A New Chapter in a Living Legacy
Historic gift establishes Utah’s first endowed chair in physician assistant studies.
By Wayne Lewis
photo by Kim Raff
Located outside of the UPAP building, the Combat Medic Sculpture is a tribute to those whose service as battlefield medics played an important role in the founding of the physician assistant profession.
As the Utah Physician Assistant Program celebrates its 50th anniversary, two longtime faculty leaders have made a significant commitment to the program’s future.
A gift from Don and Kathy Pedersen has created the Don Pedersen Endowed Chair in the Division of Physician Assistant Studies—Utah’s first endowed chair in PA studies and one of the first in the nation.
The Pedersens have been closely connected with the Utah PA Program for a combined 80-plus years. Don, a professor emeritus, was the program’s director for decades as well as founding chief of the Division of Physician Assistant Studies. Kathy, an associate professor, has been a major influence on the program’s academic and international activities.
“The Pedersens’ legacy as leaders, mentors, and innovators has been intertwined with that of our Physician Assistant Program for most of its existence,” said Kola Okuyemi, MD, PhD, chair of family and preventive medicine at the School of Medicine. “We are grateful they chose to deepen that connection with this generous gift.”
The endowed chair will offer holders flexible resources to advance important initiatives within the Division of Physician Assistant Studies.
Don, an alumnus of the U’s PA Program, became its academic coordinator in 1979. As program director from 1989 to 2010, he led the transition from a federally funded certificate program to a master’s degree-granting graduate program.
He has made an indelible mark on the profession itself that goes far beyond the campus. Among other accomplishments, he launched the first research grant program as president of the national organization now known as the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA). The author of more than 75 articles and book chapters about clinical practice and education, he also founded the first scholarly publication in the field, the Journal of Physician Assistant Education, in 1998.
“As a PA, I owe everything to Don in regards to my career— not just because I am a graduate of UPAP Class No. 38, but because I am a PA,” said interim division chief Leigh Elrod. “Don is one of the founding fathers of the PA profession, and he continues to vigorously advocate for the PA profession on a local, national, and international level. Throughout his long and successful career, Don has exhibited a visionary spirit, and has been dedicated to the core belief that everyone should have access to quality medical care. Without Don’s contribution to the profession, I would not be a PA and certainly would not be in the position I am today.”
“Throughout his long and successful career, Don has exhibited a visionary spirit, and has been dedicated to the core belief that everyone should have access to quality medical care.”
Don has been president of the Physician Assistant Foundation and chair of the Utah Physician Assistant Licensing Board. Among a host of recognitions, he has received the President’s Award from the Association of Physician Assistant Programs, the Utah Medical Association’s Distinguished Service Award, the University of Utah’s Global Health Excellence and Leadership Award, the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from PAEA.
“Don Pedersen is the master storyteller of the physician assistant movement in Utah,” said Roderick Hooker, a historian of the field. “With his importance to the profession, it’s appropriate that this first endowed chair in a PA program should bear his name.”
The Pedersens’ impact reaches overseas. They helped initiate the PA Program’s clinical activities in Papua New Guinea and Thailand, where Don volunteered following the 2004 tsunami. In Kathy’s more than 30 years with the PA Program, she has worked to bring student rotations to several countries. Such rotations nurture global health curricula more broadly within the profession and provide students a global perspective on health and disease. Kathy has worked to raise the visibility of the PA profession globally and improve access to health care.
Past president of the Utah Academy of Physician Assistants, Kathy also served on the first American Academy of Physician Assistants’ Committee on International Affairs and chaired a white paper on international activities of PA programs as a member of the first International Affairs Committee for PAEA. She was on the board of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health. In 2011, the Pedersens founded Global Partners, a project that directs expertise from U of U Health to help train providers in areas like the Thailand-Myanmar border and Morocco.
The Pedersen Chair is the latest expression of the couple’s prolific giving. They have endowed numerous scholarships and grants with the PA Program and at national professional organizations. They also raised funds for the combat medic sculpture outside the PA Program’s main building, a tribute to the PA profession’s founders.
“In a lot of ways, you’re judged by the company you keep,” said Jared Spackman, director of the Utah PA Program. “We have had the unique good fortune of keeping company with the Pedersens and benefiting from their passion, their innovation, and their philanthropy.”
In 2021, Don Pedersen authored “UPAP–50 Years of Physician Assistant Education in Utah and the Intermountain West– From the Utah MEDEX Demonstration Project to a Nationally Ranked Graduate Program in the University of Utah School of Medicine.” Contact the Utah Physician Assistant Program for access to this important archival book.