On the heels of announcing a new medical school and a new dean for the College of Medicine, the administration of Methodist University has announced that April Martin is the new program director and chair of the highly successful Methodist University Physician Assistant Studies program.
On the heels of announcing a new medical school and a new dean for the College of Medicine, the administration of Methodist University have announced that April Martin is the new program director and chair of the highly successful Methodist University Physician Assistant Studies program.
Martin showcases a wealth of knowledge and expertise in physician assistant studies, with 19 years of clinical experience in family medicine, urgent care, emergency medicine, pediatric orthopedics, college health, and pediatrics. Martin also spent time as a civilian physician assistant with the U.S. Army, providing care to dependents of the active-duty military in Fort Stewart, Ga.
In academics, Martin owns four years of experience as an assistant professor, chair, and program director of the Physician Assistant Studies program at Francis Marion University in Florence, S.C.
The Lumberton, N.C., native earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology with a Biomedical emphasis at UNC Pembroke and her master’s degree in Physician Assistant Education at South University in Savannah, Ga.
“I am extremely excited to have April join Methodist University and our Physician Assistant Studies program,” said Dr. Trey Hoyt, dean of MU’s College of Health Sciences & Human Services. “Her clinical and academic experience will serve her well in this role, and I am looking forward to working with her. MU’s Physician Assistant Studies program has a history of producing competent, professional, and caring PAs, and under April’s leadership, that tradition will continue.”
Methodist University’s Physician Assistant Studies program – housed in the state-of-the-art Dr. Frank P. Stout Physician Assistant Complex on the MU campus – has prepared more than 500 graduates for clinical practice, with more than half entering primary care medicine, since being established in 1996.
The program boasts small class sizes, strong support from the local medical community, a cadaver laboratory that provides invaluable human anatomy experience for students, and a Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE) pass rate that ranks competitively with the nation’s best.
“I am very excited to join the Physician Assistant Studies program at Methodist University,” said Martin. “I look forward to working with such an impressive and dedicated faculty while continuing the tradition of graduating highly competent physician assistants to practice medicine in the same community I grew up in.”
Martin will start her role as program director on July 1. For more information about the Physician Assistant Studies program, visit the MU website.
In addition to Physician Assistant Studies, MU’s College of Health Sciences & Human Services includes graduate degree programs in Nursing Practice (doctorate level), Physical Therapy (doctorate level), Occupational Therapy (doctorate level), Health Administration (master’s level) and Nursing (master’s level). More than a dozen undergraduate and certificate programs include Social Work, Kinesiology, and Exercise & Sport Science.