James A. Van Rhee, DMSc, PA-C, is the Founding Program Director of the Touro Physician Assistant Hybrid Program, Montana. He graduated from the University of Iowa in 1989, where he completed his training as a physician assistant. In 1997, he received his Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies from Finch University/The Chicago Medical School. He completed his Doctor of Medical Science degree from Southern Illinois University in May 2023. Dr. Van Rhee has been involved in physician assistant education for over 25 years. He has served as Department Chair and Program Director of the Department of Physician Assistant Studies at Western Michigan University, Department Chair and Program Director of the Department of Physician Assistant Studies at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, founding program director of the physician assistant program at Northwestern University, and nine years at Yale University as program director of the physician associate and physician assistant online programs. He has also served as project director and test item writer for the Physician Assistant Education Association’s (PAEA) Physician Assistant Clinical Knowledge Rating Assessment Tool (PACKRAT). He has served as a commissioner and vice chair of the Accreditation Review Commission for Physician Assistant Education. He was the Consulting Editor for the Physician Assistant Clinics journal for seven years. Dr. Van Rhee has authored over 60 articles and has presented at the local, state, and national levels on various clinical medicine and education topics, including online PA education.

Clinical Specialty

• Internal Medicine- Hospitalist, Hematology/Oncology

Education

• BS, Medical Technology- Grand Valley State University
• BS, Physician Assistant- University of Iowa School of Medicine
• MS, Physician Assistant Studies- Rosalind Franklin University
• DMSc, Physician Assistant Studies- Southern Illinois University School of Medicine

Certifications

• NCCPA

Honors and Awards

• Excellence in Scholarship Award, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, 2023
• Biography, PA History Society, 2021. https://pahx.org/assistants/van-rhee-james/
• Research Achievement Award, Physician Assistant Education Association, 2019
• Friend of AMT Award, American Medical Technologists, 2018
• Outstanding Achievement Award, Physician Assistant Education Association, 2013
• Feinberg Academy of Medical Educators, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 2010-2013
• Pre-Clinical Teaching Award, Department of Physician Assistant Studies, Wake Forest University, 2009
• Pre-Clinical Teaching Award, Department of Physician Assistant Studies, Wake Forest University, 2008

Research

• Online Education
• Problem-based learning

Publications

• JA Van Rhee. "Recertification—Really?." Physician Assistant Clinics 3 (1), xiii-xiv, 2018
• JA Van Rhee. "Getting Ready for Boards?." Physician Assistant Clinics 2 (4), xiii-xiv, 2017
• JA Van Rhee. "Emergency Medicine." Physician Assistant Clinics 2 (3), xv-xvi, 2017
• JA Van Rhee. "The Physician Assistant: Fifty Years of Patient Care." Physician Assistant Clinics 2 (2), xiii-xiv, 2017
• J Van Rhee. "Almost 30 Million People." Physician Assistant Clinics 2 (1), xi-xii, 2017
• JA Van Rhee. "A Call for Preceptors." Physician Assistant Clinics 1 (4), xi-xii, 2016
• CS Wardley, EB Applegate, AD Almaleki, JA Van Rhee. "A Comparison of Students' Perceptions of Stress in Parallel Problem-Based and Lecture-Based Curricula." The Journal of Physician Assistant Education 27 (1), 7-16, 2016

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Professional Service

• Editor- Clinical Medicine for the Physician Assistant (Springer Publishing)
• Author- Physician Assistant Board Review (Elsevier)

Memberships and Affiliations

• Member of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA)
• Member of the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA)
• New York State Society of Physician Assistants (NYSSPA)
• Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (DFAAPA)

Teaching Responsibilities

• Clinical Medicine
• Clinical Pathophysiology
• Essential Diagnostic Modalities