Dwayne Williams, MSPAS, PA-C, is a highly accomplished PA, educator, author, and entrepreneur. Born in Panama and raised in New York City, Williams’ journey reflects a strong foundation built on family, faith, and a deep commitment to service.
As the youngest of six siblings, Williams enjoyed a vibrant childhood immersed in the arts and community involvement. Raised in the church, he actively participated in choir, eventually serving as choir director, and was also a member of the step team. This early exposure enabled him to cultivate his love for the arts, which he further pursued at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. Despite growing up in a community where pursuing a career in medicine wasn’t commonplace for people of color, Williams was introduced to the PA profession after receiving medical care from a practitioner he initially assumed was a doctor, an encounter that ultimately inspired his career path.
In 2002, Williams earned his master of physician assistant studies from Long Island University (LIU), Brooklyn, NY. Graduating magna cum laude, Williams received the New York State Society of PAs (NYSSPA) PA Student Scholarship and the LIU Rudy Bruner Award and was inducted into the Pi Alpha Honor Society. Williams initially considered a path in obstetrics and gynecology. However, after completing PA school, he decided to pursue both emergency medicine and internal medicine, finding the constant variety of emergency care exhilarating while valuing internal medicine for its foundational role in all medical practice. For nearly two decades, Williams practiced at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
Simultaneously, Williams discovered a passion for medical education. Inspired by some of his professors who effortlessly connected complex medical concepts to practical application, he sought to replicate that experience for others. Subsequently, he has served as an adjunct professor for both the LIU and Weill Cornell PA programs, while also taking on leadership roles as director of didactic education at LIU and Yeshiva University.
Since PA school, Williams had a unique way of creating study guides that his peers found helpful. The idea of creating a book from his study guides came from serendipitously seeing a student from another PA program using his materials to study on the train. Realizing that there was a need for accessible and effective PANCE preparation material, Williams created his review book, PANCE Prep Pearls. What began as a personal project blossomed into a groundbreaking review resource for PA students. Williams recalls a moment of affirmation when a student recognized him in public and expressed the immense value he found in the study resource. Williams has since authored and published several books, including revised editions of PANCE Prep Pearls and The Ultimate Medical Mnemonic Comic Book.
During the pandemic, Williams’s career path took an unexpected turn when he co-founded a concierge medicine company, Leaa. The inspiration came when a family friend needed urgent medical care but was reluctant to go to the hospital. After seeing how quick and effective a home visit was, Williams and his co-founder saw an opportunity to provide a more convenient and accessible healthcare alternative. By establishing partnerships with pharmacists and radiologists, they created a service that offers discounted care, allowing patients to receive prompt medical attention and for emergency rooms to allocate their resources more efficiently to critical cases.
Currently, Dwayne Williams works as a concierge medicine PA, provides PANCE review for several East Coast PA programs, and is a speaker at professional events. For his work, Williams has been honored with numerous awards, including the LIU 2008 and 2009 Frank Cartica Memorial Clinical Instructor Awards; the Weill Cornell 2005, 2012, 2014, and 2016 Outstanding Clinical Instructor Awards; and the NYSSPA 2018 PA of the Year Award. Beyond his professional endeavors, Williams enjoys traveling and has more recently cultivated a career in fashion modeling.
When asked what advice he would give to PA students, Williams states, “There’s light at the end of the tunnel. You have to think to yourself, ‘I was meant to do this, and someone believed I was ready.’ Just keep pushing.” Lastly, he encourages students to view the PA profession as versatile and full of possibilities—extending beyond clinical practice and into education, business, and innovation—and to explore different applications of their medical expertise.
Acknowledgments
This biography was prepared by Phoebe Kubo with the assistance of Dwayne Williams. It was submitted to the Society in March 2025. Photographs are provided courtesy of Mr. Williams.
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