| Richard
Scheele, PA Class of
1967
Induction: 2003 Richard Scheele
spent his formative years in Chicago, and after high school, entered
the Navy as a hospital corpsman. He spent four years in the Navy,
mostly as a surgical technician, and after his discharge, attended
college in Illinois and North Carolina. At the time
the PA Program was established in 1965, Richard was working as a
pharmaceutical representative. He learned about the program from
an article appearing in the Reader’s Digest about new health
careers. When this article appeared, the PA Program only existed
on paper and in the mind of Dr. Eugene Stead and the faculty of
the Department of Medicine here at Duke. Richard was
among the first four candidates selected for the program in l965.
When he graduated in 1967, he was 28 years old and an enthusiastic
advocate of the physician assistant concept. His first PA position
was at Duke Hospital working for the Division of Endocrinology.
Two years later, he joined a private physician in practice in Durham. As a student
and later as a graduate, Richard Scheele was an organizer and spokesperson
for the PA profession. He was instrumental in mobilizing students
at Duke into the Stead Society which still exists today. As other
PA programs developed throughout the United States, Richard worked
hard to bring students and graduates of these programs together,
forming the first professional organization for PAs. That organization
was called the American Association of Physician Assistants, which
today is known as the American Academy of Physician Assistants and
of March 29, 2004 has 32,567 members. Richard died
of a heart attack in 1970 at the age of 31, leaving behind a wife
and young child. Because of his leadership and pioneering efforts
for the PA profession, in 1970 the Duke PA Program established an
award in his name, presented annually to the student who exemplifies
his academic and professional leadership. This award keeps alive
the pioneering spirit, enthusiasm, and dedication of those early
graduates. < < < Back
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