PAEA Conducts 2023 Business Meeting 

On Tuesday, October 3, 2023, PAEA held its annual business meeting in a virtual event attended by nearly 300 PA members across the country.  

The chairs of the AAPA, ARC-PA, NCCPA, the nccPA Health Foundation, the PA History Society, and the PA Foundation provided brief reports to the assembly, as did Trenton Honda, PhD, MMS, PA-C, editor in chief of the Journal of PA Education.  

In new business, three motions were approved by the membership: 

Eligibility of Service on the Board of Directors 

This motion, along with the following motion, allows serving Board members who move to a developing program to continue their Board service until the accreditation process is completed. The change was recommended because as the number of developing PA programs continues to increase, a serving Board member’s loss of eligibility while waiting on program accreditation may become a more frequent issue that disrupts Board cohesion and continuity, putting the Association at undue risk.   

Term of Service on the Board of Directors 

This motion, along with the previous motion, allows Board members who move to a developing program to remain in their Board role until such time as that program becomes a member program. The Bylaws now state “A Board member who is no longer a faculty member at a member program or whose program loses its PAEA membership for any reason remains eligible to serve in the Board position for up to 18 months, provided the Board member joins the Association as an individual colleague or a faculty member at an institutional colleague program within 90 days of change in status. Failure to attain status as a representative of a Member Program or employment with a developing PA program after 18 months results in loss of eligibility to serve on the Board. An exception to this policy will be made for board members who are affiliated with a developing program, until such time as that program becomes a Member Program. If the developing program fails to attain accredited status, the Board member shall lose eligibility, and shall be removed from office.”  

These first two motions amended Bylaws Articles 3.09 and 4.05 were passed as part of the Business Meeting’s consent agenda. 

Terminal and Entry-Level Degree of the Profession 

The membership voted to affirm the master’s degree as the entry-level degree for the profession. The Association’s position policy will also add that “PAEA is investing in a strategy to explore how Doctoral Degrees can optimally contribute to PA education.”   

Visit our website to follow the journey that led to the membership’s decision, including key takeaways that influenced the Board’s motion.  

The meeting was led by President Elect Nicole B. Burwell, MSHS, PhD, PA-C, because President Linda Sekhon, DHSc, MMS, PA-C, was unavailable for personal reasons. 

President Elect Burwell thanked the Board for providing “critical guidance on the strategic work of the Association this year,” and expressed appreciation for CEO Sara Fletcher and the PAEA staff.  

She also recognized three Board members whose terms will end this year. 

“(Immediate) Past President Kara Caruthers and Secretary Janie McDaniel have served the Association for many years as Directors at Large and as the officers for PAEA. Your contributions to the strategic initiatives of the Association are immeasurable. Our Student Member at Large Cassidy McCandless, has been a source of inspiration to the Board and has brought a forward-thinking mindset over the last two years. We know that she has a brilliant future, and we look forward to seeing it unfold,” Burwell said. 

 This year’s election for members of the Board of Directors took place on October 2 and 3. There was a run-off election on October 5 and 6 to determine two of the Directors at Large. Through those elections, the following members will join the Board:

A recording of the 2023 Business Meeting may be viewed here.