Students in Arcadia’s Physician Assistant (PA) program will be in attendance for the annual “PAs on the Plaza” event during ABC’s Good Morning America on Oct. 6. 

The event kicks off Physician Assistant Week across the United States, which is celebrated annually from Oct. 6-12. This is the first time Arcadia is sending students to the event. Three students from the Glenside campus and three from the Christiana campus will be attending. They will be wearing Arcadia gear and holding cardboard cutouts of Archie the Knight mascot. 

The week celebrates and increases awareness for the PA profession. National PA Day was first celebrated in the United States on Oct. 6, 1987, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the first graduating class across the country. It’s also the birthday of Eugene A. Stead Jr., MD, the profession’s founder.

While the PA celebration only lasts a week nationally, students in the program at Arcadia will be celebrating it all month. On Oct. 1, PA students participated in the “Pie in the Sky” charity event, where they worked with MANNA to help make, seal, and pack pies to raise money for Thanksgiving dinners and year-round services for people in need. 

The rest of the month will include additional fundraisers at Chipotle near the Christiana campus in Newark, Del., and Panera near the Glenside campus. The month will also include events focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion, social/networking, health and wellness, and community engagement.   

About the PA Program at Arcadia

PAs are licensed clinicians who practice medicine in every specialty and setting. Arcadia’s program enjoys an overall exceptional first time pass rate on the National Commission on the Certification of Physician Assistants board examinations.

The program’s mission and goals produce graduates that are well-equipped to deliver high-quality, cost-effective health care in a wide variety of settings, including hospitals, clinics, physicians’ offices, and other community settings. Arcadia’s program is fully accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission of Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA).