Sadler Alfred M, Davis Ann
Alfred M. Sadler, Jr., is retired from the practice of primary and urgent care in Monterey and Salinas, Calif. He is the coauthor of The Physician Assistant: An Illustrated History, which chronicles the development of the profession over the past 50 years, and is immediate past president of the Physician Assistant History Society. He served as the first president of the Association of Physician Assistant Programs (the forerunner to the Physician Assistant Education Association) in 1972. Ann Davis is vice president of constituent organization outreach and advocacy for AAPA. The authors have disclosed no potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise.
JAAPA. 2017 Jul;30(7):46-49. doi: 10.1097/01.JAA.0000520540.23452.06.
The history of how PAs in the United States were first granted practice authority under the medical practice acts of the various states and territories begins in the 1960s with an imaginative way to circumvent the moratorium on licensure of new healthcare occupations in place at the time, while allowing the requisite flexibility for the new profession to take hold and thrive. In the subsequent decades, separate licensure for PAs was required and adopted. Despite the enormous success of the PA profession over its first 50 years, challenges remain.
