#BlackWomeninBullCity | Joyce Nichols
Hey Friends! What a wonderful week this has been. I'm excited to share a bit about Ms. Joyce Nichols. She was originally from Roxboro, NC, but came to Durham to pursue a degree at what was then called, Carolina College, now known as North Carolina Central University. She was unable to complete her schooling at NCCU due to finances. Nichols later earned a scholarship to study and become a licensed practical nurse at the Durham Technical Institute. She was working at Duke Hospital when she got word of the Physician Assistant program at Duke. Nichols had become well acquainted with ex-corpsmen who would come into the cardiac care unit to work until the fall Physician Assistant's program. The admissions committee was skeptical about admitting her to the program, being that she lacked corpsmen experience and was a mother taking care of a family.
A woman, African American, working-class, a mother, and little money to cover her education…
The odds were against her, but she persisted and won the faculty over and became the first woman to be formally educated as a physician assistant. While it was academically challenging for her, she rose from next to last to be in the top 50% of the class. She became the first PA to be trained in the cardiology subspecialty. Nichols was even elected as the vice president of the class by her all-male class.
Part of her story that made me smile is that she says she owed so much of her gratitude towards her second husband, who supported her and took on more child-rearing so that she could study. During her first year in the program, her house burned to the ground, and she and the family lost everything they had, but her Duke classmates hosted a dance to raise money and replace all the things they had lost in the fire.
Nichols was the first African American person to serve on the American Academy of Physician Assistants board. She established the AAPA Minority Affairs Committee. In an interview with the Rocky Mount in 1970, she stated
"The first year when I finish I want to spend working in the ghetto."
She collaborated with Dr. Charles Johnson, the first black physician, apart of Duke faculty, to secure funds and establish the first rural satellite health clinic in North Carolina and the country. As funding became scarce, she would move on to Lincoln Community Health Center, formerly known as Lincoln Hospital, which was the only hospital in Durham for blacks. She served there until she retired in 1995. May we be inspired by Mrs. Joyce's story and her persistence in advocating for minorities in the medical industry and addressing the health disparities that existed in the Durham community amongst blacks and the surrounding areas.
Some of her other accomplishments and work include:
Nichols helped found and served on the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Academy of Physician Assistants.
Preceptor and adjunct faculty member of the Department of Community and Family Medicine
Duke University PA Alumni Hall of fame in 2002 for her concerns for poor people and her advocacy skills.
Commissioner to the Durham Housing Authority winning many legal concessions for tenants.
Member of the Board of Directors of the Durham County Hospital Corporation and the Lincoln Community Health Center.
1991 Nancy Susan Reynolds Award for Advocacy
1996 she was named the AAPA Paragon “Humanitarian of the Year.”
Resources:
Shestak, Elizabeth (2012-08-27). "She Led Way Beyond Nursing to PA Work". The News and Observer. pp. B1. Retrieved 2020-05-14 – via Newspapers.com. and "Nichols". The News and Observer. 27 August 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
Sigler, Joe (1970-07-21). "Duke's First Woman Physician's Assistant Had One Stumbling Block - Her Sex". Rocky Mount Telegram. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-05-14– via Newspapers.com.
Carter, Reginald (August 2012). "Joyce Nichols, PA-C". Physician Assistant History Society. Archived from the original on 24 March 2017. Retrieved 2020-05-15.