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Our Faculty Members
Donald M. Pedersen, PA-C, PhD
Program
Director and Professor
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Don has been involved with UPAP since 1979, initially serving as Academic Coordinator. He has been the Program Director since 1989 after attaining a faculty appointment in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine in the University of Utah School of Medicine. Dr. Pedersen is now a full professor and has authored over 60 articles and book chapters relating to clinical practice and physician assistant education.
Under Dr. Pedersen’s leadership UPAP became a graduate program in the School of Medicine offering the Master’s of Physician Assistant Studies degree. Nationally, he is a past President of the Association of Physician Assistant Programs (APAP) with 4 years of service on the Board of Directors and in 1998 he founded the Associations official journal Perspective on Physician Assistant Education. He served as the journal’s editor and publisher for the initial seven years. He also created the Associations Research Institute that provides small grants for educational research by PA program faculty on a national level. During his tenure with the Association he established a liaison position with the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine and served in this capacity for two years. Dr. Pedersen has served as the President of the Physician Assistant Foundation (PAF), the philanthropic arm of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA). He completed eight years of service on the PAF Board of Trustees. He completed ten years on the state of Utah Physician Assistant Licensing Board, serving two years as chair.
In 2001 he initiated the Combat Medic/Corpsman Memorial Sculpture project that culminated in July of 2003 with a life-sized sculpture that now graces the entrance to the PA building on the University of Utah campus. He was a founding Board member of the Society for the Preservation of Physician Assistant History. He helped pioneer the Programs international clinical activity in Papua New Guinea and Thailand and presently serves on the AAPA International Working Group. Following the 2004 tsunami, Dr. Pedersen traveled to southern Thailand as a volunteer, serving 3 weeks helping identify the dead through DNA samples. He worked with the Thai military at Wat Yan Yao, a Buddhist temple where the makeshift morgue was established and approximately 4000 bodies were processed.
Dr. Pedersen began oil painting 5 years ago and has had numerous shows of his works. He donates paintings to charity and the Physician Assistant Foundation for their annual silent auction and displays many of his works at the Program. He enjoys jogging, skiing and surfing. His wife Kathy is also a PA. |
John Houchins, MD
Medical Director
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Dr. Houchins received his medical degree from Rush University in Chicago, and graduated from the University of Utah Family Medicine Residency Program. He spent the first 11 years of his career working at the Salt Lake Community Health Centers before joining the University of Utah faculty full-time in 1997.
His areas of special medical interest include obstetrics, preventive health and indigent health care. His research interests revolve around communication in the healthcare setting. He enjoys teaching students of various levels, including physician assistants, nurse practitioners, medical students, and residents, and has received several teaching awards for this.
He has been the medical director at UPAP since 2003, but has been part of the program ever since graduating from residency in 1986. Besides his activities locally, he also is highly involved with the PA Education Association at a national level, including serving as Medical Director Dialogue feature editor in the PAEA quarterly journal.
He is the proud father of 3 grown (or nearly grown) boys. Personal interests include skiing, hiking, sports, travel and highly competitive card-playing. |
Constance Goldgar, PA-C, MS
Associate Director
Director
of Graduate Studies
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Connie has worked at UPAP since 1993 in various capacities (Clinical Coordinator, Academic Coordinator, as well as her current roles), with a 4-year hiatus when she lived in France. She received her BA in Biology from Grinnell College, and graduated from the Child Associate Program at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center where she received her MS in Child Health, in 1982. She has worked clinically in the areas of pediatrics, pediatric and adult gastroenterology, and genetic epidemiology. Connie was recruited back to UPAP from France in 1999 to head up the new master’s degree curriculum. Together with David Keahey, she has been instrumental in the development and implementation of the graduate and postgraduate evidence-based medicine (EBM) master’s curriculum. She and Dave Keahey have been involved in faculty development with their EBM curriculum, teaching over 70 PA faculty across the country in regional seminars. Some of her energy is also dedicated to advancing the genetics curriculum as well as helping to formalize UPAP’s service learning program. Nationally, she currently serves as Director at Large for the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) Board, PAEA liaison to NCHPEG (National Coalition for Health Professional Education in Genetics), ARC-PA Site Visitor Chair; she recently served as PAEA Liaison to Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, as well as a joint PAEA Ethics/NCCPA Foundation Committee.
