Student Spotlight: Waverlea Brown PA ’27
When the lectures end and the textbooks close, Waverlea Brown PA ’27 reaches for a different notebook.
Its pages aren’t filled with anatomy notes or clinical checklists. Instead, they’re filled with verses and reflections on long days and the experiences shaping her journey to becoming a physician assistant.
For Brown, a Physician Assistant student at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, poetry allows her space to slow down and recenter herself amid the demands of PA school.
“Poetry is a means of expression,” Brown said. “It’s an outlet that gives me an opportunity to clear my thoughts and write down whatever I’m thinking about that day. It’s a good break from a heavy course load.”
Creativity has always been part of Brown’s life. As a child, she explored drawing, fashion, music and poetry, each becoming another way to express herself.
Yet the experiences that inspired her writing were rooted in something much larger than herself. While poetry became an outlet, service became a calling.
Growing up in Goldsboro, North Carolina, a rural community, Brown witnessed firsthand how limited access to healthcare affected families. Specialty care and trauma centers often require traveling long distances, making quality care difficult to reach.
“What inspired me to pursue healthcare was being able to bridge that gap,” said Brown.
Brown’s motivation reflects a broader challenge facing the physician assistant profession. Although the workforce continues to grow, racial and ethnic representation has changed little over the past several years. According to the National Commission on Certification of PAs, nearly 79% of certified physician assistants identify as White, while fewer than 8% identify as Hispanic and fewer than 4% identify as Black or African American.
For Brown, those numbers represent her lived experience.
“Growing up, I didn’t have a lot of PAs, let alone medical doctors, who looked like me,” she said. “Being able to represent my heritage and show others like me what’s possible is important.”
Before beginning PA school, Brown served four years in the U.S. Air Force as a pharmacy technician. Stationed just minutes from her hometown, she remained closely connected to the community that inspired her to pursue medicine.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she supported vaccination efforts while also leading a mentorship program for local elementary school students, providing tutoring and introducing them to opportunities in military service.
“It was great being able to serve my hometown while also serving the country,” shared Brown.
The poetry book that once held poems about home now carried reflections from anatomy labs, community service, and the journey toward becoming a healthcare provider.
When it came time to apply to physician assistant programs, Brown searched online for Historically Black colleges and universities with physician assistant programs. She wasn’t looking for just any program, but one whose mission reflected her own commitment to service.
CDU’s mission and emphasis on community immediately stood out.
“CDU does a lot for the community, and I like that our program encourages us to serve,” said Brown. “Service is important to me and being able to learn in the classroom while also volunteering and serving the local community is something I didn’t see offered in many other programs.
At CDU, Brown’s commitment to service has deepened into a broader understanding of community-based care.
“My work here has shown that there’s more work to be done,” said Brown. “It inspires me to ask, ‘What else can I do to help bridge that gap?'”
For Brown, becoming a physician assistant is an opportunity to bring care to communities where healthcare access is scarce.
Brown expected to quietly navigate PA school. Instead, her classmates elected her president of the PA Class of 2027.
Drawing on the teamwork she developed in the military, Brown hopes to strengthen connections within her cohort while helping create a legacy for future PA students.
Brown still fills the pages of her notebook with poetry.
Some days the words capture the challenges of life. Other days they reflect gratitude, purpose or hope.
But every poem serves the same purpose it always has, to help her pause, reflect and remember the community she serves.
As she prepares for a career in medicine, Brown hopes her journey will inspire younger generations of healthcare professionals. Her advice is simple.
“Remember your why,” she said. “It’s easy to lose sight of why you’re here or to feel imposter syndrome. But if you remember what first inspired you to pursue healthcare, you’ll never lose sight of feeling like you belong.”
Listen to one of Brown’s original poems