Search
Courtney Amend, BS, MPAS
This program has provided me with the knowledge base to best serve rural WV communities.
Courtney was raised on a farm in the small town of Dallas Pike, West Virginia just outside of Wheeling. Her upbringing in this rural setting piqued her interest in the health disparities in rural communities where individuals are susceptible to harsh work conditions, injury, infection, and lacking healthcare accessibility.
She received her undergraduate education in immunology and medical microbiology at West Virginia University. She was appointed to the Rural Undergraduate Shadowing in Healthcare Program which allowed her to shadow rural practitioners in many offices in West Virginia. It was this experience that paved the way to her interest in rural healthcare and passion in working to ameliorate health disparities in West Virginia.
After her undergraduate education, Courtney worked at the WVU Medicine Cancer Institute as a scribe where she was able to assist patients from rural settings in obtaining their chemotherapy treatments at WVU Medicine and other adjunct facilities based on their accessibility. She also worked in WVU Medicine’s Emergency Department as a scribe and saw first-hand how individuals from rural areas must travel to obtain medical care from a level one trauma center.
Courtney was then accepted to WVU’s founding class of the Physician Assistant program. She was appointed to the West Virginia Area Health Education Center Scholars Program which aims to provide supplemental didactic and clinical education to individuals interested in serving rural or underserved areas. Courtney’s interest in rural medicine grew during this additional hands-on and clinical training. Courtney received assistance from the WVU Community and Rural Rotations Support Program to conduct additional rural clinical rotations to broaden her rural experiences.
Courtney has accepted a family medicine physician assistant position with Memorial Health System to provide medical care at the Sistersville Rural Health Clinic.