She and her husband, David, have a son and daughter, both attending college in Utah. They take advantage of the beauty in Utah, bicycling, hiking, and skiing in the canyons, mountains, and desert. She enjoys painting watercolors when she has spare time, but is not as prolific as Don. |
Dan Crouse, PA-C, MPAS
Associate Director
Director of Academic
Affairs
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Dan been working with the University of Utah PA Program in 1994 initially as the Clinical Coordinator and has been the Academic Director since 1996. He has also been the Co-Associate Program Director since 2005.
His responsibilities include oversight for the 15 months of didactic training prior to the students’ clinical year. Dan teaches Wound Management, Professional Issues, Introduction to Health Professions as well as co-teaching several other classes. He graduated from the Utah MEDEX Program (now the University of Utah PA Program) in 1981. He received his Master’s in Physician Assistant Studies in 2003 from the University of Utah. He worked full time in Family Practice and Urgent Care in Fort Collins, CO 1981-1984, Orlando, FL 1984-1994, and now part time at the University of Utah Family Practice Clinics since 1994. Dan is Director of the William M. Wilson Underserved Scholarship Program, and in 2000 he was appointed to the Utah Department of Professional Licensing PA Board by the Governor of Utah, and has been the chair since 2003. He was on the advisory board of Crossroads Area Health Education Center from 2000-2006. He has been a member of the Education Subcommittee for the Physician Assistant Education Association since 2007. Dan has worked with students on various local pediatric programs since 1996, including the National Youth Sports Program, Migrant Head Start, and Salt Lake City Head Start Programs.
He and his wife of 27 years have a 14-year-old son, Tyler. His interests include fly-fishing, golf, motorcycles, and camping. |
Jennifer Myers Coombs, PA-C, MPAS
Director
of Outcomes
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Jennie graduated from the University of Utah PA program (UPAP) in 1991, class 20. Before PA school she received a B.A. from Colorado College in Psychology and became a Licensed Midwife in the state of New Mexico. She obtained her Master in Physician Assistant Studies in 2001. Currently she is enrolled in the U's Public Health PhD program.
She began practicing as a Physician Assistant in family practice at Northwest Community Health Centers (now Steven D. Ratcliffe). She practiced there for over 10 years with a special emphasis in Vietnamese Refugees. She became the Director of Admissions at UPAP in 1998, and was a Clinical Associate for 4 years.
She received the Humanitarian of the Year Award from the Utah Academy of Physician Assistants (UAPA) in 1992 and 2006. She was an active member of the Physician Assistant Education's (PAEA) Central Application Service for PA's (CASPA) committee for 4 years. She is a reviewer for the PAEA journal. She has been on the Board of Directors for the UAPA for 5 years, currently serving as Member at Large. She has served in the House of Delagates of the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) for 3 years. She has been the faculty liaison to the student society for over 10 years.
Her current interests include rural health care, and international medicine. She has been involved in medical missions to India, Papua New Guinea and Guatemala. She is an avid runner, mountain biker and downhill skier and has 2 active children ages 11 and 13. |
Olivia Walton, PA-C, MS
Director
of Clinical Affairs
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Olivia grew up in Utah and has spent a memorable portion of her life overseas working for non-profit agencies in the areas of health education and microeconomics. She lived at one time in the Andes straddling Peru and Bolivia and spent a number of years working in and around Mombassa, Kenya. This past year she was able to work with medical students in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. She is a graduate of The University of New England’s Physician Assistant Master’s Program and has been practicing in Pain Medicine and Palliative Care since 2000. Olivia has had a strong interest in the treatment of pain and suffering at end-of-life and has been honored to provide end-of-life care to our countries veteran’s here in Salt Lake City where she worked for 6 years as a founding member of the Pain Medicine and Palliative Care Service at the Veteran’s Affairs Health Care System. She has also participated in expert panels discussing the global state of hospice and palliative care for resource poor countries and vulnerable populations. Olivia joined UPAP in March 2007 taking her good friend, Al Forde’s place as the Director of Clinical Affairs.
While not working, Olivia and her dog Nelly can be found hiking in the beautiful Utah outdoors. She enjoys traveling, photography, and yoga -- and she can often be found with a fly fishing rod or golf club in hand, but claims no skill in either sport! |
Nadia Miniclier, PA-C, MS
Director of First Year Clinical Affairs,
Director of Clinical Evaluation, and
Clinical Associate
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Nadia was born in Nairobi, Kenya and traveled a lot as a young child as her father worked for the Associated Press. She grew up in Denver, Colorado and had a career as a professional ballet dancer with Ballet West here in Salt Lake City. She graduated from the University of Colorado with a BA in Neuroscience, and a MS in Kinesiology from University of Colorado in Boulder. She graduated from UPAP in 1997.
