LOCK HAVEN - LHU Professor Walt Eisenhauer, program chair for the Master of Health Science: Physician Assistant program, has been elected a commissioner to the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA).
The commission is the accrediting agency that protects the interests of the public and physician assistant profession by defining the standards for physician assistant education. It also evaluates educational programs within the territorial U.S. to ensure their compliance with those standards.
Eisenhauer was nominated by the physician assistant education association and will join fellow commissioners from the American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Surgeons as well as other national medical groups.
The ARC-PA encourages excellence in Pennsylvania education through its accreditation process by establishing and maintaining standards of quality for educational programs. The accreditation process is designed to encourage sound educational practices and innovation by programs and to stimulate continuous self-study and improvement.
Eisenhauer completed his Physician Assistant Training at Hahnemann University in 1984, a Master of Medical Science Degree from St. Francis University in 1997, and a Master of Education Degree from Lock Haven University in 2007. He completed a post-graduate surgical residency program at Norwalk Hospital/Yale School of Medicine from which he recently was presented the Frank Scanlon Alumni achievement award. He has maintained national certification as a physician assistant since 1984 and is currently licensed by the Pennsylvania State Medical Board. He also has achieved Distinguished Fellow Status with the American Academy of Physician Assistants (DFAAPA)
The professor was on the initial advisory committee to the LHU president when the LHU PA Program was formed in 1994. He served as the program's director from 2001 until 2011 and has been a faculty member with the program since it began in 1996. He served as both the clinical coordinator and academic coordinator before assuming the directorship of the program. Currently he serves as a core faculty member of the program.
Also serving in numerous leadership roles in both state and national professional organizations, including the Pennsylvania Society of Physician Assistants and the Physician Assistant Education Association, he has served as president of the Pennsylvania Rural Health Association and currently is a program site visitor for ARC-PA.
"Lock Haven University is honored one of our faculty was chosen to serve," said Dr. Michael Fiorentino Jr., Lock Haven University president. "Professor Eisenhauer has a passion for his students, and his dedication and commitment to physician assistant education makes him a fine representative of our PA program as well as our university."
