North Carolina’s physician assistants are significantly less racially diverse than the general population. That’s why the American Academy of Physician Associates, the professional organization for physician assistants, is piloting a program with Fayetteville State University to increase racial representation in the field.
The PAthways program pairs physician assistants with underrepresented racial minority students or recent graduates interested in becoming physician assistants. Mentors guide participants through the realities of the field, provide shadowing opportunities and offer help in applying to PA school.
“I hope to look up one day and see not only more Black PAs, but just people of color in general,” said Rashadah Jordan, a physician assistant at Living Well Behavior Health in Fayetteville and one of the program’s mentors. “Just for more people to know that it’s possible and that they can get accepted into a school.”
Physician assistants are licensed medical professionals who work under a supervising physician in all medical fields. They often work independently caring for patients, performing procedures and prescribing medications.
Jordan, who is African American, went through PA school without seeing many people who look like her. She said she was one of six Black and brown students in her class at Francis Marion University in South Carolina.
The numbers didn’t improve once Jordan started practicing. Fewer than 10% of physician assistants in North Carolina are Black, Hispanic or Indigenous, according to a study from UNC-Chapel Hill’s Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research. Meanwhile, over 35% of the state’s residents identify as one of those races.
Jordan said she felt isolated as one of the few physician assistants of color in her workplaces. It means a lot to her that her professional organization, the American Academy of Physician Associates, wants to increase racial representation through programs like PAthways. She said it’s especially important now as companies and universities shy away from diversity programs following President Donald Trump’s executive order banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs from the federal government and federally funded programs and contracts.
“To know that my national association is pushing for more diversity and inclusion, even given what’s been going on recently, it means a lot,” Jordan said. “It makes me feel seen. It makes me feel appreciated for what I get to do every day. And knowing that they’re using us to turn back around and pull the next generation of PAs, that means a lot.”
Tamera Robinson, who graduated from Fayetteville State University in December and is one of Jordan’s PAthways mentees, said having a mentor of her racial background helps keep her motivated to become a PA.
“I can see physician assistants that look like me and be able to see that I can be in that same position because somebody else that looks like me is already in that position,” said Robinson, who is also African American and a first-generation immigrant, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Liberia..
By increasing the racial diversity of PAs across the country, the PAthways program also hopes to improve patient care. According to a study commissioned by the AAPA, over half of U.S. adults reported feeling more comfortable seeing a health care provider who shares their racial background. The percentages were even higher for some minorities, with 67% of Black adults and 62% of Latino adults feeling more comfortable.
“Most of the time when people of color go to the doctor’s office, they feel, ‘Oh, this race won’t understand where I’m coming from,’” Robinson said. “For them to see someone that looks like them, they feel like, ‘OK, I can talk to you about this because you will understand where I’m coming from. You’ll have a better medical plan for me due to the fact that you can relate to me.’”
Culturally competent care, or the ability of a health system to deliver care that meets the needs of patients with different cultures and languages, can range from offering a halal dietary plan to providing interpreter services.
Robinson hopes to provide this kind of care once she becomes a PA. She plans to apply to PA school in April. She said Jordan’s mentorship and the PAthways program have been instrumental in her preparation for the PA school application.
Jordan has been especially helpful in preventing Robinson from comparing herself to others applying to PA school, something both women said is easy to do in the age of health care influencers. Jordan said following Jenn Tran, a PA student influencer who was also the star of the latest season of “The Bachelorette,” made her question whether she could make it into a school and through the intense 27-month program.
“But once I got into the mentorship and started talking to Rashadah, I actually realized that your stats and another person’s stats will never be the same, your path and another’s path will never be the same,” Robinson said. “You have to take your own route and just make sure it’s the best route that you can take.”
Jordan described her mentoring style as “tough love.” She said she pushes her mentees to believe in themselves and ensure they’re dedicated to becoming a PA.
“I’ve always had people whose shoulders I had a chance to stand on and who pushed me because they saw my potential,” Jordan said. “They believed in the dream that I had to be in health care. So when I look at people who are trying to go [into health care], especially the PA route, I’m going to push you.”
Jordan said she has a passion for mentoring. She’s mentored future PAs since 2019 through Dreams Inspire Life, an organization she founded to help college and non-traditional students prepare to apply for PA school, and now through PAthways. She does it in part to expose students to health care positions besides doctors and nurses.
“A lot of people still don’t know we [physician assistants] exist,” Jordan said. “If we are able to showcase and make people more aware of the profession, then more people would be willing to apply.”
Jordan and Robinson encouraged anyone interested in becoming a physician assistant to reach out to PAs in their community and professional organizations like AAPA.
“Know that there are people out here that are willing to mentor you,” Jordan said.
CityView Reporter Morgan Casey is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues in and around Cumberland County and can be supported through the CityView News Fund.