Welcoming a New PAEA President in 2022: Kara Caruthers

As we usher in 2022, we are thrilled to welcome PAEA’s new President, Kara Caruthers, MSPAS, PA-C. Currently associate professor and associate program director at the developing Meharry Medical College PA program, Kara brings a wealth of experience to her new role.

Many of you may recognize Kara from her extensive PAEA service. Kara has been a PAEA member since 2010 and quickly began serving as a committee member in 2013. Since then, she has served in various capacities, bringing excellence, creativity, and initiative to every role, including four years serving as a Director at Large on the Board of Directors.  

Kara’s passion for investing in the next generation of PAs is perhaps most clearly displayed in her involvement in Project Access, an outreach recruitment program that aims to encourage high school students from underrepresented minoritized groups to consider the PA profession as a career. Throughout her career, Kara has participated in or led nearly 15 Project Access events in the communities she has served.

Kara said she is thrilled to become the PAEA president at such a pivotal time in the Association’s history. “What I am most excited about for being president of PAEA in 2022 is that we are emerging, and we’re shifting. We’re celebrating 50 years of being an association. And this is the opportunity – with our new strategic plan that we’ll be rolling out – to really set the Association up for the next 50 years.”

In this video, she shares her focus for this year, hot topics she sees impacting PA education in 2022, and her passion for investing in PA educators.