Donald M. Pedersen, PA-C, PhD
Don has been involved with UPAP since 1979, initially serving as Academic Coordinator. He has been the Program Director since 1989 after attaining a faculty appointment in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine in the University of Utah School of Medicine. Dr. Pedersen is now a full professor and has authored over 60 articles and book chapters relating to clinical practice and physician assistant education.
Under Dr. Pedersen’s leadership UPAP became a graduate program in the School of Medicine offering the Master’s of Physician Assistant Studies degree. Nationally, he is a past President of the Association of Physician Assistant Programs (APAP) with 4 years of service on the Board of Directors and in 1998 he founded the Associations official journal Perspective on Physician Assistant Education. He served as the journal’s editor and publisher for the initial seven years. He also created the Associations Research Institute that provides small grants for educational research by PA program faculty on a national level. During his tenure with the Association he established a liaison position with the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine and served in this capacity for two years. Dr. Pedersen has served as the President of the Physician Assistant Foundation (PAF), the philanthropic arm of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA). He completed eight years of service on the PAF Board of Trustees. He completed ten years on the state of Utah Physician Assistant Licensing Board, serving two years as chair.
In 2001 he initiated the Combat Medic/Corpsman Memorial Sculpture project that culminated in July of 2003 with a life-sized sculpture that now graces the entrance to the PA building on the University of Utah campus. He was a founding Board member of the Society for the Preservation of Physician Assistant History. He helped pioneer the Programs international clinical activity in Papua New Guinea and Thailand and presently serves on the AAPA International Working Group. Following the 2004 tsunami, Dr. Pedersen traveled to southern Thailand as a volunteer, serving 3 weeks helping identify the dead through DNA samples. He worked with the Thai military at Wat Yan Yao, a Buddhist temple where the makeshift morgue was established and approximately 4000 bodies were processed.
Dr. Pedersen began oil painting 5 years ago and has had numerous shows of his works. He donates paintings to charity and the Physician Assistant Foundation for their annual silent auction and displays many of his works at the Program. He enjoys jogging, skiing and surfing. His wife Kathy is also a PA.
Contact Information
Address: 375 Chipeta Way, Suite A, SLC, UT 84108
Office phone: (801) 585-7426
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