For much of her early career, Jessica Newman, PA-C, DipACLM believed good medicine meant clear boundaries between work and home, clinician and community. She focused on providing high-quality care within the clinic walls, until experience taught her that health doesn’t start or end there.
“I realized that what happens outside the exam room often matters more than what happens inside.”
From Emergency Medicine to Family Practice
Jessica began her PA career in a busy rural emergency department, where the pace was intense and the learning curve steep. She later transitioned into family medicine, drawn to continuity of care and deeper patient relationships. Over time, however, the demands of chronic disease management and administrative work took a toll.
Despite controlled lab values and medications, many patients still didn’t feel better, and Jessica began to feel burned out.
Burnout, Reflection, and a Turning Point
After more than a decade in practice, burnout quietly set in. The work felt repetitive, outcomes felt limited, and fulfillment was fading. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jessica stepped away from full-time clinical work, giving her the space to reflect on her future in medicine.
That pause led her to lifestyle medicine and formal training through the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.
“It felt like I finally found the missing piece.”
A New Way to Practice Medicine
Through lifestyle medicine, Jessica learned to shift from directing care to coaching patients, partnering with them to build sustainable habits around nutrition, physical activity, sleep, stress management, social connection, and avoidance of risky substances.
“The patient is the expert in their own life,” she explained. “My role is to help them uncover what’s possible.”
Today, she integrates lifestyle medicine into a traditional primary care setting, offering dedicated consults focused on whole-person care.
“For the first time in years, I get good news every day,” she said. “Patients feel better and that feels meaningful again.”
Community as Medicine
One of the most meaningful shifts in Jessica’s journey has been embracing the role of community in health. She now lives where she practices, founded a local Walk with a Doc chapter, and partners with community organizations to support patients beyond the clinic walls.
“When we see patients, and ourselves, as human beings first, it brings the soul back into medicine.”
Learn More About Lifestyle Medicine
Jessica brings this perspective to NCAPA’s in-person Whole Health, Whole Practice: Thriving as a Clinician Through Lifestyle Medicine Workshop on Friday, March 20, where she will be joined by Meg Leddy, PA-C, MMSc, to share practical, real-world strategies for integrating lifestyle medicine into clinical practice while supporting clinician well-being.
Thank you to Jessica for taking the time to share her PA journey!
Have a recommendation for an NCAPA member to highlight?
Send an email to tommy.wellenhofer@ncapa.org
Written by Thomas Wellenhofer
NC Academy of PAs Marketing & Communications Coordinator
