Dipu Patel, DMSc, PA-C, ABAIM, built a distinguished career as a board-certified PA, leader, and innovator. With the introduction of artificial intelligence changing the world in general and medicine in particular, Patel shifted gears to bring together her organizational development, leadership, and experience in digital health to develop programs in artificial intelligence for healthcare educational institutions. She has quickly become a leading voice for AI in health care.
Patel was born in India and raised in Zambia. She moved to the United States in her early teens. As part of a traditional Indian family, high value was placed on education, excellence, and responsibility. Those early years instilled a drive to meet every challenge head on. Balancing identity as a teen in a newfound culture was a daily challenge. The many transitions (moving countries and seeing the diversity of life, needs, wants, experiences) in early life and having seen the ills of society firsthand helped forge new paths including her choice to go to PA school.
In 2000, Patel received her Bachelor of Science from St. John’s University in Queens, New York. Concurrently, she was awarded a PA certificate from Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center, Bronx, New York. She went on to earn a Master’s in PA Studies with a concentration in emergency medicine from the University of Nebraska in Omaha (2005). She earned her Doctor of Medical Science from the University of Lynchburg (2021) with a focus on education and digital health. She also received a Digital Health Certification from Imperial College, Coursera in 2023.
Patel’s clinical career began in 2001 when she joined Merrimack Valley Hospital (Haverhill, MA) in their Emergency Department. She then moved in 2002 to the Atrius Health Kenmore Square Center in Boston where she worked full-time – with a brief period where she worked per diem 2004-2005 – until 2022. During that time, she also worked as a per diem PA in urgent care at the Codman Square Community Health Center (2003-2008).
Having recognized her leadership skills, Atrius Health named her clinical leader of the Urgent Care, Student Health Services, and Telecom Departments (2007-2009). She was the first PA at Atrius to work in their Hematology-Oncology Department (2009-2013). During the COVID epidemic, she was tapped to aid in the establishment of the COVID-19 Employee Health Crisis Response Team (2020). She served as one of the clinical leads for the team the first few months of COVID operations for all 30 practice locations.
Building on her clinical expertise with a passion for technology and innovation, Patel was hired as director of clinical pathways for DayToDay Health, later acquired by Babylon Health (2020-2022). In this role, she developed and scaled more than 60 HIPAA-compliant surgical and chronic disease care pathways across specialties. She led a team of pathway managers globally, bridging clinical expertise with product, research, content, and sales to bring each pathway from concept to launch and continuous quality improvement.
Patel has led a distinguished career in PA education. She initially served as an assistant professor at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences in Boston (2013-2015). She then moved over to Bouvé College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University (NU) PA Program as an assistant clinical professor (2015-2019). Shortly after joining NU, she was promoted to associate PA program director (2016-2020). At that institution, she also served as director of simulation education (2015-2020) where she developed the program from the ground up, vertically integrating simulations in the curriculum; the first PA program in MA to do so. During that same time, she was also appointed as HIPAA compliance officer for the Speech-Language and Hearing Center (2015-2020). She was promoted to associate clinical professor in 2020.
Patel has been involved in leadership positions both inside PA education and at the state and national levels. Her introduction to the PA Education Association (PAEA) began when she was appointed to the PACKRAT Item Writing Committee (2015-2017). She then was elected to the PAEA board as a director at large (2016-2020). She returned to the PAEA board as president-elect (2024) and served as president (2025) and immediate past president (2026). As president, Patel strengthened the board’s strategic focus and governance culture. She led member engagement efforts that produced tangible improvement in how the board communicated and supported its member programs. She also worked closely with PAEA leadership to keep board priorities aligned with the evolving needs of the membership. The Association saw improvement across every governance category during her tenure, from strategic focus and board culture to financial oversight and member engagement and responsiveness.
Although Patel focused much of her time on her clinical and administrative roles, she did serve on the Massachusetts Board of Registration of PAs (2009-2024). She was elected chair in 2012 and served in that role until 2024. She also served the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a member of two different groups focused on how best to engage foreign born health care professionals. She served on the Special Commission to Study and Make Recommendations Regarding the Licensing of Foreign-Trained Medical Professionals from 2021 until 2022.
Patel has to her name numerous articles and presentations. For a list of scholarly works Dr. Patel has authored or co-authored, please visit her Google Scholar Profile.
Patel received the University of Pittsburgh Office of the Provost’s Innovation in Education Award in back-to-back years; in April 2024 for Gaining the E.D.G.E. (Educational Development in the Growing Era) of AI, and in April 2025 for GenPACKS: Generative AI for Physician Assistant Clinical Knowledge Assessment System. Both years, she collaborated interdisciplinarily with digital humanities (2024) and with health informatics (2025). The GenPACKS project continues to gain accolades at the national level (American Medical Informatics Association).
With her focus on digital health and AI, Patel serves as professor in the Doctor of Medical Sciences program and Vice Chair for Innovation in the department of PA Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. In the vice chair role, she designed and launched the country’s first AI and digital health course within the DMSc program. She continues to build cross disciplinary relationships and is currently working on an accreditation project with Pitt’s Cloud Innovation Center, a partnership with AWS. She also hosts AI Office hours for the Pitt community.
Another of Patel’s projects with Pitt is collaborating with the Health Informatics Department on a project called GeniX. GeniX will be a personalized and targeted tutoring and remediation experience for students who will be taking the PANCE.
Patel is currently developing a CME course on AI for healthcare professionals. She has presented her work on AI globally, from Seoul to Basel to Okinawa and Bengaluru. She is the editor and author of Digital Health: Telemedicine and Beyond (Elsevier, 2024).
Patel is a sought-after keynote speaker and AI expert at the intersection of healthcare, leadership, education, and technology, and has presented at Cornell and Wake Forest. Patel also serves as an AI educational content consultant, developing clinical AI training and demonstration content for healthcare professionals nationwide. She advises several early-stage companies at the intersection of AI, media, and education, bringing a clinician’s perspective to product and content strategy. Beyond teaching at University of Pittsburgh, she adjuncts and guest lectures, and mentors across health administration, public health, and PA programs on clinical and AI/digital health topics.
Patel has developed AI modules specifically designed for PA programs and students that she delivers asynchronously and synchronously so that PA students can be workforce ready to use AI tools to advance patient care. She also has created ReasonFirst, a clinical AI literacy framework and platform built on the principle that AI should inform clinical reasoning, never replace it. She actively consults and advises companies in the AI, media, and education spaces.
Outside of her professional work, Patel is a proud mother of two children. She is an avid writer and enjoys traveling. She has a passion for art and considers herself a lifelong learner, always looking to pick up a new skill or explore an idea outside of medicine.
Acknowledgments: This biography was prepared by Bill Kohlhepp and the PA History Society Staff with the assistance of Dr. Patel. It was submitted to the Society in July 2026.
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