James F. Cawley is Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Prevention and Community Health. He is also a Professor in the Department of Health Care Sciences at GW's School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Professor Cawley and the profession of physician assistant (PA) have grown up together. For 35 years he has worked as a certified practitioner, an educator, a scholar and a leader, playing a pivotal role in moving his field forward. "I was fortunate to have entered the physician assistant profession in its early stages of development, and have been able to describe and analyze its history and evolution within the U.S. health care system," says Professor Cawley. He is director of the School's joint Physician Assistant/MPH program, which he founded and which was the first of its type in the US, training individuals for careers that bridge clinical practice and prevention.
At the invitation of the U.S. Bureau of Health Professions, he chaired the Advisory Group on Physician Assistants and the Work Force in 1993, and was principal author of its report to the Council on Graduate Medical Education. Professor Cawley also served as a member of the U.S. Public Health Service National Coordinating Committee on Clinical Preventive Services (1989-95) and as a Primary Care Health Policy Fellow in the federal Health Resources and Services Administration. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Physician Assistants and a former president of the PA Foundation and the Physician Assistant Education Association. He is a current member of the federal Advisory Committee for Training in Primary Care Medicine and D-entistry.
Education
• Bachelor of Arts (History/Political Science), St. Francis College, 1970
• Bachelor of Science, Physician Assistant Program, Touro College, 1974
• Master of Public Health (Epidemiology), Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, 1979
• Epidemic Intelligence Service Course in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1988
Teaching
• PubH 103 – Introduction to Preventive Medicine, Department of Prevention and Community Health
• PubH 209 – Physician Assistant/Masters in Public Health Seminar, Department of Prevention and Community Health
• PA 219 – Role of the Physician Assistant in Health Care, Department of Health Care Science, School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Research
Professor Cawley's principle research interests focus on the profession of physician assistant and on primary care and health work force policy. In addition to co-authoring four books on the PA field, he has published extensively in the areas of preventive medicine and the epidemiology of infectious diseases.
Community Service
Through his leadership positions in the field, Professor Cawley has worked to increase access to primary care through the use of physician assistants. In addition to his service to the PA Foundation, he has served on the executive board of the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants and is currently President of the Association of Physician Assistant Programs. His public health endeavors include a stint with the Epidemic Intelligence Service of the CDC, where he was a fellow of the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine. He is on the Board of Governors of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Cawley, J.F. Helicobacter Pylori Infection and Peptic Ulcer. IN: Battle, C.U. (Editor). Essentials of Biologic Concepts for Public Health. Boston: Jones & Bartlett, 2008.
Healthy People Curriculum Task Force. Clinical prevention and population health: curriculum framework for health professions, Am J Prev Med 2004;27(5):471-6.
Hooker RS, Carter RD, Cawley JF. A history of the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. Perspect Physician Assistant Educ 2004;15:10-5.
Benzie K, Miller K, Cawley JF, Heinrich JJ. Interest in physician assistant/public health dual-degree programs. Perspect Physician Assistant Educ 2003;14:40-1.
Cawley JF, Andrews MD, Barnhill GC, Webb L, Hill IK. What makes the day: An analysis of the content of physician assistants' practice. JAAPA 2001;14:41-56.
Cawley JF. Prescriptive authority and the physician assistant. In: Pharmacology for the primary care practitioner, Edmunds MW, Mayhew MS, editors. St. Louis: C.V. Mosby; 2000.
