Leslie A. Clayton, DMSc, PA-C, DFAAPA, is an accomplished healthcare administrator, clinician, and national PA leader with 28 years of patient care experience. She is a recognized educator, editor-in-chief for national CME content, and award-winning advocate with deep knowledge of legislative and parliamentary processes.
As a child she moved around a lot, living in 5 different states before high school. As a result, she learned how to get to know people quickly and to identify activities in which she wanted to be involved. She is the youngest of three and the only daughter, so taking care of others was ingrained as a purposeful role. “Even as a child,” Clayton remarks, “my extrovert personality made it easy for me to seek out new ways to stay busy or accomplish a goal. I babysat, was a team captain in sports, stage lead in theater, lettered in track and choir, and was an officer in student organizations like Students Against Drunk Driving and honor society. Any role where there was a chance to make something run smoother, have more impact, or help people, I was in.”
In 1993, Clayton received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in kinesiology from Texas A&M University in College Station. She later earned her Certificate of PA Studies from Saint Francis College in Loretto, PA (1998). She also has received a Master of PA Studies from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln (2014), a Doctor of Medical Science from Rocky Mountain College in Billings, MT (2022) and a Graduate Certificate in Integrating High-Value Patient Care and Performance Improvement in Healthcare from Arizona State University in Tempe (2017).
Clayton’s clinical career began in 1998 when she was hired by Health South’s Trinity Clinic in Tyler, Texas, to be a PA in their Inpatient Rehabilitation Care unit. There she managed hospitalized patients with varied medical conditions including stroke, brain injury, multi-trauma, orthopedic joints, medical deconditioning, amputation, wound care, and neurodegenerative disorders. In 2001, she left to take a similar position at Chattanooga Rehabilitation Associates in Tennessee, where she stayed until 2002. She then shifted specialties, becoming a primary care PA in a private practice in Cleveland, TN (2002-2005). She moved to Minnesota in 2005 and joined HealthPartners Riverway Clinic in Anoka, MN (2005-2006). She then worked as a primary care PA at the University of Minnesota Primary Care Center (2006-2012). Her next notable position was primary care provider lead for the North Memorial Health Clinics / Blaze Health (2018–2022). There she led medical staff across three primary care clinics, including physicians, PAs, and NPs while also maintaining a full-spectrum family medicine clinical practice.
In her role as program director of advanced practice utilization and efficiency at the M Health Fairview Health System (2022-present), Clayton has shown herself to be an accomplished healthcare administrator. She provides system-wide support of PA and APRN utilization to ensure top-of-license practice, optimize billing, and support evidence-based care. She is the founder and inaugural chair of the Advanced Practice Provider Council, which is system-wide throughout M Health Fairview. Also at M Health Fairview, she maintains an active clinical practice as a primary care PA.
Clayton has been involved in PA education with the Saint Catherine University PA Program. She was a full-time assistant professor (2014-2019) and then shifted to adjunct faculty as she took on her lead PA role at Blaze Health. In 2025, she joined the adjunct faculty of the Augsburg University Doctor of Medical Science Program.
Clayton has been involved in leadership positions for the PA profession since 2010, when she began her first term as a delegate in the AAPA House of Delegates (HOD) representing the Minnesota Academy of PAs (MAPA). After serving as a delegate for a number of years, Clayton was appointed to the HOD Standing Rules Committee on which she served for 4 years (2015-2019). Early in her term, she served for two years as a HOD Reference Committee member (2015-2017) and then served as a HOD Reference Committee chair (2017-2019). In those same years, Clayton served as AAPA’s liaison to the National Committee for Quality Assurance Patient-Centered Medical Home. Having proven herself in those roles, she was elected as HOD second vice speaker in 2019 (serving 2 years), first vice speaker (2021-2024), and then HOD speaker and vice president of the AAPA board of directors in 2024.
Although Clayton focused much of her time on her roles in the AAPA, she was also sharing her talents with the Minnesota Academy of PAs. In 2014, she was elected as president-elect, serving as president (2015-2016), and then as past president (2017). During 2016, she served as MAPA Strategic Planning Coordinator and then again served in that role in 2018. She served as MAPA Legislative Coordinator from 2016-2023. From 2015 to 2019, Clayton represented MAPA in the Minnesota Department of Health International Medical Graduate Integration Task Force. Earlier in her career, she was a member of the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement Work Group on Adult and Pediatric Preventive Care (2009-2015).
Clayton has to her name numerous articles and presentations. She serves as editor-in-chief for the Family Medicine Division of Oakstone Medical Publishing (2018-present). At Oakstone, she also took on the role of moderator for the Medications Matter topics for CME panels, recordings and publications (2023-2024). For a list of scholarly works Dr. Clayton has authored or co-authored, please visit her Google Scholar page.
Clayton has been a Distinguished Fellow of the AAPA since 2015. She has been recognized by the Minnesota Academy of PAs with its Past Presidents Award (2018) and the inaugural Advocacy Award (2022). She has also received the MultiCare Associates Board and Administration’s Outstanding Service Award (2014).
When not working to modernize healthcare, Clayton is the proud mom of adult fraternal twin sons, whom she enjoys spending time with, as well as meeting with friends to explore new food finds, working on craft projects, and finding new outdoor walking trails to enjoy.
Acknowledgments: This biography was prepared by Bill Kohlhepp with the assistance of Leslie Clayton. It was submitted to the Society in April 2026. All photographs are courtesy of Dr. Clayton.
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