Nurses Association, the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine, and the North Dakota Nurses’ Association of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists.

Her service to APAP included positions as a liaison and chair of the Nurse Practitioner Programs Committee from 1976-1981, on the Membership Committee from 1975-78, and as cochair of the Regional Council of Nurse Practitioner and PA Programs in 1978.

In 1990, Ms. Knutson was presented with the University of North Dakota President’s Award for Outstanding Service and the North Dakota Academy’s Physician Assistant Distinguished Service Award. Upon her retirement in 1998, following more than 30 years as a leader and innovator at UND, the Mickey Knutson Scholarship Endowment was established within the UND Foundation.

Donations can be sent either to the Knutson Memorial Fund at the Dakota Boys Ranch in Minot, North Dakota (http://www.dakotaboysranch.org/FoundationHelping.htm), or the Mickey Knutson Scholarship Endowment at the University of North Dakota: UND Foundation, PO Box 8157, Grand Forks, ND 58202.

— Thanks to Rhonda McDaniel from the UND PA Program for her help in assembling this material.

Valgene Valgora

Valgene J. Valgora, MSEd, PA, former director of the Louisiana State University (LSU) Medical Center PA Program, died on January 8 after a short battle with brain cancer. He was buried at the Hillcrest Cemetery in Omaha, Nebraska.

Mr. Valgora was considered a pioneer in the PA profession and in PA education. He began his career in the medical field as a Navy corpsman from 1958-1961, graduated from pharmacy technician school in 1960, and in 1966, earned his bachelor’s degree in medical technology from Creighton University in Nebraska. In 1972, he graduated from the Duke University PA Program. In 1975, he earned his master’s degree in education at Wichita State University.

Mr. Valgora held several positions at the Wichita State University and practiced clinically at the Wichita Veterans Administration Hospital from 1972-1977. He served at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and from 1977-1981 was director of undergraduate education in the Department of Family Practice. He practiced from 1977-1994 at the university’s student and employee health clinic and was the manager of student health from 1985-1993.

In 1994, Mr. Valgora was asked to guide a newly created PA program at LSU Medical Center, in Shreveport, where he served as director until 2000. In memory of one of his sons who died from leukemia shortly before Mr. Valgora went to Louisiana, he established the Joseph K. Valgora Compassionate Caregiver Award to honor a graduating senior who demonstrated high levels of compassion for his or her patients. The program continues to memorialize Joseph and honors a graduating senior each August.

Mr. Valgora was active on numerous committees and organizations promoting physician assistants and PA education. He was a member of both the American Society of Medical Technologists and the American Society of Clinical Pathologists; president of the Kansas Academy of Physician Assistants in 1975; a member of the board of directors of the Louisiana Academy of Physician Assistants and in 1997, its vice president. Two of his early presentations from 1979 reflect current themes: “Toward Clearer Definition of the Competencies of the Physician Assistant” and “Uses of Computers for Tracing and Testing of Physician Assistants Students’ Educational Experiences.”

Mr. Valgora is survived by his wife, four children, 10 grandchildren, and a brother and sister. He enjoyed reading medical-suspense novels, Nebraska Cornhusker football, bowling, golf, and fishing. Perhaps most of all, he enjoyed interacting with PA students and could always be found participating in their activities. His colleagues will remember him fondly as down-to-earth, easy to talk with, and always ready with a joke.

— Thanks to Kenneth Betzing from LSU for his help in composing this account.