Joshua Knox
Clinical associate professor, physician assistant studies, Marquette University
A trip to Honduras through the Global Medical Brigades chapter at Marquette University inspired Joshua Knox to do more to meet the medical needs of people in his own backyard.
While providing medical care in developing villages during his trip in 2011, Knox, a physician assistant and clinical associate professor in Marquette’s department of physician assistant studies, reflected on how he was serving people in Milwaukee.
When he returned, Knox connected with Repairers of the Breach, a daytime shelter and resource center in Milwaukee, and began taking teams of physician assistant students to provide health care services to patients at the organization’s clinic.
Over the past eight years, the partnership has served dual purposes: providing health care to those who might not otherwise have access and training future PAs on how to deliver medical care with empathy and attentiveness.
“When we have students who come in and show concern, it is a source of hope for the patients,” said James West, executive director of Repairers of the Breach. “It also helps the members, because you can’t be all you can be when you have a disease and don’t even understand your health problems.”
In addition to his work at Repairers of the Breach, Knox has taken multiple trips to Honduras and Nicaragua with Global Brigades, is an ambassador for the National Health Service Corps and a grant reviewer for physician assistant education training grants for the federal Health Resources and Services Administration.
