North Carolina PAs leading the way for future PAs through education.
Betty Lynne Johnson, MEd, PA-C Emeritus, is the Program Director of the Physician Assistant program at Campbell University. She grew up in Elizabethtown, NC, and attended undergrad at Campbell University, graduating in 1979 with a BS in Natural Science. While an undergrad at Campbell, Betty Lynne became aware of the PA profession at the campus health facility, which was staffed by a PA who eventually became one of her mentors. She had been inspired to pursue a career in medicine by her hometown family doctor, who she observed cared for his patients, including her own family, with deep compassion and dedication. After learning of the PA profession and shadowing a family friend who was also a Duke PA, Betty Lynne attended the Bowman Gray School of Medicine PA program at Wake Forest University (currently, Wake Forest School of Medicine PA Program) and completed the program in 1981. She then went on to become a “Double Hump” almuna of Campbell University, earning an MEd from Campbell in 1986.
Betty Lynne shares an equal passion for the PA profession and Campbell University. She had dreamt about being a part of a PA educational program at Campbell before its inception. Once her alma mater had developed a PA program, the opportunity to get involved was one Betty Lynne couldn’t refuse. She was asked to serve as the interim director of the program in 2017 and was named Chair in 2018. She shared her favorite aspects of her role as Program Director:
My favorite part of the job is seeing the development of students as they progress through the program. A close second is the experiential components of our curriculum, namely the OSCE (objective structured clinical exercises) – standardized patient encounters which show us how students apply what they’ve learned and their true patient-care skills. Working together with our mission-driven, wholly dedicated faculty and staff as we “equip to serve” is the epitome of my achievement as a PA. And it is an absolute joy to participate in the blessing of students’ hands at the completion of the program during the long white coat ceremony.
Betty Lynne has been a member of NCAPA for the last ten years, as well as several years early on in her career as a PA. She feels NCAPA offers support to members throughout North Carolina through advocacy, mentorship, and opportunities for collaboration. Betty Lynne believes NCAPA provides “a respectable, reputable, respected place and platform to further (the PA) cause” and feels strongly that “PAs in NC must have a unified voice and keep a firm hold on our position on the healthcare team.” She hopes for the passing of “Optimal Team Practice (OTP), increased presence in rural and underserved communities, improved diversity representation, and continued growth and development” of the PA profession.
Betty Lynne currently lives in Clayton, NC and is devoted to PA education, which she does full time. She does not practice clinically at present, sharing that her overall “joy as a PA is quite simply caring for patients.”