PERSPECTIVES 25th Anniversary - Fall-Winter 2018

46 Nova Southeastern University By Pamela B. Jaffey, M.D., FCAP, Associate Professor Physician Assistant Fort Lauderdale Celebrating One Man’s Lofty Vision That Came to Fruition THIS YEAR marks the 25th anniversary of the college’s Phy- sician Assistant (PA) Department. Its origin is very interesting and involved much dedication and hard work on the part of a small group of founders. These efforts were fueled by the vision of a special man, Morton Terry, D.O., M.Sc., FACOI—an internist who saw a tremendous need for primary care physicians throughout Florida. There were a vast number of areas, often rural, where health care was limited. In addition, there was an increas- ing elderly population that was medically underserved. To address this need, Terry founded Southeastern College of Osteopathic Medicine (now known as the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine) in 1979, in North Miami Beach, Florida. He then established Southeastern College of Pharmacy and Southeastern College of Optometry, because he recog- nized a paucity of educational opportunities for these specialties in Florida as well. The three combined colleges became known as Southeastern University of the Health Sciences. He received much assistance from Frederick Lippman, R.Ph., Ed.D., current chancellor of the NSU Health Professions Division, who served in the Florida Legislature for many years and shared a passion with Terry for promoting access to health care in Florida. The two men were faced with a health care crisis. There was a sharp decrease in governmental funding for primary care residencies, which caused a huge shortage of physi- cians in Florida. At the same time, the state’s population was rapidly growing and health care demands were increasing. Both Terry and Lippman saw that a solution to the problem could lie in educating additional physician assistants, who could effectively serve as mid-level primary health care providers. In late 1991, early discussions about the potential for the development of a PA program were under way. In early 1992, seed funding for the program was provided by the Area Health Education Centers Program, headed by Steven Zucker, D.M.D., M.Ed., associate dean for community affairs of the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine.