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Center for the Future of the Health Professions
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Center for the Future of the Health Professions

​The Center for the Future of the Health Professions was developed to provide state, local and national policymakers and health system stakeholders with accurate, reliable, and comprehensive data and research about the healthcare workforce, so they can effectively plan for a sustainable future and make the best use of available resources.

  • Vision +

    • ​The vision of the Center is to become a national and international network and resource focused on the future of health professions; particularly those health professions in which ATSU currently has educational programs or plans in the future. The aim of the Center is to bring greater visibility to ATSU as a preeminent institution of healthcare innovation, research and education.

  • Goals +

    • The goals for the inaugural year 2018-2019 include:

      1. Publishing a periodic electronic newsletter, periodic research reports, and occasional “one pager” based on recent data and/or regulatory changes. The ATSU Health Professions Messenger is the inaugural issue.
      2. Hosting panel discussions with experts on a variety of health policy topics. The first panel discussion was held on September 11, 2018 on “The Future of Programmatic Accreditation.”
        The next panel discussion topic will be “Workforce Projections for the Health Professions”. We will invite ATSU faculty and staff to participate on site or through Zoom technology. The third panel discussion will address “The Challenge of Clinical Training Sites.”
      3. Hosting a page on ATSU’s website with health policy updates and resources.

  • Panel Discussions +

    • The ATSU Center for the Future of the Health Professions conducts periodic panel discussions designed to foster an interprofessional dialog on contemporary and emerging themes and issues relevant to the health professions and health professions education. All ATSU faculty and staff are invited to participate in-person or virtually via video conference.​

      Panel discussion schedule

      • The challenge of clinical training sites (date TBD)
      • Workforce projections for the health professions (date TBD)
      • The future of programmatic accreditation (September 11, 2018)

  • Administration and Steering Committee +

    • Randy Danielsen, PhD, PA-C Emeritus, DFAAPA
      Director

      Randy Danielsen, PhD, PA-C, Emeritus, DFAAPA, is director of the Doctor of Medical Science (DMSc) Program in the Department of Physician Assistant Studies at A.T. Still University Arizona School of Health Sciences (ATSU-ASHS) in Mesa, Arizona. Since graduating from the University of Utah physician assistant program in 1974, Dr. Danielsen has distinguished himself as a clinician, educator, and editor. He received his BS in health science (cum laude) from the University of Utah in 1978, his masters in PA studies from the University of Nebraska with an emphasis on internal medicine in 1997 and his PhD in interdisciplinary arts and sciences from the Union Institute and University in 2003 with an emphasis on medical education. He completed over 20 years with ATSU as academic coordinator (1995 – 1997), chair of physician assistant studies (1997-2004), and as dean of ATSU-ASHS (2004-2010) and returned as dean of ASHS in 2012 through 2018.

      Amanda Weaver, MBA
      Program Administrator

      Amanda Weaver, MBA, retired on July 1, 2014, as executive director for the Arizona Osteopathic Medical Association (AOMA) after almost 20 years. She received her masters in business administration from Arizona State University in 1998. She is a 2001 graduate of the Osteopathic Heritage Health Policy Fellowship Program. She was the first recipient of the first honorary degree (doctor of humane letters) conferred by ATSU-SOMA in 2014. She received The Riland Medal for Health Policy from New York Institute of Technology in 2014.

      Steering Committee

      • Randy Danielsen, PhD, PA-C Emeritus
      • Norman Gevitz, PhD
      • Leonard Goldstein, DDS, PhD
      • Amanda Weaver, MBA