Physician Assistant Students Make History at Mississippi College

A strong desire to serve others in America’s most medically underserved state led Angelia Renee Moore of Heidelberg to enroll at Mississippi College’s new physician assistant program.

“God has blessed me to know that my life is not about me and has given me a heart of compassion for His people,” Moore said.  A former U.S. Army medical service corps officer, the 29-year-old Mississippian is among 30 graduate students in MC’s physician assistant program. She hopes to return to her roots in rural Jasper County to serve in the medical field after completing her degree at the Christian university in 30 months.

The P.A. program at Mississippi College “offers the best of both worlds – I can be a wife and a mom,” said Moore, a 2004 Alcorn State University graduate with an Army husband now deployed in Iraq.

After three days of orientation, it was finally time for Moore, a Clinton resident, and other students to start taking notes and pay close attention to professors as P.A. classes kicked off May 27 on the Clinton campus.

“It’s great being part of history – this is truly an honor,” said P.A. graduate student Allison McKee, 24, of Pineville, La. “This is the first program in Mississippi and it is set up to help Mississippi people. It’s a great service to the state.”

Mississippi College was familiar turf for McKee, who graduated from the Baptist-affiliated institution with a bachelor’s degree in biology in 2009. Her great grandfather was an MC graduate many years ago.  Allison worked at the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Blair Batson Children’s Hospital in Jackson as an emergency room technician in pediatrics before turning in her application.

“I love MC. It is a private university set on Christian values,” McKee said. “My calling to work as a physician assistant will allow me to build valuable relationships that offer healing.”

Clinton resident Matthew Garner, 22, a graduate of Jones County Junior College in Ellisville and William Carey University in Hattiesburg, is proud to be a member of MC’s first physician assistant class. “Neither of my parents went to college – they wanted me to do something better,” he said. The P.A. program offers a much quicker track than going to medical school, and it will enable the Mississippian to serve others that much faster.

“I know the program will be challenging, but I’m up to the challenge and look forward to practicing medicine as a successful physician assistant,” Garner said. A former technician at South Central Regional Medical Center and with Pine Belt Mental Health Care Resources, he plans to work in the Hattiesburg area as a member of MC’s Class of 2013.

In a modern classroom on the third floor of the Baptist Healthplex, professor Tristen Harris covered the history of the physician assistant program in the United States.

It’s a history that now includes Mississippi College because MC offers the state’s lone physician assistant program. In the mid-1960s, physicians and educators recognized there was a shortage and uneven supply of primary care physicians around the USA.

To expand the delivery of quality medical care, the Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina created the first P.A. class in 1965.

In October 1967, Duke graduated its first P.A. students and today there are more than 79,000 graduates of P.A. programs, according to the American Academy of Physician Assistants. Physician assistants are health care professionals who are licensed to practice medicine with physician supervision. MC’s Physician Assistant program is a partnership with the University of Mississippi Medical Center, federal clinics and others.

Dr. Bob Philpot, the chairman of MC’s Department of Physician Assistant Studies, was delighted to see the first day of classes go so smoothly. He said he’s very impressed by the first class of students. Twenty-three of the new students come from Mississippi. Other states represented include Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Texas. The ages of the graduate students range from early 20s to mid-40s. The majority of the students are women.

Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant, MC President Lee Royce and other leaders gathered for ribbon-cutting ceremonies to celebrate the opening of the P.A. program at new facilities at the Baptist Healthplex in late February 2011.

MC graduates finishing the program will leave with “skills to save lives,” Bryant noted.

Having this type of calling was what motivated students to enroll and take classes at the 10,000-square-foot Medical Education Center on the Clinton campus.

“Our class will change the face of health care in Mississippi,” Moore said just moments before taking her seat in a lecture hall filled with computers and nearby framed photographs of physician assistants on the job.

“My love of people and desire to learn more about medicine led me to the decision to become a P.A.,” McKee said.

Physician assistants conduct physical exams, diagnose and treat illnesses, order and interpret tests, counsel on preventatives health care, assist in surgery and prescribe medications.

Work has already started to take applications and other steps to enroll the next class of 30 MC graduate students next summer, says Rebecca Loveless, director of preclinical education at the Department of Physician Assistant Studies.

For more information, contact Dr. Bob Philpot at 601.925.7370 or Philpot@mc.edu.