As a PA she has worked in an inner city ER in Wisconsin, family practice with a pediatric emphasis in Colorado, family practice in Salt Lake, at St Mark’s ER, and in occupational medicine since 1999. Nadia joined UPAP as a Clinical Associate in 2002 and full time as the Associate Director of Clinical Affairs in 2005. She is dedicated to working with PAs and physicians in the community, as well as nationally and internationally to form rotations for the first and second year students that follow the mission of UPAP. Nadia serves on all standing committees for the PA program. On a national level, she was invited to join the International Affairs Committee for the Physician Assistant Education Association in 2008. On an international level, she has developed a clinical service rotation in Ghana in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the Rural Health Training School and KNUST Medical School in Ghana. Locally, she continues her clinical service learning focus for students in Salt Lake City with Head Start examinations, refugee health programs and geriatric rotations in collaboration with the Family Medicine Residency Program.
On a personal note her husband is a Clinical Associate with UPAP as well, and a practicing PA in internal medicine. They cherish their time with their sons and family. They enjoy hiking, backpacking, theater, reading and traveling. |
David J. Keahey, PA-C, MSPH
Associate Director of Graduate Studies and Clinical Associate Coordinator
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David directs eight part-time Clinical Associates (CAs) who are practicing PAs from the community. CAs facilitate small groups of first-year students every Wednesday morning and mentor the development of clinical and problem solving skills. He assists Connie Goldgar, MS, PA-C, Director of Graduate Studies, in overseeing the Evidence-based Medicine (EBM) curriculum and the capstone master’s papers and presentations. Keahey also is involved in grant writing and is the Utah Academy of Physician Assistants’ legislative committee chair.
Keahey’s didactic responsibilities include the Data Collection course in summer and fall semesters, Focused Physical Examination classes in fall and spring semesters, and several Professional Issues classes. He co-teaches the EBM/Clinical Problem Solving curriculum in the fall, spring, and summer semesters. He developed and implemented the summer Clinical Practicum merging two cohorts of 1st year students in clinical simulations. David has co-authored articles in the Journal of Physician Assistant Education (JPAE) and is the co-editor of the Journal’s EBM Feature. He has co-presented at the Physician Assistant Education Association’s (PAEA) annual meeting. He currently serves as the PAEA Liaison to the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. Keahey and his colleague, Ms. Goldgar, have presented numerous regional EBM seminars for PA educators.
After serving three years in the US Army as a flight medic, he attended UPAP and graduated in 1983. For twenty-four years, he practiced in the Salt Lake Community Health Centers (CHCs). In addition to teaching full time at UPAP, he now volunteers weekly at the Maliheh Free Clinic caring for a diverse population of uninsured patients. He is a dedicated member of Physicians for a National Health Program.
David’s personal interests are lead by his wife Brenda, and son, Patrick. World, 19th, and 20th century American history define the boundaries of his non-medical reading. Fall, winter, and spring find him skiing, or thinking about skiing, at Alta. Summers include at least one expedition with Patrick to time-honored fishing holes on small Idaho creeks and the South Fork of the Payette River. |
Jeff Coursey, PA-C
Associate Director of Academic Affairs
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Directly upon graduating from the University of California at Davis PA/FNP program in 1985, Jeff began a career that has focused on working with the underserved in the Primary Care setting as well as educating PA students in clinical and service learning.
He first moved to Utah to work in the Community Health Centers in 1985. In 1988, he moved to Chicago and had his first taste of PA education, becoming the Academic Coordinator of New Start Program in inner city Chicago at the Chicago City-Wide Colleges. He returned to Utah in 1991 to become the Medical Director of the Utah Farm Worker Health Program, a state-wide program serving Utah's agricultural workers through the Community Health Centers, Inc. During his tenure with Migrant Health he worked with state and local agencies around the state of Utah to promote access to care for Utah's farm workers. As a committee chair at the CHC, he worked with local pharmacies to develop a program to access PHS pharmaceutical pricing for uninsured patients. He also served on the Medicaid Drug Utilization Review Board for the State of Utah from 1996 to 1998. Jeff was drawn back into PA education in 1993 as preceptor for Friday clinic students, and in 1996 he joined UPAP, teaching in the small group setting as a Clinical Associate. During this time he worked alongside the UPAP core faculty to develop the Migrant Head Start Summer Physical program, which in 2002 received an 'Innovations in Health Care' award from the PA Foundation. He was honored by UPAP with the 'Beacon of Service Learning' award in 2006. Jeff joined UPAP in 2007 as the Associate Director of Academic Affairs, partnering with Dan Crouse to develop and coordinate first year curriculum. He currently co-chairs UPAP's Health Disparities Committee. In addition to his work with UPAP, he continues one day a week offering clinical care to migrant workers.
