Carl Fasser, PA
Carl Fasser served as a medical corpsman in the Air Force and worked as a dialysis technician before becoming a student in the Physician Associate Program at Duke University Medical Center where he graduated with honors.
His long career in PA education began shortly following graduation when he assumed the position of academic coordinator for the Duke PA Program and faculty member in the Department of Community Health Sciences, while practicing as a PA in the Faculty Health Clinic. In 1971, he was recruited to Houston to establish Baylor's Physician Assistant Program. Prior to rejoining the faculty of Baylor College of Medicine in August 2002, Carl served as founding dean of the School of Health Sciences, and chairman of the Department of Physician Assistant Studies at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Boston.
He brings a unique perspective on PA education and practice that includes being a founding member of both the American Academy of Physician Assistants and Texas Academy of Physician Assistants, and having served as president of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, Texas Academy of Physician Assistants, and the Association of Physician Assistant Programs. Over the period of three decades, he has received numerous awards recognizing his contributions to PA education and the profession, and has published extensively on various aspects of PA practice.
His academic interests encompass student instruction, interdisciplinary education, and health services research. His favorite academic subjects continue to be gross anatomy, problem solving in medicine, evidence-based medicine, issues in aging, professional role responsibilities, and public health. From a curriculum design standpoint, his interests center on team training in geriatrics, primary care genetics education, and faculty development. The focus of his research is on factors affecting the consultation and referral practices of primary care providers.