Welcome to the Physician Assistant History Society Online Collections Database!
About Us
The PA History Society is dedicated to preserving and sharing the history and legacy of the PA profession. We identify and collect archival materials (personal papers and organizational records), photographs, digital images, videos, oral history interviews, and library items (books, journals, manuscripts) which deal with the development of the PA profession and illustrate how PAs continue to make a difference in our society. PAHx brings PA history to life by inspiring the next generation of PAs, patients and policymakers.
Tips for Searching
Keyword Search
The Keyword Search button in the top menu allows you to perform a general search across all of our collection categories (Museum, Archives, Oral Histories, Photos, Videos, and Library) in our online catalog. Keyword searches use OR as the default connector between words (e.g. a search for Hanley Ranch will return records associated with Hanley OR Ranch). If you want to find records where both keywords are found, type in AND between the two words. To search for a specific phrase, be sure to put the phrase within quotes (e.g. "Rocky Pine Ranch"). You can also use the asterisk (*) as a wildcard (e.g. a search for histor* would come up with records containing history, histories, historical, etc.). Searches are not case sensitive.
Advanced Search
The Advanced Search button can help you be more specific with your search. You can search for a word or phrase within a particular search category or use multiple categories to further narrow down your search results. For example, searching White in the People field will bring up any records associated with a member of the White family, without having to sift through black & white photographs. You can also search People and Creator records through Advanced Search. Phrase searching with quotes and use of wildcards (*) are available in Advanced Search.
Random Images
The Random Images button is a great way to just browse the collection. Each Random Images page displays a random assortment of images from the records online. If something piques your interest, click the thumbnail to view a larger version of the image.
Category Searches (Archives / Photos / Libraries / "Museum" Objects)
The category buttons can also help narrow down your search, by only searching with a selected category. If you only want to search for Photos, click the Photos button and type in your keyword(s) or phrase. You can also browse records within that category without performing a search. Phrase searching, wildcards (*) as well as AND/OR statements are available when performing catalog searches. Oral history interview records can be found in the Archives category and records about multimedia (videos, slides, etc.) can be found in the Photos category