About OSPA

WELCOME FROM THE OSPA PRESIDENT

Hello OSPA and thank you for visiting our website! I am Heather Robbins, and I am privileged to be serving as your 2025-27 OSPA President. I have been a practicing PA for nine years, most of them at Adventist Health Portland. I’ve served on various OSPA Committees including our Government Affairs Committee and CME committee, been part of Oregon’s voice to the AAPA House of Delegates, and spent time advocating for state law changes in Salem. I am excited to support the dedicated PAs in Oregon for the next two years.

I love being a PA. This isn’t my first, or even second, career; but it really is the best career for me. I’ve found a home in medicine. My previous business experience gives me a broader perspective than if I had been in medicine for all of my professional life, which has served me well. I am passionate about volunteering and giving back. Being a PA is hard work, exhausting work, I know. But, I believe we make the world a better place when we take some time to mentor others, advocate for ourselves and our colleagues, and work for the common good.  I hope I can encourage you to spend a few hours this year promoting the PA profession with me.

OSPA has had some tremendous success in recent years. This is thanks to the hard work of our outgoing president, Alisa Gifford, and outgoing Board, many of whom are actually continuing on for the next term.  We have transitioned to collaborative practice, become Type C attending physicians for workers’ compensation, gained the authorization for PAs to be Medical Examiners, changed the association name and become the first state where PAs can be called Physician Associates in practice. Our conferences are growing and moving. We’ve added a second, joint conference with our colleagues in Washington, including a student track that has become the largest PA student gathering for a constituent organization in the nation. Our joint conferences will continue to alternate between Washington and Oregon. Our Fall Conference will be in Bend again this year, after which we’re planning to alternate between Salishan and Bend for the next few years at least.

But we aren’t done! We’re still advocating for the advancement of the PA profession – your profession. Some of our current legislative priorities include the PA Licensure Compact, creating an environment where any state jobs posted that PAs are qualified to fill, be open to PAs, and more. Be sure to follow the member chats for continued legislative updates.

Over the next two years your OSPA Board is working to grow the number of volunteers and the spirit of volunteerism within our organization, strengthen our relationships with higher education institutions, and work on legislation for independent practice. There are many exciting things to come. I would would love for YOU to be involved in the process! If you’d like to join a committee, see more of what’s happening in OSPA, help us make connections in the professional or education worlds, or just learn about the opportunities available, please reach out to the office at admin@oregonpa.org. Our executive director, Mike Oechsner, will help connect you with the right leader.

Heather Robbins, PA-C
President, Oregon Society of Physician Associates

OSPA MISSION & PURPOSE

OSPA Mission Statement

The mission of the OSPA is to advance the PA profession, to advocate for a quality, equitable, and accessible health care environment; to support the professional development of PAs; and to support the community of Oregon PAs.

Purpose of OSPA

This society shall be representative of Physician Associates within the State of Oregon. The Society is organized and shall be operated exclusively for educational and scientific purposes, to improve access of care, and advance the Physician Associate profession. In furtherance of these purposes the Society shall, through appropriate mechanisms, strive to assure the public of a uniform entry level and continued competency of Physician Associates. To represent Physician Associates and Physician Associate students so as to maximize the benefit of their services to the public, the Society shall:

  • Encourage its membership to render quality service to the health professions and to the public;
  • Assist in the development of role definition for the Physician Associate;
    Assist with the coordination and standardization of curricula for the Physician Associate;
  • Participate in the accreditation of Physician Associate programs;
  • Participate in the development of criteria leading to certification of the Physician Associate;
  • Develop, coordinate, and participate in studies having an impact either directly or indirectly on the Physician Associate profession;
  • Serve as a public information center with respect to its members, healthy professions, and the public; and
  • Notwithstanding any other provision of these Bylaws, the Society shall exercise its powers, rights, and privileges, whether conferred by this instrument, or by the laws of the State of Oregon or otherwise, in furtherance of its educational and scientific purposes, and other goals.
OSPA Bylaws - Click Here