PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT

Graduated in 2004
Vice President of Operations, APP Services
Vice President of Operations, Occupational Health/Concierge Medicine/Executive Physicals
Spectrum Health

Q: Why did you choose Wayne State? 

A: Because I wanted to train in an urban setting. I felt that this would set me up in my career to be able to handle anything in medicine. In my second year, I did rotations at Detroit Receiving Hospital, Mexican Town and at the VA. Those experiences really helped me to not fear medicine. It was exactly the experience that I was looking for and I knew I was a much more prepared PA coming out of school than others. At the time, in the early 2000s, PAs in the Detroit community knew that Wayne State PAs were all excellent clinicians.

Q: What inspired you to pursue this career?

A: I met a PA while doing a college internship. This was at a very busy orthopedic practice with 13 physicians and three PAs with an ambulatory surgical center connected to its office building. At the time in the late 1990s, I honestly did not know what a PA was as I was on an athletic training track for my career. During the first two weeks in that first summer rotation, I was shadowing a provider who was a PA-C, ATC, and he asked me if I ever considered becoming a PA. After asking him what a PA was, and then started to do research on the profession, shadowing him whenever I could. I think within about three weeks I knew that I would become a PA. I remember I was so excited about his job responsibilities, his autonomous practice and his flexibility within the profession. That summer forever changed my career trajectory.

Q: What was your most challenging class?

A: I would say the pharmacology portion of my training was challenging to me, as I found the pharm pathways hard to remember. I loved my clinical medicine class, as I loved understanding disease states and then how to treat them. Clinical medicine always felt like a game to me, which made it fun to learn.

Q: Did you have a favorite hangout on campus? 

A: The library for one. We were the first class in the Eugene Applebaum building so all of our time, outside of our study time and time in rotations, was there. It was a great building and a huge upgrade to the previous building.

Q: Share some reflections about your time at Wayne State: 

A: I would say that my time at Wayne State was where I was challenged for the first time in my academic career and life in general. I really had to buckle down and study hard to make grades and certainly that was a challenge. The experience of being in and learning in Detroit also woke me up to some of the real-world challenges that maybe I was naive to. But like all things that seem hard, if you get through it, it makes you a better person. I believe I became not only a PA while I was at Wayne State, but also a mature adult during those two years.

Q: Tell us a bit about your career.

A: One of the great things about being a PA is the ability to do and see many things. I have worked in orthopedics, primary care, home based care, virtual care, urgent care and last, in an ambulatory facility setting taking care of developmentally delayed patients. 

At a point in my career, I made a decision to become an expert in APP practice and how to apply it in health care.  Within four years, I became VP of Advanced Practice Providers/Operations and serve 900 APPs at Corewell Health West by driving strategies to help them work to top of license, improve productivity, improve provider satisfaction and help APPs to have a defined career path. I also continue to serve in a VP of Operations role in my health system as I am the VP of occupational health/concierge medicine and executive physicals. 

Without Wayne State’s rigorous training, I would not be where I am today in health care. That time in Detroit made me sharp as a PA but also resilient as a leader. I am forever grateful for my time there and try to go back to visit whenever I can.

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The Physician Assistant Studies master of science degree program at the Wayne State University Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences is focused on the development of highly competent and passionate physician assistants who are deeply committed to practicing in urban and underserved health care settings. It is the highest ranking program in Michigan and among the top 50 programs in the nation, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report for 2023-24. The admission cycle runs from May 1-Sept. 1 for classes beginning the following May. Prospective students can get started by attending a WSU Applebaum information meeting at 6 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month. 

An anchor in urban health care

The Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences is built on more than 100 years of tradition and innovation in the heart of Detroit. We have grown deep roots in our city, harnessing its powerhouse hospital systems and community service organizations as vibrant, real-world training grounds for students, with an ongoing focus on social justice in health care. And our research at all levels – from undergraduates to veteran faculty members – translates into creative solutions for healthier communities.

Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution offering approximately 350 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 24,000 students.