Jeff Myers is currently a PA and assistant professor of palliative medicine at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon. His road to his current work took him through many states, and even countries, to find the right way to make a difference in the lives of patients and their families who are experiencing serious illnesses. His heroes are Dolly Parton and Jimmy Carter who are, like him, from the South. Parton and Carter were models of compassion for Myers, which helped form his ethos of wanting to help shape the narrative for each patient and their family as they experience life-threatening and terminal illnesses.
The “where are you from” question has never been an easy one to answer for Myers. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee; he and his family then moved from state to state, crisscrossing the Midwest. He learned to walk in Chattanooga and then built his first snowman in Nebraska. His family then moved to Indiana and then Iowa, where he graduated high school. His passion for travel and experiencing new things drew him to Kalamazoo College in Michigan where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1999 after studying biology and having the opportunity to spend a year abroad in Australia. After college he took time to determine how exactly he wanted to help people, which has always been his passion. He joined the AmeriCorps program with the American Red Cross in Atlanta, Georgia, and found himself quickly responding to national and local disasters, helping individuals and families recover from life changing events.
In 2020, Myers then accepted a scholarship to Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Western Australia, to study public health. There, he focused on one of his true passions: the health of older people in an ever-changing world. While already living abroad, his public health focus on international health took him further away to Thailand where a Kalamazoo College alum provided an amazing opportunity. In Chiang Mai, Thailand, he worked on his master thesis which examined the impact of the HIV/AID epidemic on the elderly population in Thailand, which outside of Africa has the largest number of AIDS orphans. He found that disease not only changes the lives of those it lives within, but it also impacts the caregivers, grandparents, and communities.
Myers eventually found his way to the PA program at Emory University back in Atlanta, Georgia. With a desire to make a difference, he made a point to travel the state and beyond during his clinical rotations, choosing rural and small communities tackling health challenges. With an initial interest in geriatrics, he found himself paired with the PA in Macon, Georgia, who would become his mentor, inspiration, and friend, Kathy Kemle. In Macon, Myers found a different area of medicine which leaned on all his strengths in listening, caring, and thinking – palliative medicine. Following Kemle’s advice, he decided to start his PA career in primary care to “learn a little bit of everything first.” His first job was through the National Health Service Corps and their loan repayment program, which took him to rural southern Oregon in 2008. There, he spent his first few years as a PA in primary care, working at the Siskiouyou Community Health Center in Cave Junction, Oregon.
In 2013, the opportunity Myers’s had been waiting for came when there was an opening in an inpatient palliative care team. Though the position was for a nurse practitioner, Myers still applied and convinced them that a PA could handle the job. Myers proved he could more than “handle the job,” and he remains on the Oregon Health & Science University’s inpatient palliative team today. At his job, Myers has been in the roles of interim section leader, as well as clinical director for the inpatient palliative medicine team.
Myers has been fortunate to share his passion for symptom management and communication skills at state, regional and national conferences. He has authored numerous book chapters and journal articles over his career and is not shy to share his experiences with others. He is a proud mentor and model of compassionate end of life care to PA students and a variety of trainees from different disciplines. To be taken to Myers’s Google Scholar Profile, please click here.
Myers is involved in the constituent organization Physician Associates in Hospice and Palliative Medicine (PAHPM). He has helped grow this community of PAs who care for those with serious illnesses and has been president and secretary for the group (2018-2024). Through his work with PAHPM, he has had the opportunity to work closely with AAPA and several national organizations in advocating for PAs to a more meaningful role in hospice care and to receive Medicare/Medicare reimbursed for their services. Recognizing that PAs were the only multidisciplinary members without a way to acknowledge their experience in palliative medicine and hospice care, Myers became involved with the creation of the NCCPA’s Certificate of Added Qualification (CAQ) for Palliative Medicine and Hospice Care CAQ. He was also one of the exam writers for CAQ’s exam.
Myers and his husband have made the Pacific Northwest their home. They love the dogs that have come through their lives and experiencing the Northwest with them. Of course, their current dog’s name is “Jolene.” The couple love to travel not only the country but the world and would consider themselves “foodie” wannabes as they love the amazing world-class food that Portland has to offer.
Myers hopes to continue to be an advocate for the PA profession and to be able to retire someday after playing a true role in advancing hospice care. One of his greatest honors has been giving the commencement address for the OHSU PA program’s graduation. Sharing his story and lessons is truly important to him. From his early experiences in learning how other societies age to how to respond in difficult moments during disaster, Myers has been able to shape a legacy which focuses on guiding patients and families through difficult times and allowing their final chapters to have an ending that can speak to them and their legacy.
Acknowledgments: This biography was written by Jeff Myers. It was submitted to the Society in March 2025. All photographs are courtesy of Mr. Myers.
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