From the desk of the President: June 2026

A year in review…It does not seem possible that a year has passed since I assumed the Presidency of the Academy of Doctoral PAs. We have accomplished a lot over the past year within the organization and are growing significantly in our membership. We undertook a rewrite of our bylaws of the organization. Not an easy task, but necessary to align with a growing and dynamic organization was necessary. While maintaining a strong board of directors, we were able to elect new members including Dr. Jenna Rolfs as President-elect and two new board members, Dr’s. Deb Munsell and Robert (Rob) Gray to the ADPA BOD. These were great additions to our board. Our leadership team remains strong and committed to the organization.

Our Fall 2025 CME virtual conference was a huge success. Focused on Advancing PA Leadership we had a phenomenal team of speakers including Gabrielle and Anthony Poole, Peter Yen, Travis Kaufman and Folusho Ogunfiditimi. Their experience and insights made the presentations engaging and providing useful information to those in attendance. The Spring 2026 CME virtual conference was equally as engaging focused on PA Advocacy in Legislation, Administration and Education. We were fortunate to again have a great cohort of speakers including Dave Mittman, Meghan Pudeler, Stephen Lewia, Duncan Daviau, Joe Ciavarro and Jeremy Welsh. The information that was shared was very helpful to those in attendance at advancing the profession through advocacy. Our continued focus on providing PA CME focused on the roles of the doctoral PAs remains a priority.

Our membership growth has been phenomenal. Our outreach to doctoral PAs within the profession, and especially a focus on the doctoral students within our growing post-professional doctoral programs, has driven our membership steadily upward over the past year. We are proud of the team that made this a priority and for those PAs interested in the organization. ADPA represents the doctoral PAs in many areas of the profession within several organizations.

Much that we have accomplished would not have been possible without a strong board of directors committed to the ADPA. Wesley Patterson, Jenna Rolfs, Dane Doornbos, Aisha Hussein, Jamie Cox, Chris Cannell, Erin Chalmers, Robert Gray, Jonie Collins and Deb Munsell have all contributed much to the effort. Special recognition goes to our CEO Peter Yen who works tirelessly to keep the organization moving forward in the right direction. Special thanks to our new staff member and Chief Technology Officer Dallas Smith for his contributions. We are excited about our future growth and direction as we strengthen our team.

We are very excited about the election of Dr. Alan Heckman as the next president-elect who will work closely with Dr. Rolfs and myself as we continue to grow and represent the ADPA with the 4 Orgs and other professional organizations. Much to be excited about moving forward.

Thanks to all that have supported the ADPA over the past year. As my term as President ends on June 30 and I hand the gavel (and responsibilities) over to Dr. Jenna Rolfs, I am truly grateful for this opportunity to represent the profession. Thank you for your support. Looking forward to 2026-2027 and the future of the ADPA.

Dr. James R. (Rick) Kilgore