Submitted photoDebra Munsell will lead MSU-Meridian's new physician assistant program.

The new Master of Physician Assistant Studies degree program of Mississippi State University-Meridian has taken another step forward, with the selection of a person university officials term a “veteran administrator and clinician with more than three decades of experience.”

Debra S. Munsell, who led the launch of the LSU Health Sciences Center-New Orleans’ Physician Assistant program and now serves as director, will lead the implementation of MSU-Meridian’s program, according to a news release from MSU-Meridian. Her appointment is pending formal approval by the Board of Trustees, State Institutions of Higher Learning.

“What interested me most is that Mississippi is a rural state,” Munsell said in a telephone interview. “I grew up in a rural part of Texas, and I am passionate about access to health care, especially in rural communities.”

Munsell will serve as director of the Master of Physician Assistant Studies degree program and will also be an associate professor at the university, MSU-Meridian Administrative Director and Head of Campus Terry Dale Cruse said.

Cruse lauded Munsell’s work with the LSU physician assistant program, which in a written statement he said produced “a 100 percent pass rate on the exit exam for the first three cohorts of graduates.”

Cruse noted, too, that Munsell brings an understanding of a region that includes rural territory.

“Her understanding of the state, and particularly of small towns, sets her apart,” Cruse said in a telephone interview. “She understands working in this setting from both a clinical and cultural perspective.

John G. Anderson, president and CEO of Anderson Regional Health System, was among those who served on the search committee.

“There is no question Dr. Munsell is exceptionally qualified to lead the Physician Assistant program at MSU–Meridian,” Anderson said in a statement. “Her wealth of knowledge and expertise is invaluable. The PA program under Dr. Munsell’s leadership is a huge value add to the health care of this community and region both in terms of education and access.”

MSU will become the first public institution in the state to offer a physician assistant program, and it will be located on MSU-Meridian’s Riley Campus in downtown Meridian. In June, Cruse told The Meridian Star that less-than-adequate physician-to-patient ratios in the area create a demand for additional medical care, particularly in rural areas. Serving that need, he said, will be an important component of the Master of Physician Assistant Studies degree program.

Physician assistants serve under the supervision of doctors of medicine or osteopathy, according to information from Mississippi State University, and they have the authority to “make clinical decisions and to provide a range of diagnostic, therapeutic, preventative and health maintenance services.”

Munsell stressed that physician assistants are trained as generalists.

“They are trained in all aspects of general medical care,” she said in a telephone interview. She added that they work under a physician’s supervision and are able to extend the care she or he might be able to provide.

“They are able to add that extra person in the clinic, to go out to the hospital” or to go to other healthcare settings, she said.

Cruse said Munsell’s first major task will be leading the physician assistant program through the accreditation process with the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). A site visit is scheduled for April 2019 with a review by ARC-PA’s board set for September of 2019. The first classes in the program are expected to take place in January 2020, with approval of ARC-PA, according to a release from the university.

Cruse noted, in a telephone interview, that Munsell’s duties would be wide-ranging. They will include, he said, ensuring that the program is accredited; recruiting new faculty members, support staff and students into the program; seeking a medical director and a clinical director for the program and setting up clinical sites for the program.

Munsell has led the LSU Health Sciences Center Physician Assistant program since 2011, according to a release from MSU-Meridian. Before joining LSU, she spent approximately a decade as a faculty member in physician assistant programs in Illinois, California and Texas. She also has more than 30 years of experience in related clinical positions. A native of Port Arthur, Texas, she holds degrees from Stephen F. Austin State University, the University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston, the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Nova Southeastern University.

“This program is answering the need for more access to healthcare in Mississippi,” Munsell said in a statement. “I have been overwhelmed at the response to the creation of this program, and it is an honor to work with the community to develop it. I look at this as a team effort and everyone I have met is so enthusiastic that it will make my job easier.”

A report from MSU-Meridian noted Munsell’s “research focus on physician assistant workforce issues, health policy and oral cavity cancer.” It noted that “Munsell has served on many national and statewide committees focused on physician assistants.”

The Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning approved MSU-Meridian’s proposal to plan the new degree program in June.

People seeking more information may visit www.meridian.msstate.edu.