Joyce_nichols_and_Shirley_Thompson_treat_a_patient

Joyce Nichols (born Clayton, June 28, 1940 - July 29, 2012) was an American

physician assistant A physician assistant or physician associate (PA) is a type of mid-level health care provider. In North America PAs may diagnose illnesses, develop and manage treatment plans, prescribe medications, and may serve as a principal healthcare prov ...

(PA). Nichols was the first woman to be certified as a PA, graduating from the

Duke University Medical Center Duke University Hospital is a 957-acute care bed academic tertiary care facility located in Durham, North Carolina. Established in 1930, it is the flagship teaching hospital for the Duke University Health System, a network of physicians and ho ...

program in 1970.

Biography

Nichols was born as Joyce Clayton on June 28, 1940, in

Roxboro, North Carolina Roxboro is a city and the county seat of Person County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 8,362 at the 2010 census. The city is north of Durham and is a part of the four-county Durham–Chapel Hill Metropolitan Statistical ...

. and Nichols was married at age 16, though with encouragement from her parents, she finished

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

and went onto to beauty school. Later, she attended Carolina College (later

North Carolina Central University North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a public historically black university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliation with the Chautauqua movement in 1909, it was supported by private funds from b ...

) where she made it half-way to a degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

before her finances ran out. In 1965, she received a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

to study as a

licensed practical nurse A licensed practical nurse (LPN), in much of the United States and Canada, is a nurse who cares for people who are sick, injured, convalescent, or disabled. In the United States, LPNs work under the direction of physicians, mid-level practition ...

(LPN) and after graduation in 1966, she started working in the cardiac care unit at Duke Hospital. In the hospital, she learned about the

physician's assistant A physician assistant or physician associate (PA) is a type of mid-level health care provider. In North America PAs may diagnose illnesses, develop and manage treatment plans, prescribe medications, and may serve as a principal healthcare provi ...

(PA) class at the

. The PA Program had been made up strictly of men, especially those with former experience as Navy corpsmen, was reluctant to enroll Nichols. However, she was encouraged to apply by Doctor Eugene Stead, the creator of the PA training program. Nichols was accepted and fought to be given the same

stipend A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work pe ...

as the men in the program. During her training, she still worked in the cardiac unit to support her family. She and her family also lost their house due to a fire in 1969 and the faculty and students at the PA school helped to raise money to help Nichols' family. Nichols graduated from the program in 1970, becoming the first woman to earn a degree as a PA. When she graduated, she was able to get funds with the help of Doctor E. Harvey Estes Jr., to open a rural, satellite health clinic. She worked in Rougemont and

Bahama The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

for two years, providing

preventative healthcare Preventive healthcare, or prophylaxis, consists of measures taken for the purposes of disease prevention.Hugh R. Leavell and E. Gurney Clark as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental hea ...

to individuals who had not had easy access to medicine in the past. In 1972, she moved to the

Lincoln Community Health Center Lincoln Community Health Center (LCHC) is an outpatient primary care facility located in Durham, North Carolina that replaced Lincoln Hospital in 1968. LCHC offers a wide range of health services including adult medicine, pediatrics, dental, so ...

and continued to provide healthcare to rural communities. Nichols continued here until her retirement in 1995. After retirement, Nichols stayed involved in her community in various capacities, including raising money for healthcare and volunteering in

political campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or refer ...

s. Nichols died in her home in Durham, North Carolina on July 29, 2012.

References

External links

Joyce Nichols Rural Health Clinic

Oral historyJoyce Nichols: AAPA Paragon Awards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nichols, Joyce 1940 births 2012 deaths People from Roxboro, North Carolina African-American nurses American women nurses Duke University people People from Durham, North Carolina 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American women