Honoring PAs: Compassion, Skill and Teamwork in Action
Celebrating the vital contributions of PAs to health care
National Physician Assistant Week gives us the opportunity to recognize and celebrate the vital contributions of PAs to health care and to our Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing community.
To our PA students, I want to acknowledge the commitment you have made to enter a profession that demands academic excellence, clinical skill and deep compassion. Your journey is rigorous, but it is one rooted in purpose: to care for patients, to listen with empathy and to respond with both knowledge and compassion. You are becoming part of a profession that consistently ranks among the most trusted and impactful in health care.
I also want to recognize our PA faculty. Their creativity and dedication shape every step of the educational journey. They design innovative coursework, bring real-world challenges into the classroom and ensure that graduates leave prepared for an ever-changing health care landscape. Their work guarantees that our students not only meet today’s standards but are also ready to lead in the future.
To our graduates and practicing PAs, your work exemplifies resilience and dedication. The path through PA education is not easy. It requires perseverance through countless exams, rotations that test your adaptability and challenges that shape both your skill and your character. Yet the reward is profound. Every patient encounter becomes an opportunity to make a difference. Every diagnosis, every procedure, and every moment of listening is part of the trust patients place in you.
At UC Davis, we are proud that PA education is woven into the fabric of an academic health system that values teamwork, innovation and service. We believe that the best care happens when professionals learn with, from and about each other. Physician Assistants embody this principle. You bridge gaps, bring flexibility to clinical teams and remind us that health care is at its core about human connection.
During PA Week, I invite all of us to pause and reflect on the impact of this profession. Let us celebrate not only the knowledge and skills of PAs, but also the compassion and courage that define their practice. Let us recognize the families and mentors who support PA students in their demanding training. And let us take pride in being part of a community where the PA profession thrives.
To all our Physician Assistants and PA students: thank you for choosing this path, for strengthening our teams and for dedicating yourselves to the lives of patients who will depend on you.
