Birthplace of the PA Profession
The physician assistant (PA) profession originated at Duke in 1965. Dr. Eugene A. Stead Jr., then-chairman of the Department of Medicine in the Duke University School of Medicine, believed that mid-level practitioners could increase consumer access to health services by extending the time and skills of the physician. He began a two-year curriculum to train people to fill a societal need for more medical practitioners, and expand the prior education and experience of ex-military corpsmen.
1959
Duke PA Program Timeline
U.S. Surgeon General Leroy E. Burney declares a national shortage of medical personnel
1961
Training Former Corpsmen
PA History Society
Dr. Charles Hudson sees the possibility to take medics and corpsmen from outside the line of fire to inside doctor's offices
1964
Phrase 'Physician Assistant' Is Coined
Duke University Medical Center Archives
Eugene A. Stead Jr., M.D., then-chairman of the Department of Medicine at Duke University Medical Center, coins the phrase "physician assistant"
1964
Letter From Eugene Stead Describing New Training Program
Duke University Medical Center Archives
"The Department of Medicine of the Duke University Medicial Center is establishing a training program to create new positions in the health field. We need males committed to the health field to fill in the gap between the physician and the nurse."
1965
Duke Physician Assistant Program Begins
Dr. Eugene Stead develops the first formal physician assistant training program in the nation at Duke University. Four former Navy corpsmen who had received considerable medical training during their military service were in the first class.
1967
Harvey Estes Assumes Responsibility for PA Program
Duke University Medical Center Archives
Two years after the program's founding, E. Harvey Estes, Jr., M.D. chair of the Department of Community Health Sciences, assumed responsibility for the PA Program. At this time, Dr. Stead had stepped down as chair of the Department of Medicine and took a sabbatical from Duke.
1967
First PA Class Graduates
Duke University Medical Center Archives
The first class of PAs — Victor H. Germino, Kenneth F. Ferrell and Richard J. Scheele — graduates from the Duke Physician Assistant Program.
1968
First African-American Graduate
Duke University Medical Center Archives
Prentiss Harrison is the first African-American graduate of the Duke Physician Assistant Program, and the first African-American physician assistant in the nation.
1970
First Female Graduate
Duke University Medical Center Archives
Joyce Nichols is the first woman to graduate from the Duke Physician Assistant Program, and also is the first female African-American graduate of the program.
1992
First Graduating Class to Earn Master's Degree
Duke University Medical Center Archives
The graduating class of 1992 earns a master of health science, in addition to a physician assistant certificate.
2004
Duke PA Research Group is Founded
A research group in the Duke Physician Assistant Program is founded when then-division chief Justine Strand de Oliveira, DrPH, PA-C, recruits Perri Morgan, Ph.D., PA-C to be the director of research. The group researchers the health care workforce and the types of roles being created for PAs.
2009
A New Home
The Duke Physician Assistant Program moves into its new home at 800 S. Duke St. in downtown Durham. The building is the former Blue Cross-Blue Shield headquarters.
2011
Duke President Brodhead Recognizes Pioneers
Duke President Richard H. Brodhead, PhD, writers a letter to the "pioneers" — graduates of the PA program from 1967-1971 — and salutes them as trailblazers
2015
PA Most Promising Job of 2015
Forbes Magazine ranks physician assistant as the top most promising job of 2015.
2018
First African-American Program Director Named
Jacqueline S. Barnett, DHSc, MSHS, PA-C, becomes first African-American program director
Division and Department Affiliation
The Duke Physician Assistant Program is an educational program in the Division of PA Studies in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health in the Duke University School of Medicine. The department is composed of five interdependent divisions — Community Health, Family Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, PA Studies, and Student Health.
Duke Health
The Duke University School of Medicine sits squarely between Duke University and Duke Health. Duke Health encompasses the School of Medicine, School of Nursing, three hospitals, outpatient services, a primary care network, and more.