To celebrate Black History Month, the PA History Society is proud to share on our website the stories of individuals who have not only helped shape the PA profession itself, but have also meaningfully impacted the healthcare of the communities they serve. Please watch, listen and read the inspiring oral histories, videos and biographies linked below. [Photograph to right: John Davis, Joyce Nichols and Percy Golson, 2006. Photograph Courtesy of Kenneth Harbert.]

Oral Histories:

Lovest Alexander – Graduate and professor of the Duke PA program. Has worked his entire PA career to diversify the PA profession (Video).

Jacqueline Barnett – PA educator and director of the Duke PA program (Video).

Kara Caruthers – She is the current President of the PAEA and has always been dedicated to diversifying the PA profession as an educator (Video).

Earl Echard – Founding member of the Minority Affairs Committee (Video).

John Davis – Founding member of the Minority Affairs Committee (Video).

Murl Dotson – One of the few PAs to practice in Mississippi before 2000 and who was instrumental in passing PA legislation in that state (Video).

Joyce Nichols – First female PA. She also helped get the MAC off the ground and was the its first chairperson (Audio).

Terry Scott – Director of the MEDEX Northwest PA program (Video).

Howard Straker – A PA educator that was able to combine his passion with advocacy with his chosen profession as a PA (Video).

Daytheon Sturges – Professor and diversity co-chair at the MEDEX Northwest program. He passionate about aiding underserved populations and diversifying the PA profession (Video).

Joseph Tate – A Vietnam veteran, Tate attended the Howard University PA program and was instrumental in getting California to recognize out-of-state PA degrees. He also helped other important PA practice legislation in California (Audio).

Carl Toney – PA Educator who was recognized in Big Doctoring in America – Profiles in Primary Care (2002) for his efforts of bring healthcare to underserved rural communities.

Steven Turnipseed – A graduate from the first MEDEX Northwest class and a founding member of the Minority Affairs Committee (Video).

Ed Williams – WWII veteran who helped spread the PA concept (Video).

Videos:

Karen Bass – The first PA to sit on the US House of Representatives

Joyce Nichols PAragon Awards

Joyce Nichols’s Rural Health Clinic [Photo to the right]

Peggy Valentine – Co-founder of Project Access

Biographies:

Lovest Alexander – PA educator and advocate for the diversity of the PA profession.

Nate Alston – A main player in getting PA legislation passed in Pennslyvania and a PAs educator for more than 30 years at Drexel University (previously Hahnemann University Medical School and College of Allied Health Sciences)

Karen Bass – First PA to be elected to US House of Representatives.

Stephanie Bowlin – Graduate of the Charles Drew PA program. Past Chair of the ARC-PA .

John Davis– Founding member of the Minority Affairs Committee.

Murl Dotson – One of the first PAs to practice in Mississippi and instrumental in passing PA practice legislation in the state.

Earl Echard – Founding member of the Minority Affairs Committee.

Shani Fleming – Recipient of the inaugural AAPA Diversity Award which honors a PA that serves as a champion of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within the PA profession.

Prentiss Harrison – The first African American PA. [Photo on right.]

Trisha Harris – First African American President of the AAPA Student Academy.

Les Howard – PA educator and advocate for diversity in the PA profession.

Lillie Hudson – PA educator who wishes to train the next generation of compassionate PA clinicians that will expand health equity and challenge health disparities

Robin Hunter-Buskey – A PA in the US Public Health Service and the first African American Chair of the NCCPA.

Adhana McCarthy – Decorated Army PA and presenter on resilience, yoga, mindfulness, and diversity and inclusion.

Dawn Morton-Rias – First PA to serve as the CEO/Executive Officer of the NCCPA.

Joyce Nichols – She was the first female PA, co-founder of the Minority Affairs Committee, and the Minority Affairs Committee’s first Chair.

Howard Straker – A PA educator, advocate, and Past President of PAEA.

Joseph Tate – A Vietnam veteran and Howard University PA program graduate. Was instrumental in getting California to recognize out-of-state PA degrees.

Carl Toney  – PA Educator who was recognized in Big Doctoring in America – Profiles in Primary Care (2002) for his efforts of bring healthcare to underserved rural communities.

Janice Tramel  – PA Educator, founding member of the African Heritage Caucus, and the first African American PA to chair a state regulatory/licensing agency.

Henry Lee “Buddy” Treadwell – He was the prototype PA that inspired the creation of the PA profession! [Photo to the right]

Steven Turnipseed – Graduate from the first MEDEX class and also the first African American in the MEDEX Program. He was a founding member of the Minority Affairs Committee.

Peggy Valentine – She was the co-founder of Project Access.

Ed Williams – WWII veteran who graduated from the Howard PA program. He was an influential PA in the DC area and a founding member of the Minority Affairs Committee.

Robert Wooten – The first African American President of the AAPA.

Online Exhibits

From MAC to AHC: The History of the Minority Affairs Committee and the African Heritage Caucus by John Davis.

Profiles in Black – A booklet created by the African Heritage Caucus containing brief biographies of African-American PAs who have become or who are in the process of becoming leaders in the PA profession.