MC’s Physician Assistant Program Salutes Air Force Officer Karen Jefcoat
Karen Jefcoat ranks among the best and brightest student leaders in the first class of Mississippi College’s physician assistant program.
Newly commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, the 27-year-old Mississippian will devote three years of service to the military as a physician assistant once she receives her MC degree in December 2013.
Physician assistant studies chairman Dr. Bob Philpot, a retired Army major, presided as Jefcoat took the oath of office on January 12 at the program’s headquarters at the Baptist Healthplex on the Clinton campus.
President Lee Royce joined MC’s P.A. students, faculty, staff and family members for the ceremonies that officially installed Jefcoat as an Air Force officer.
“This is a big decision, she will belong to an elite group,” Philpot told the audience. “Your service emotionally, mentally and physically will be challenging and require a great sacrifice from you.”
As a physician assistant in the Air Force, Jefcoat will embark upon a challenging career in the medical field where she will be making “life and death decisions,” he said.
Physician assistants are medical professionals who work under the supervision of physicians.
The Air Force will now pay for her physician assistant costs at Mississippi College over the next two years, including tuition, books, equipment and a stipend.
After getting a hearty round of applause, Jefcoat thanked the people in the room who helped her along the way. “I consider all of you to be part of my family,” said the University of Southern Mississippi graduate.
Asked what prompted her to pursue the profession, the graduate student didn’t hesitate. “I knew I wanted to work in the medical field. I also wanted a career where I could balance work and a family,” Jefcoat said. Rather than going to medical school to become a physician, “this was a better fit for me.”
Jefcoat is part of the initial class of 29 Mississippi College graduate students who began classes in the new program in late May 2011. Thirty more students will be added in May 2012. It takes 30 months for students to earn their degrees.
Her parents, Craig and Debbie Jefcoat, of Bay Springs joined other family members on hand for the happy occasion.
“We’re extremely proud of Karen,” Debbie Jefcoat said before taking pictures of the ceremony and a reception featuring a cake displaying Air Force decorations on the icing.
Jefcoat is a graduate of Oak Grove High School who attended Jones County Junior College for a year before transferring to USM where she received a bachelor’s degree in biology. Following graduation at Southern Miss, Jefcoat worked as a dental assistant for three and one-half years.
Classmates are excited about Karen Jefcoat’s latest achievement.
“Karen is a rock for our team,” said MC physician assistant student Ashley Colt of Pineville, La. “We are so proud. It will be great to have her in the Air Force.”
Classmate Allison McKee, who’s also a Pineville resident, describes Jefcoat as a hard worker and good friend who will do a wonderful job with the Air Force.
Jefcoat joins others in the MC’s physician assistant ranks with military ties. One of her physician assistant classmates is Sgt. Nathan Wiens of Ocean Springs, a member of the 155th Infantry unit with the Mississippi Army National Guard.
Unique in the Magnolia State, MC’s program works with the University of Mississippi Medical Center, federal clinics, and other medical facilities in the region.
“This was very impressive,” President Royce said after greeting Jefcoat and family members. “We are honored that she has taken this route.”
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