Donna Seton, MS, PA-C, DFAAPA, has spent 25 years as a physician associate, with more than a decade focused on hospice and palliative medicine. Over the course of her career, she has become a respected leader in the field and a strong advocate for the role of PAs in caring for patients with serious illness. As the Chief Physician Assistant and senior PA in the Palliative Medicine service at the Phoenix VA Healthcare System, she has helped build and grow a program centered on compassionate, team-based care for veterans. She is also a founding member of Physician Assistants in Hospice and Palliative Medicine (PAHPM), a national organization focused on education and advocacy, where she served as President and later Vice President. Through her clinical work, leadership, and teaching, Donna has helped expand both awareness of and opportunities for PAs in this important specialty.
Donna was born in New York and raised in northern Westchester County and Putnam County, surrounded by a large, close-knit family. Many of her relatives were veterans, including her grandfather, who served in World War II and fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and her father, who served during Vietnam. Growing up around them gave her an early appreciation for service and likely influenced her later decision to dedicate much of her career to caring for veterans. She was the first in her family to attend college and go on to earn a graduate degree, something she takes great pride in. She eventually moved to Arizona to attend Arizona State University, where she earned her undergraduate degree in Medical Technology.
Before becoming a PA, Donna worked in the lab at Maricopa County Hospital, a busy Level I trauma center, and later as a forensic chemist at the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office. While she valued that experience, she found herself wanting to work more directly with patients. That led her to apply to PA school, and in 1999 she was accepted into the Arizona School of Health Sciences at A.T. Still University, graduating in 2001.
During her training, a rotation at the Phoenix VA made a lasting impression. It was her first real exposure to caring for veterans, and it helped shape the direction of her career. After graduation, she worked in a variety of specialties including hand surgery, internal medicine, urgent care, emergency medicine, and urology. She eventually returned to the VA as an inpatient hospitalist PA, where she cared for medically complex patients and worked closely with interdisciplinary teams.
Donna’s move into hospice and palliative medicine came at a time when the specialty was just starting to expand within the VA system. Around 2008, the VA began requiring palliative care teams at each facility. Seeing both the need and the opportunity, she pushed for physician assistants to be included in these roles. Thanks in part to her advocacy, the position on the Phoenix VA’s first palliative care team was opened to PAs, and she joined the team in 2009.
Since then, she has been a key part of the program’s growth. What started as a small inpatient consult team has expanded to include outpatient services, hospice care, and a physician fellowship program. Throughout that time, Donna has remained focused on improving care for veterans facing serious and life-limiting illness, helping patients and families navigate difficult decisions, manage symptoms, and plan for the future.
Her impact reaches far beyond her own institution. In 2010, she connected with a small group of other PAs working in hospice and palliative medicine. What started as a simple outreach quickly grew into something much bigger. Together, they founded Physician Assistants in Hospice and Palliative Medicine (PAHPM), as well as a PA Special Interest Group within the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Donna served as PAHPM’s President for its first six years and later as Vice President, helping guide the organization as it grew into a national voice for PAs in the specialty.
She has also been deeply involved in education. Donna is a trained facilitator in goals of care conversations and regularly teaches other providers how to have meaningful, often difficult discussions with patients and families. She has lectured at national conferences, taught PA and medical students, and served as adjunct faculty. She enjoys helping others understand what palliative care really is and why it matters.
She is one of the Co-Editors of the first publication by PAs for a PA audience covering topics in Hospice and Palliative Medicine; the Elsevier publication: Physician Assistant Clinics; Hospice and Palliative Medicine (published July 2020): Seton, D. and Lamkin, R., 2020. Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Physician Assistant Clinics, (5)3,
In addition, she contributed to the development of the Certificate of Added Qualifications in Palliative Medicine and Hospice Care, working on the blueprint, writing exam questions, and reviewing content. Her efforts helped create a clearer pathway for PAs who want to specialize in this field.
Her work has been recognized at the national level. She was named one of the NCCPA’s “50 PAs Making a Difference” and was selected as a Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, an honor given to a small percentage of PAs for their contributions to the profession.
Outside of her clinical and academic work, Donna has also given back to her community in meaningful ways. She has volunteered with Sun Sounds of Arizona, a nonprofit that provides audio access to printed materials for people who are unable to read traditional print, combining her interest in communication with her commitment to service.
Today, Donna continues to serve as Chief Physician Assistant for Palliative Medicine and Facility Lead PA at the Phoenix VA Healthcare System. In these roles, she provides care to veterans while also advising leadership on PA practice, supporting other PAs, and helping shape policies that improve patient care and provider utilization. She remains passionate about teaching, mentoring, and advocating for the role of PAs in hospice and palliative medicine.
In addition to her work in healthcare, Donna has developed a second career as a voice actor. Known for a voice that is warm, clear, and easy to connect with, she provides voiceover work for medical and educational content, as well as commercial and corporate projects. Her background in healthcare makes her especially well-suited for medical narration, while her training in acting allows her to adapt to a wide range of projects. Working from her home studio, she produces professional-quality recordings and prides herself on being easy to work with and responsive to client needs.
Across everything she does, whether in patient care, education, leadership, or creative work, Donna Seton brings a consistent focus on communication, compassion, and service.
Acknowledgments:
This biography was written by Jeff Myers, MPH, MMSc, PA-C, DFAAPA, FAAHPM, with the assistance of Donna Seton. It was submitted to the Society in August 2026. The photographs are courtesy of Ms. Seton.
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