Accreditation Committee/Commission History Timeline

DateAction
May 28, 1971The development of the Essentials of an Accredited Educational Program for the Assistant to the Primary Care Physician was undertaken by the American Medical Association (AMA) Subcommittee of the Council on Medical Education’s Advisory Committee on Education for Allied Health Professions and Services. The Subcommittee included representatives from the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American College of Physicians (ACP), American Society of Internal Medicine (ASIM), American Medical Association (AMA), and Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The Essentials prepared by the Subcommittee were approved by those organizations except for the AAMC, which declined to approve or endorse the Essentials.
November 30, 1971The AMA House of Delegates, with the endorsements noted and on recommendation of the Council on Medical Education, adopted the Essentials, clearing the way for the approval of educational programs that met or exceeded these requirements.
December 18, 1971
Organizational meeting of the then-titled Joint Review Committee for Educational Programs for the Assistant to Primary Care Physician (JRC-PA).
February 7, 1972
The first formal meeting of the JRC-PA was convened. Dr. Malcolm L. Peterson, representative of the American College of Physicians, was elected the first chairman of the JRC-PA.
June 1972
The JRC-PA made its first accreditation recommendations to the AMA.
1973
The American College of Surgeons (ACS) adopted Essentials for an Educational Program for the Surgeon’s Assistant. Originally the ACS Committee on Allied Health Personnel reviewed applicant programs’ compliance with the Essentials. In April, the JRC-PA added three graduate PAs as members-at-large for one-year terms.
March 1974
The sponsors of the JRC-PA and the AMA recognized the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) as the fifth sponsor of the JRC-PA.
September 1975
The ACS became a sponsor of the JRC-PA.
1976
The review committees for primary care PAs and for Surgeon’s Assistants were merged into the Joint Review Committee on Educational Programs for Physician Assistants.
December 1976
The AMA House of Delegates voted to delegate its responsibility for adoption of proposed educational standards (also known as “Essentials”) to the AMA Council on Medical Education and authorized the transfer of responsibility for accreditation from the AMA Council on Medical Education to its Committee on Allied Education and Accreditation (CAHEA). This new committee was a modification of the Council’s former advisory Committee on Allied Health Education. These changes were instituted to achieve complete compliance with the US Office of Education criteria for national accrediting agencies. CAHEA was designed to represent communities of interest for which accreditation actions were taken. CAHEA was composed of representatives of allied health professions, medicine, the Council on Medical Education, and the public.
1978
The JRC-PA sponsors recognized the Association of Physician Assistant Program (APAP) as the seventh sponsor of the JRC-PA.
December 1981
The ASIM withdrew its sponsorship of the JRC-PA.
September 1982
The sponsoring organizations reduced their representation from three to two members each, except for the American Academy of Physician Assistants, which continued to have three representatives.
1988
The JRC-PA was renamed the Accreditation Review Committee on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA).
March 1991
The AMA requested that administrative responsibility for the ARC-PA be undertaken by another sponsoring organization.
September 1991
The AAPA accepted administrative responsibility for the ARC-PA. The corporate offices of the ARC-PA were established in Marshfield, Wisconsin.
1994
CAHEA was dissolved and accreditation activities were transferred to a new, independent agency, the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). The AMA became the seventh sponsoring organization of the ARC-PA.
March 1995
The ARC-PA approved the addition of a third representative from APAP.
September 1995
The ARC-PA was incorporated.
March 1996
A study was initiated to determine the feasibility of the ARC-PA withdrawing from the CAAHEP system and establishing itself as a freestanding accrediting agency.
1998
ASIM returned as a sponsor of the ARC-PA when the association merged with the American College of Physicians.
March 2000
The commissioners of the ARC-PA voted to become a freestanding accrediting agency for the PA profession as of January 1, 2001.
January 1, 2001
The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) began operation.
March 2001
Commission awards first program accreditation as a new agency. Commission becomes member of Association of Specialized and Professional Accreditors (ASPA)
January 26, 2004
Commission awarded recognition by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)
October 1, 2004
Commission moved to corporate offices in Duluth, GA (Johns Creek, GA)
March 2006
Commission voted to begin accreditation of clinical postgraduate PA programs
September 2006
Commission adopted  a revised policy related to the geographic scope of accreditation
March 2007
Commission voted to approve accreditation standards for clinical postgraduate PA programs
March 2008
Commission accredits first two clinical postgraduate PA programs
September 2010
Standards, 4th edition effective
November 2012
ARC-PA announced changes in accreditation process
September 2013
Feasibility study required for provisional applicant programs
March 2014
First Self Study Report two years before validation visit reviewed
May 2015
Feasibility study removed as requirement for provisional applicant programs
September 2015ARC-PA changes interval between validation reviews from seven to 10 years; ARC-PA approves holding quarterly commission meetings
September 2017The Commission voted to take the accreditation process for clinical postgraduate programs out of abeyance. A taskforce is charged with developing a proposal for a new accreditation process, timeline and standards.
September 2019

Accreditation Standards for PA programs, 5th edition, published (effective date September 2020).