Dedication to PA Service Leads to Recognition
Alumna Receives Honor from National Health Care Provider Organization
A Touro University California program director has been recognized as a Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Physician Associates.
Dr. Joy Moverley (MSPAS/MPH Class of 2012) leads the Joint MSPAS/MPH Program at TUC.
Moverley earned national recognition due to her “outstanding contributions to patient care and the PA profession” during her 12 years as a PA, the national organization says. She also demonstrates what the organization describes as “significant dedication and involvement in Solano County.”
Designation as an AAPA Distinguished Fellow “acknowledges my leadership, track record for meaningful contributions to the PA profession, and commitment to furthering the PA profession,” Moverley says. “It also denotes my commitment to professional volunteerism within the PA profession.”
Grants Expand Horizons of PA Students
Moverley has been the recipient of two Human Resources and Services Administration grants that total $3.4 million. The grants aim to increase PA training in rural and under-resourced communities of Northern California.
The two HRSA grants provide a direct benefit to students in the Joint MSPAS/MPH program by increasing student exposure to rural communities.
“By exposing our students to rural clinics in California, they are more likely to return to these areas post-graduation,” Moverley says. “The grants also focus on wellness and burnout, which is such an important topic in health care.
“Demonstrating healthy behaviors from PA school through clinical practice is important for patient care outcomes, job satisfaction, and overall personal health,” she says. “Additionally, these grants have strengthened our behavioral medicine, psychiatry, and substance use disorder curriculum.”
Moverley, who specializes in diabetes, is a member of TUC’s Diabetes Research Education and Management Team, known as the DREAM Team, which is based in the College of Osteopathic Medicine.
She has published more than 30 articles on diabetes and primary care topics, and practices one day a week clinically at Solano County Family Health Services, where she often precepts her students.
A Career of Service to Others
Moverley is a graduate of A.T. Still University, where she received her Doctorate in Health Science.
She served in the California Army National Guard from 2013-2019. She deployed to support Operation Enduring Freedom during what’s now known as the Global War on Terrorism, and later to assist victims of the 2018 Camp Fire, which destroyed the town of Paradise in Butte County and claimed 85 lives in what’s now the deadliest fire in the state’s modern era dating back to 1932.
Moverley currently serves on the AAPA Commission on the Health of the People and the American Diabetes Association Obesity and Weight Management Advisory Group.
The Distinguished Fellow program was established by AAPA in 2007 to recognize the exceptional contributions of PAs to the profession through professional achievement, leadership, professional interaction, learning, and community service. After acceptance into the program, Distinguished Fellows continue to contribute to the work of AAPA and the PA profession.
This distinction is earned by fewer than 2% of the entire AAPA membership.