Skip to content
  • Trustee Login
  • Associate Login
  • Trustee Login
  • Associate Login
  • Trustee Login
  • Associate Login
PA logo
DONATE

search

  • About The Society

    Who Are We

    Dedicated to the history and legacy of the physician assistant profession

    Collection Description

    Chronicles the development of various professional organizations

    Founding Members

    Individuals who joined us during our first year

    Mission, Vision & Values

    Learn about our mission, vision & values

    PA Veterans Garden

    Visit the McElligott PA Veterans Garden

    PAHx History & Projects

    Explore our history and projects

    News & Events

    See what’s new at PAHx
    X icon
  • Information & Links

    Initial State Recognition of Physician Assistants

    Find out when your state started recognizing the PA profession

    Our Associates

    View the Associates of the PA History Society

    Past Presidents of the National Organizations

    View our past presidents

    National Conference

    View the locations & dates for the National Conference

    PA Glossary

    Abbreviations, acronyms & titles associated with the physician assistant profession

    Preserving History

    Find several resources for preserving, documenting & archiving historical documents and materials

    Trivia

    Test your PA history knowledge

    Newsletter

    Read the most recent issue

    Helpful Links

    Find links and additional resources

    Search Options

    View our different search options

  • Illustrated History

    Archival Research

    Use finding aids for our collections

    Biographies

    Read our numerous biographies

    Collection & Exhibits

    Our collection features artwork, artifacts and exhibitions

    Oral Histories

    Listen or watch oral history interviews from PAs or those close to the profession's history

    Research Library & References

    Library collections, books and serials

    Videos

    Our moving image collection includes film and video

    Photos

    Slides, photographs, negatives & others

    Historical Perspectives

    Essays, personal narratives and long articles on aspects of PA history

    PA Timeline

    View important milestones and events

    International PA Timeline

    View international milestones and events

    Historical Highlights

    Orgs that are saving and preserving their history

    Celebrating 50

    PA programs that have celebrated their 50th anniversaries

  • Support The Society

    How To Support Us

    Help our staff work with organizations, institutions, researchers and archivists

    Friends of the Society

    View our friends and find out how to become one

    Our Associates

    Become an active partner

    First Class Photos

    First class photos of our Associates

    PA History Books

    Find out how to order your copy

    PA History Products

    Lapel pins, posters, and art prints

    Become an Active Participant

    Learn how to support us
    X icon
  • Contact

Josef Burwell, MS, PA-C, DFAAPA

X icon

Josef Burwell, MS, PA-C, DFAAPA, is a native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. When he was a child, he often rode his bicycle on the Bowman Gray School of Medicine campus during the years that their first PA class was matriculating. From that perspective, it was not impossible to foresee that he would eventually go on to establish a PA-led, PA-driven international humanitarian nonprofit in 2000 that endures today.

Prior to PA school, Burwell served in the US Army in the Post-Vietnam Era as an intelligence analyst. However, these were the years before the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. As he had yet to transition at this time, he was labeled a lesbian and systemically suffered abuse at the hands of superiors attempting to gather the names of other LGBTQ+ persons in the intelligence community. Burwell  never divulged any names, and after four months of extreme harassment, he was unceremoniously discharged. He fought the “less than honorable” general discharge and, through a series of hearings, achieved full status as an honorably discharged veteran.

Years later, as a civilian and a PA serving in Iraq, Burwell became the first transgender man to openly transition while contracted to the CIA.  Ultimately, he would serve or work professionally in ten different countries. In several of these countries, he introduced the concept of the PA profession to the respective Ministries of Health to gain their trust, respect, and permission to enter their borders with a team dominated by PAs. Additionally, he taught paramedic courses to indigenous national SWAT teams such as Assyrian, Yazidi, and Kurdish groups.

A 1994 graduate of Bowman Gray (now Wake Forest School of Medicine) PA Program, Burwell’s first recognition was the John F. Wilson Award, which is given to the graduating student “showing the greatest potential” and dedication to the profession. This was prescient; he has indeed strived to meet that potential at every opportunity, and he would convey that dedication to the profession that was part of the impetus.

Burwell went on to receive the AAPA’s National Humanitarian of the Year Award in 2008, preceded by the Kitty Bowman Service Award in 2004, given by the Wake Forest School of Medicine, and two awards from the Arizona State Association of PAs: Mentor of the Year in 2005 and the Arizona PA of the Year in 2006. Burwell, in 2008, became a Distinguished Fellow of the AAPA. In 2018, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) in Arizona conferred the Individual Equality Award to Burwell , exemplifying his work among marginalized populations.

The work that most resonates with Burwell is seeing to the healthcare of the most underserved populations and the training of the next generation of humanitarian PAs. His platform for these passions is his volunteer nonprofit, Peacework Medical. With Burwell’s leadership, the organization always directs itself to the regions of the world where other helper groups might shy away due to logistics and local conditions. There has never been a shortage of PAs, PA students, and future PAs to staff these far-flung medical adventures as volunteer clinicians. While retaining volunteer status himself as Director of Peacework Medical, Burwell worked professionally in emergency medicine in inherently underserved locations: the Navajo Nation, the tribal Native villages of Alaska, and other rural and remote sites around the globe.

Burwell ’s community service has included serving as an Executive Board member for both TransSpectrum of Arizona for six years and Phoenix Allies for Community Health for three years. He has lectured all over the United States to PA programs, medical schools, and conferences on best practices for transgender patients. Most recently, the demand for his community service has been right at home, Phoenix, AZ, where transgender women immigrants had been systematically held in border area detainment among cisgender men, often resulting in physical and emotional abuse. Once in Phoenix, many immigrants need primary and gender care that would not be available if not for an organization such as Peacework Medical. Accordingly, Peacework Medical has accepted the challenge, and with no surprise, transgender men in this same ICE detention predicament came forward as well. Meanwhile, scores of PA students and others have volunteered with the Peacework Medical Clinic and have learned the basics of gender care, something not available at many schools.

At the time of this writing, Burwell continues to mentor students and teach gender care while returning to his hometown of Winston-Salem. He asserts that being a PA has been a golden ticket to the world’s most interesting people and places.

Acknowledgments: This Biography was written by Mr. Burwell with the assistance of Joshua Penninger and was submitted to the Society in May 2022. Photographs are courtesy of Mr. Burwell.

When using information from this biography, please provide the proper citation as described within the PA History Society Terms of Use.

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email
biography
biography
biography
PA logo
Facebook-f Twitter Instagram

About Us

  • Who Are We
  • Collection Description
  • Founding Members
  • Our Mission, Vision & Values
  • PAHx History & Projects
  • Newsletter

Information

  • Initial State Recognition Of PAs
  • Past Presidents
  • National Conference
  • PA Glossary
  • Preserving History
  • Helpful Links

Support Us

  • How To Support Us
  • Friends Of The Society
  • Our Associates
  • PA History Books

Contact Us

(678) 417-8682

Contactus@pahx.org

12000 Findley Road Suite 100
Johns Creek, GA 30097-1409

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Cookie Notice
  • Collection Development Policy

© 2023 Physician Assistant History Society® All Rights Reserved