The mission of the Daemen University Physician Assistant Department is to provide its graduates with the knowledge and skills necessary to meet the challenges of delivering quality medical care with great autonomy in a team-based model to a diverse patient population within a complex American healthcare system.

1994   Dr. Robert Marshall, President of Daemen College, recruits local Rheumatologist Nelson Torre, MD FACP from Sisters of Charity Hospital and Paul Jacques, RPA-C EdM to serve as the Founding Medical Director and Founding Program Director, respectively

1995   The first cohort of freshmen enrolls in the new 2+2 Bachelor of Science program

1996   The first cohort of twenty-nine students enrolls in the professional phase of the Physician Assistant Program. Schenck Hall is the primary classroom building and Curtis Hall houses the administrative offices

1997   ARC-PA awards initial accreditation to the Daemen College Physician Assistant Program with a maximum class size of thirty

1998   Twenty-eight students are awarded the first Bachelor of Science in Physician Assistant Studies degrees

1998    Medical Director Nelson Torre, MD FACP begins the first of two three-year terms as an ARC-PA Commissioner

1999   Daemen College wins the AAPA National Challenge Bowl. Team members include Joel Patterson, Cara (Lawson) Innus, and Deborah (Perrault) Swain in Atlanta, GA

1999   NYSED approves Daemen College’s application to award the first master's degree for physician assistants in New York State

1999    The first cohort of freshmen enrolls in the new 2+3 Bachelor of Science/Master of Science Program

2000    ARC-PA awards continued accreditation to the Daemen College Physician Assistant Program with a maximum class size of forty-five

2000   Students Without Borders(SWOB) is established and the first of twenty annual medical relief trips to San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic is completed

2001   The last cohort enrolls in the professional phase of the two year Physician Assistant Program as the first cohort simultaneously enrolls in the new three year Physician Assistant Program

2002   Assistant Professor Gregg Shutts, RPA-C MS is appointed Program Director and Department Chair

2003   The last Bachelor of Science degree is awarded.

2004    The first Master of Science degree is awarded

2005   Assistant Professor Gregg Shutts, RPA-C MS is awarded NYSSPA PA Educator of the Year

2006   Assistant Professor Joel Patterson, RPA-C MPAS is awarded NYSSPA PA Educator of the Year

2006   ARC-PA awards continued accreditation to the Daemen College Physician Assistant Program with a maximum class size of forty-five. BC 201 is the primary classroom.

2008   Adjunct Instructor Glen Buczkowski, RPA-C is awarded NYSSPA PA Educator of the Year

2011   ARC-PA approves a maximum class size of sixty-five. The Business Building houses two renovated classrooms for the PA Program.

2012   Associate Professor Cara Innus, RPA-C MPAS is awarded NYSSPA PA Educator of the Year

2012   ARC-PA awards continued accreditation to the Daemen College Physician Assistant Program with a maximum class size of sixty-five

2013   Associate Professor Joel Patterson, RPA-C MPAS is awarded NYSSPA PA Educator of the Year for the 2nd time

2015   Assistant Professor Allyson Kirk, RPA-C MPAS is awarded NYSSPA PA Educator of the Year

2015   Professor & Program Director Gregg Shutts, EdD PA-C DFAAPA  begins the first of two three-year terms as an ARC-PA Commissioner

2020   Associate Professor Joel Patterson, PA-C MPAS is appointed Program Director

2020   Associate Professor Allyson Kirk, PAC MPAS is appointed Department Chair

2020   Professor Gregg Shutts, EdD PA-C DFAAPA is appointed Interim Director of and guides the construction of The Center for Interprofessional Learning and Simulation (CILS)

2023   ARC-PA awards continued accreditation to the Daemen University Physician Assistant Program with a maximum class size of sixty-five

2024   Assistant Professor Jennifer Barwell, DMSc PA-C is appointed Program Director and Department Chair

5 year BS/MS program (2+3)

• Degree is a Natural Science- Health Science, B.S./Physician Assistant Studies, M.S.

• Accept 65 students each year as freshman

  • If after 2 years, students have met all the requirements they have a guaranteed seat in the 3rd year (upper division)

• Any vacancies at the end of the 2nd year are filled with graduate students

  • Degree is Physician Assistant Studies, M.S.

The PA program itself (upper division) is 33 months long and comprised of:

• 2 didactic (classroom) years that follow a traditional college calendar

• 1 clinical year (7 Core rotations and 3 Non-Core rotations)

At any given time we have 3 cohorts of students in the upper division, which if all completely full, would equal 195 students