Perri Morgan, PhD, PA-C, is professor and the director of research in the Physician Assistant Division in the Department of Community and Family Medicine at Duke University Medical Center. She is a practicing PA, specializing in hypertension, and an educator of PAs at Duke. In 2013 she, along with about 900 others, were arrested for protesting at the North Carolina state capitol where they advocated for Medicaid expansion in the state.  We recently sat down with Perri to talk about the role of health professionals in political life.

As the health care system continues to undergo rapid change, the nature of nurses’ roles are changing as well, according to Healthforce Center faculty research. As the largest licensed health professional group in the US, nurses are four times more prevalent than physicians. They practice in nearly every setting of the health care system and many are poised to take on leadership roles.

Leticia Lozano, LVN, the Health Center Manager at the Achievable Foundation, completed Cedars-Sinai Community Clinic Initiative: Managing to Leading Program in 2016. This intensive year-long leadership development program, funded by a generous grant from Cedars-Sinai, has helped participants like Lozano guide their organizations through a challenging new health care landscape.

By Sunita Mutha, MD, FACP, Director of Healthforce Center