First Annual Conference on New Health Practitioners

The First National Conference on New Health Practitioners was a seminal event in the development of the fledgling PA profession. Sponsored by the Association of Physician Assistant Programs and the American Academy of Physician Assistants, it was achieved by the cooperation of leaders committed to the success of the new profession. This article reveals, in a manner never before detailed, how this conference milestone was planned and what took place, and emphasizes its importance to the field. The meeting, held in April of 1973, was groundbreaking, attracting, among the 252 participants, the leadership of the American Medical Association, the National Board of Medical Examiners, the Federation of State Medical Boards, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the American Nurses Association, and federal agencies within the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, responsible for promoting and funding PA education, as well as PAs and PA educators. This remarkable participation, and conference program, have long deserved a more explicit accounting than they have had to date. Details for this article were enhanced when one of the authors (Piemme) discovered, among his archive of personal documents (from almost 50 years ago), 2 items originally generated by the US Air Force that provide more insight into details of the conference. One is a robust conference planning document outlining in detail both the organizational elements and the programmatic elements of the conference. The other is a final financial statement from the conference organizing committee.