Physician Assistant Faculty Member Appointed to State Board

Gov. Rick Perry has nominated Jason P. Cooper, EMT-P, MPAS, PA-C, assistant professor and director of clinical education at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) School of Allied Health Sciences, for appointment to the Texas Physician Assistant Board for a term to expire Feb. 1, 2017.

The nine-member board consists of physicians, physician assistants and public members. The group’s mission is to protect and enhance the public’s health, safety and welfare by establishing and maintaining standards of excellence used in regulating physician assistants and ensuring quality health care of Texans through licensure, discipline and education.

“We are certainly fortunate to have Jason as part of the PA faculty and leadership,” said School of Allied Health Sciences Dean Robin Satterwhite, Ed.D., FACHE.

Cooper graduated from the Physician Assistant Program in 2006. He worked as a physician assistant for the School of Medicine from 2006-2011before joining the faculty as an assistant professor.

Cooper received the 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award for the School of Allied Health Sciences Department of Laboratory Sciences and Primary Care. In 2013, he was appointed the director of clinical education for the Physician Assistant Program.

“I am honored to have been selected by the governor to serve the State of Texas on the PA Board,” Cooper said. “I look forward to serving the public with this responsibility and I am excited to be a great representative for both the university and West Texas.”

Prior to his service as a physician assistant, Cooper served as a paramedic and EMS system administrator. He is a member of the Texas and American academies of Physician Assistants, the Physician Assistant Education Association, and National Eagle Scout Association.

The Physician Assistant Program is located in Midland, Texas, on the campus of Midland College. The entry-level graduate program awards a Master of Physician Assistant Studies following 27 months of intensive academic and clinical training.

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