{{short description|American physician}} {{for|the Maryland politician|Henry A. Silver}} {{Infobox scientist |name = Henry K. Silver |image = |image_size = |caption = |birth_name = |birth_date = {{birth year|1918}} |birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |death_date = {{death year and age|1991|1918}} |death_place = Denver, Colorado, U.S. |residence = |citizenship = |nationality = |spouse = |ethnicity = |fields = Medicine |workplaces = |alma_mater = University of California at Berkeley |doctoral_advisor = |academic_advisors = |doctoral_students = |notable_students = |known_for = Russell-Silver syndrome<br>Physician extender education |author_abbrev_bot = |author_abbrev_zoo = |influences = |influenced = |awards = |religion = |signature = |footnotes = }} '''Henry K. Silver''' (1918–1991) was an American pediatrician who influenced the early development of the physician assistant and nurse practitioner roles in the United States. Silver co-created the nation's first pediatric nurse practitioner education program in the 1960s along with Nurse Educator Loretta Ford,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Landau |first1=Elizabeth |title=Nurse practitioners were 'Lone Rangers,' founder says - CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2011/09/30/health/living-well/loretta-ford-nurse-practitioner/index.html |website=CNN|date=30 September 2011 }}</ref> and he helped establish a pediatric physician assistant program a few years later. In his later career, Silver studied and published on the abuse of medical students by physicians.
==Biography== Henry Silver was born in Philadelphia in 1918.<ref name=PAHX/> He attended medical school at the University of California at Berkeley. Silver served on the faculty at the University of California Medical School and Yale University School of Medicine early in his career. In 1957, Silver joined the University of Colorado School of Medicine. From 1978 to his death, Silver served as the medical school's associate dean of admissions.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|title=Henry K. Silver, 72, Pediatrician, Is Dead|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/16/obituaries/henry-k-silver-72-pediatrician-is-dead.html|accessdate=May 11, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 16, 1991}}</ref>
While at Colorado, he created a pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) program in 1964, which represented the first nurse practitioner program in the nation. The PNP program opened the next year. The successful utilization of the program's nurse practitioners led to Silver's interest in creating physician assistant (PA) training programs. A school nurse practitioner was later created at Colorado as well.<ref name=PAHX>{{cite web|title=Silver, Henry K.|url=http://www.pahx.org/silver-henry-k|publisher=Physician Assistant History Society|accessdate=May 11, 2013}}</ref>
Silver founded the pediatric PA program at Colorado in 1969. The initial concept behind the PA program was to train pediatric providers with five years of education after high school rather than the eleven years that it took to become a pediatrician. The program, designed to mitigate a physician shortage, initially awarded bachelor's degrees.<ref name=Norwalk>{{cite news|title=New Type of Medical Training|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-vhIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lQUNAAAAIBAJ&pg=3482,1902537&dq=dr+henry+silver&hl=en|accessdate=May 11, 2013|newspaper=The Norwalk Hour|date=October 8, 1968}}</ref> The program's first nine graduates, who were all female and who were initially known as child care associates, began to practice in clinics and hospitals in 1972.<ref name=Milwaukee>{{cite news|title=US Physicians Hear About Warnings and Hopes|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9cgdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nygEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7124,1539258&dq=dr+henry+silver&hl=en|accessdate=May 11, 2013|newspaper=The Milwaukee Journal|date=June 23, 1972}}</ref>
Silver coined the term ''deprivation dwarfism'' to describe stunted child growth in spite of voracious eating. After a study of several affected children, Silver and a colleague attributed the situation to a lack of parental affection.<ref name=Deprivation>{{cite news|title=Lack of Parental Love May Stunt Growth|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ou9RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=T3QDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3242,3662313&dq=dr+henry+silver&hl=en|accessdate=May 11, 2013|newspaper=St. Petersburg Times|date=August 26, 1966}}</ref> Another growth disorder, Russell-Silver syndrome, is named in part after him.<ref name=Swedish>{{cite web|title=Silver-Russell Syndrome|url=http://www.socialstyrelsen.se/rarediseases/silver-russellsyndrome|publisher=Swedish Information Centre for Rare Diseases|accessdate=May 11, 2013}}</ref> He was the co-author of a 1990 study which examined mistreatment among 431 medical students. Eighty percent of the students in the study reported incidents of mistreatment during medical school.<ref name=Cost>{{cite news|title=The High Cost of Doctoring|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DmpcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0VYNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5043,3491834&dq=dr+henry+silver&hl=en|accessdate=May 11, 2013|newspaper=The Vindicator|date=January 26, 1990}}</ref>
Silver had a son, Andrew, and a wife, Harriet.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1991-01-16|title=Henry K. Silver, 72, Pediatrician, Is Dead (Published 1991)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/16/obituaries/henry-k-silver-72-pediatrician-is-dead.html|access-date=2021-02-20|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
Silver died of cancer in January 1991 at University Hospital in Denver.<ref name=NYT/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Silver, Henry}} Category:1918 births Category:1991 deaths Category:American pediatricians Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni Category:20th-century American medical doctors Category:Members of the National Academy of Medicine