Health Equity

Before starting physician associate (PA) school at the Keck Graduate Institute in Claremont, California, Sydney Kasner worked as an x-ray technician in a small town in rural Oregon.

The American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA) is piloting a new program called PAthways to connect minority students and recent graduates with a local physician associate/assistant (PA) mentor who can provide valuable insights into the PA profession and help students navigate the process of applying to and completing PA school.

Diversity among health care professionals is important. PAthways is a program that pairs minority graduates with mentors. The goal is boosting the number of PAs in underserved communities.

The American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA) launched the PAthways program to encourage diversity within the physician associate/assistant (PA) profession. Although the PA profession is rapidly growing by 11.7% annually, racial and ethnic diversity within training programs and the workforce lags behind.

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.

Joyce Nichols made history as the first woman—and the first Black woman—to become a physician assistant (PA), paving the way for other women in the emerging profession. Her journey is one of perseverance, advocacy, and resilience. This article honors her legacy and reflects on the importance of diversity and inclusion in health care.

A Howard University student joined with a local physician assistant to detail the PAthways program.

Black men remain significantly underrepresented among physician assistants and associates (PAs), despite the growth in PA training programs in the United States (US), according to study findings in JAMA Network Open.