The American Academy of Physician Assistants
in Legal Medicine
Welcome to the American Academy of Physician Assistants in Legal Medicine (AAPA-LM) Home Page. AAPA-LM is a special interest group within the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA). AAPA-LM is an organization to represent PA's with an interest in Legal Medicine. The group's goals are to provide a forum for discussion, representation with the AAPA, and to provide high quality, low cost education for the PA profession.
AAPALM MISSION STATEMENT
The MISSION of the
American Academy of Physician Assistants in Legal Medicine is:
1) to provide education on malpractice liability and risk management to AAPA members and the medical community with an emphasis on the provision of safe medical care for best care of patients and prevention of lawsuits;
2) to provide information and resources to PAs who are interested in becoming medico-legal consultants; and
3) to act as a resource and clearinghouse for attorneys and insurance companies seeking PA experts on the scope of practice and standard of care of physician assistants.
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Membership Page AAPALM Links Page Newsletter Editor Board of Directors Annual Meeting Minutes
AAPALM Members Survey Example Deposition (Defendant) Example Deposition (Expert Witness)
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The following was Adopted in 1995 and Amended in 1996 by the AAPA House of Delegates.
Physician Assistants are health professionals licensed or in the case of those employed by the Federal Government, credentialed to practice medicine with physician supervision. Physician assistants are qualified by graduation from an accredited physician assistant educational program and/or certification by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. Within the physician/PA relationship, physician assistants exercise autonomy in medical decisionmaking and provide a broad range of diagnostic and therapeutic services. The clinical role of physician assistants include primary and specialty care in medical and surgical practice settings in rural and urban areas. Physician assistant practice is centered on patient care and may include educational, research, and administrative activities.
The modern physician assistant profession officially began on October 6th 1967. This was the date the first Physician Assistant class of four students graduated from the Duke University PA Program. From this humble beginning, there are now over 35,000 graduate PA's and 96 accredited programs. The profession continues to grow.
As a profession, PA's can trace a similar history to the Middle-Ages. At that time, the name used was Barber -Surgeons. Barber-Surgeons were trained through an apprenticeship. During this time in history, formally trained physicians were available only to the rich and titled. Barber-Surgeons were the traveling care providers for all others.
The first use of non-physician care providers in the United States was during the Civil War. The term used for the profession during this period was "Surgeon's Assistants". The Union Army utilized these to the extent of making it's own branch called the Surgeon's Assistants Corp.
Each time the profession has reappeared, there was a physician shortage. The most recent shortage and rebirth was during the 1960's. The founding fathers of the PA profession saw this shortage and a potential solution. Dr. Eugene Stead and other physicians at Duke University saw a group of individuals with a tremendous amount of hands on experience, but lacked formal training and recognition.These were the combat medics from the Armed Services who had served in the Republic of Viet Nam. These physicians began the first formal Physician Assistant Training Program, at Duke in 1965.The program was developed, based on a medical model, similar to the way physicians were fast track trained during World War II.
The U.S. Army was also losing many physicians to civilian practice. They quickly saw the benefit of PA's. Congress authorized the training of four hundred Army PA's. The training began in 1971, with the first class graduating in July of 1973. The other services quickly followed the Army's lead and established their own programs.
Today, PA's work in all types of medical and surgical practice situations. Advanced training in the form of formal residencies are available in some of the specialties. October 6th has been designated as National Physician Assistant Day in honor of the first graduating class. October 6th 1997 will be the 30th anniversary of the profession. From 4 to 35,000 in 30 years, good growth. The future for the profession continues to look extremely bright.
The American Academy of Physician Assistants
The American Academy of Physician Assistants was founded in 1968 to provide a national professional society to represent all physician assistants in every area of medicine and to promote the profession to the public. The AAPA is structured to provide a chartered constituent chapter for each state, the District of Columbia, Guam, Veteran Affairs and each of the Uniformed Services. The AAPA House of Delegates, consisting of delegates from each chapter, is the policy making branch of the AAPA. The Society of Army Physician Assistants is one of these chartered chapters. Visit the AAPA Web site at aapa.org.
History of the American Academy of Physician Assistants in Legal Medicine
