For Immediate Release

Media Contact:
Erica Banks, Senior Director of Communications
email: [email protected]
phone: 678.417.8685

Johns Creek, Ga., May 4, 2022- The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) announced today that renowned physician and health equity advocate, Dr. Uché Blackstock, will deliver the keynote address during its inaugural Represent! Summit in September.

Dr. Blackstock is the Founder and CEO of the organization, Advancing Health Equity, which focuses on partnering with health care organizations to dismantle racism in health care and to close the gap in racial health inequities. She is a former Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and the former Faculty Director for Recruitment, Retention and Inclusion in the Office of Diversity Affairs at NYU School of Medicine. Dr. Blackstock has been an exclusive medical contributor for MSNBC since April 2021.

“Dr. Blackstock’s wealth of experience with addressing health inequities and her position as a thought leader on bias and racism in health care make her uniquely qualified to deliver the keynote address at this historic event,” said NCCPA President and CEO Dawn Morton-Rias, Ed.D., PA-C.

Represent! is a 1.5 day in person summit on the importance of increasing racial diversity, equity and inclusion in the PA profession. The event was created to facilitate a discussion and actionable steps to be taken to address the decreasing diversity of the PA profession amid an increasingly diverse patient population.

“Our most recent Statistical Profile of Certified PAs indicates that only 13.3 percent of PAs belong to a racial minority group, a 7.63% decrease from 2013.This data stands out when contrasted with the increasingly diverse demographic makeup of the United States. 27.2 % of the U.S. population identifies as a racial minority. Research has shown that minority patients have better health care outcomes when they are seen by providers that share their racial and ethnic background. Therefore, in order to better serve patients, it is imperative that we cultivate a PA workforce that better reflects the diversity of patients.”

Represent will be comprised of discussions, guided activities, panels, poster exhibitions and networking events, and will be attended by clinically practicing PAs, PA faculty, PA students, leaders of PA organizations, physicians and employers.

Featured panelists will include: Assistant Professor, University of Washington PA Program Daytheon Sturges, PhD, PA-C, MPAS, CAHIMS, CHES; Chair and Program Director at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center PA Program Temple Howell-Stampley, MD, MBA, MACP; CEO of Coyfish and winner of MIT: Hacking Racism in Healthcare Calbeth Chikaodinaka Alaribe, MPH, MS/PA-S and Department Chair and Associate Dean and Founding PA Program Director at University of California San Diego Elias Villarreal, Jr., MPAS, DMSc, PA-C, DFAAPA.

University of Maryland Associate Professor and Graduate School Chief Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Officer Shani Fleming, MSHS, MPH, PA-C will serve as moderator for the panel.

The event will take place September 8-9, 2022 at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.

For additional details regarding the Represent Summit please visit: https://www.nccpa.net/represent-summit.

About the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants

The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) is the only certifying organization for the more than 148,560 Certified PAs* in the United States and abroad. The PA-C credential is awarded by NCCPA to PAs who fulfill certification, certification maintenance and recertification requirements. NCCPA also administers the Certificate of Added Qualifications (CAQ) program for experienced, Certified PAs practicing in seven specialties. For more information, visit http://www.nccpa.net.