Jeff lives in the Avenues area of SLC with his spouse of 22 years and their two teenage daughters. His interests include hiking and biking in the hills and mountains along the Wasatch Front. He also enjoys backpacking, fly-fishing (Dan catches more fish!) and woodworking. |
Darin Ryujin, PA-C, MS, MPAS
Diversity Coordinator |
Darin grew up in the Salt Lake area and went
to on to attend the University of Utah. He later pursued
a graduate degree in physiology at Marshall University. He
then worked at the Pulmonary Laboratory as the Coordinator of
Diagnostics and Research for 11 years before attending PA school
at the University of Utah. He is a 2003 graduate (Class
32) and was the student representative for diversity. He
was hired as the Diversity Coordinator in 2004. Currently
he works clinically in the asthma and sleep clinics at the University
of Utah. Darin’s responsibilities as the Diversity
Coordinator include: recruitment and mentoring of racially, socially,
and economically diverse pre-PA students; providing opportunities
for cross-cultural competence; coordinating outreach and community
service projects and advising. Through recruitment,
education and retainment, his goal is to increase the potential
for well prepared Physician Assistants to work in underserved
communities in the Intermountain area.Darin and his partner Sandy
enjoy traveling, mountain biking, hiking, camping, rafting and
their three dogs. |
Clinical Associates |
Back row: Mari Daly, Dave Keahey, Matt Cobb, Jeff Coursey, Nadia Miniclier, Diane Mattocks
Front row: Kathy Pedersen, Melissa Briley, Dana Smith
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Staff |
Doris Dalton
Admissions Manager
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Doris joined UPAP in 2005 as Administrative and Admissions Assistant, and has been managing the Admissions division since 2007. She has an undergraduate degree in Political Science as well as a Master of Public Administration, both obtained here at the University of Utah.
Her primary responsibilities at UPAP include applicant advising, program information presentations, managing applicant evaluations, and coordinating the interview process. She serves as Chair of the UPAP Admissions Committee, which consists of core faculty and other community stakeholders, and has recently begun a 2-year term as member of the CASPA (Central Application Service for Physician Assistants) Advisory Committee, a standing committee of the Physician Assistant Education Association. In addition to her responsibilities with the Admissions division, she serves on the Health Disparities and Development Committees, manages financial records, and coordinates database projects for the program.
In her spare time, she enjoys international travel, gardening, cooking, film, and being outdoors taking in Utah’s beautiful and varied landscapes while hiking, biking, or climbing. |
Heather Buttars
Academic Coordinator
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Heather has been with UPAP since June of 2005, first as Executive Secretary, and taking on Academic Coordinator duties shortly thereafter. Her primary responsibilities at UPAP include managing graduate paperwork, assisting with weekly student tutorial groups, administering annual alumni surveys and overseeing the alumni database, coordinating annual Masters project presentations, and organizing the Summer Clinical Practicum. She also handles logistics of the Post-Graduate Program and Evidence-Based Medicine Seminars, working closely with our Director and Associate Director of Graduate Studies. In addition, Heather represents the program as a member of the DFPM Staff Development Committee.
She is currently working on her undergraduate degree in Human Development and Family Studies with a Child Life Specialist internship at the University of Utah.
Heather enjoys being outside, enjoying the sunshine in her spare time. She enjoys going boating, wakeboarding, hiking, camping, sports, and spending time with her family and friends. |
Melody Berg
Academic Coordinator, Clinical Division
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Melody grew up in upstate New York but has called the west home for the past 13 years. Melody joined UPAP in August 2006 as the Academic Coordinator for the Clinical Division of the program and works with Nadia and Al, assisting with both the 1st and 2nd year student clinical rotations. This includes arranging student privileges to work with their preceptors in area hospitals, setting up rotation schedules with coordinators at clinical sites, arranging affiliation agreements with new clinical sites. In addition, Melody is responsible for processing student and preceptor evaluations and serves as the “go to” person for students when they are out participating in clinical rotations.
Melody also manages faculty and adjunct faculty appointments, and coordinates all clinical events such as tri-annual return visits of second-year students, annual white coat ceremony and graduation.
While not working, Melody enjoys spending time with her husband, Cale and their recently adopted puppy, Sasha. She loves to cook, garden, and be outdoors in the beautiful Utah backcountry. |
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