At Commencement, the PA Program’s history

U.S. economy in free fall! Yale endowment down! Med school scrambles for $$$!

The 30 members of the physician associate Class of 2008 heard about the history of the Yale program from one of its founders, Alfred Sadler Jr., who addressed the class at Commencement in December.

Graduates Adam Cohn, Song Jin Comstock and Rachelle Concepcion read the professional oath of physician associates.

At Commencement, the PA Program’s history

Alfred Sadler, the first director of Yale’s Physician Associate Program, described its early days in the 1970s.

When Yale’s Physician Associate Program was launched in 1971, 28 of the 30 members of the Class of 2008 had not yet been born. At their Commencement in December the graduates got a history lesson along with their diplomas. The lesson came firsthand, delivered by the co-founder and first director of the Yale program, Alfred M. Sadler Jr., M.D.

Physician associate programs have their roots in emergency care, and Yale’s began as an experiment. “We were designing the curriculum as we went along,” Sadler said.

The Class of 2008 reflects the growth of the program in both numbers and scope. Whereas Yale’s first graduating class of just five students left with a certificate in physician associate studies in 1973, this year’s class—like others since 1999—earned a master’s degree in medical science, the M.M.Sc. Dean Robert J. Alpern, M.D., Ensign Professor of Medicine, said the program was lengthened from two years to 28 months under his tenure, “which is why we’re having Commencement on this freezing day” in December.

Sadler said the Yale program came into being when he and his twin brother organized regional emergency medical services in Connecticut, creating a model that was copied nationwide. Meanwhile, Jack Cole, M.D., chair of surgery, had received a grant from the Commonwealth Fund to start a trauma program within the Department of Surgery. He and Sadler had both noticed that the military had produced army medics competent to treat trauma alongside doctors, and that “these professionals were actually practicing medicine,” Sadler said. The two men then convinced Yale to create “the medical school’s first experiment in nonphysician education.”

Sadler, who directed the program until 1973, spearheaded legislation to authorize physician associates to practice medicine in the state of Connecticut. As inaugural president of the Association of Physician Assistant Programs, he helped develop accreditation standards for the profession and worked with the National Board of Medical Examiners to create the first national board examination.

Yale has since graduated 895 students from the program. Today there are 142 programs nationwide, Sadler said.

At the Commencement ceremony William B. Stewart, Ph.D., associate professor of surgery (gross anatomy), and Shanta E. Kapadia, M.B.B.S., lecturer in surgery (gross anatomy), received the Didactic Instruction Award from students. Gerard J. Kerins, M.D., geriatrics section chief at the Hospital of Saint Raphael, received the Clinical Instruction Award for a clinical rotation site that provides exemplary teaching. The Jack Cole Society Award, for contributions in support of the physician associate profession, went to Paul P. Possenti, PA-C, lecturer in surgery (trauma).

Adam Cohn, PA ’08, received the Dean’s Award for Academic Achievement. Arielle Macher, PA ’08, received the Dean’s Award for Clinical Excellence, and Lauren Myers, PA ’08, received the Dean’s Humanitarian Award.

—John Dillon

The Class of 2011 took affectionate potshots at faculty in February with their second-year show, “The Great ST Depression.” Ripped from the headlines, the show’s plot revolved around efforts to keep the School of Medicine functioning during an economic decline.

Gisella Weissbach-Licht, played by Lauren Graber, chastises faculty members James Jamieson, played by Ben Goldberg, and Michael O’Brien, portrayed by John Thomas, for spending too much money and getting the medical school into a financial crisis.

A highlight of the show was “My Goodies/Rizzilicious,” featuring Matthew Singleton as anatomy professor Lawrence Rizzolo. The number was based on Ciara and Petey Pablo’s “My Goodies” and Fergie’s “Fergilicious.”

U.S. economy in free fall! Yale endowment down! Med school scrambles for $$$!

Carrying on a 60-year-old tradition, the second-year class mocked its teachers and mentors with irreverence and affection at their show in February, “The Great ST Depression.”

The show’s 16 sketches centered on a loose plotline based on current events: the School of Medicine has lost its endowment and the dean is laying off faculty and eliminating financial aid. Entering survival mode, faculty and students must get part-time jobs—at s’wings or the Cedar Street food carts, for instance—or as Dean Robert J. Alpern, M.D., Ensign Professor of Medicine, suggests in one sketch, by holding up and robbing s’wings, a Crown Street eatery.

The cast of characters was familiar. Associate Dean for Student Affairs Nancy R. Angoff, M.P.H. ’81, M.D. ’90, HS ’93; Alpern; and Margaret J. Bia, M.D. (played by Larissa Chiulli, Derek Kennedy and Lauren Hackney, respectively) all received considerable skewering. Standout moments included the song “Docta Bia,” based on ABBA’s “Mamma Mia” and Jennifer Lopez’s “Jenny from the Block”; a video sketch featuring Shanta E. Kapadia, M.B.B.S., dishing up Indian food at a cart on Cedar Street; and the song “My Goodies/Rizzilicious,” featuring Matthew Singleton on stage and Carl Berdahl as the voice of Lawrence J. Rizzolo, Ph.D., based on Ciara and Petey Pablo’s “My Goodies” and Fergie’s “Fergilicious.”

Other highlights included a 14-member orchestra; a video parody in which David L. Katz, M.P.H. ’93, M.D., played an overadrenalized juice fanatic; and a video screening of the Class of 2011’s class prank—a parody of a Saturday Night Live sketch about bodily functions in which faculty made faces of delight or disgust. “Our faculty had a great sense of humor and recognized that we only make fun of them out of love and respect,” said Patricia Peter, one of the show’s two executive producers.

Planning for the show began last summer, and about 90 of the class’ 100 members participated. “We’re very proud of how collaborative it was,” said co-producer Janet Chiang. Henry Park directed the show.

—Charles Gershman