Treasurer and Ex-officio Trustee
Lauren Dobbs, MMS, PA-C
Fort Worth, TX
“The PA Foundation is important to the PA profession because it is the organization that gives outwardly. AAPA, its parent organization, takes care of the members and the profession, while the PA Foundation takes care of the souls of those members by giving to the community and making an impact on and for others.”
Lauren G. Dobbs is Secretary-Treasurer of the American Academy of PAs and serves as the AAPA Board Designee (ex-officio trustee) on the PA Foundation Board of Trustees. She has experienced a broad spectrum of AAPA leadership opportunities including the AAPA House of Delegates, constituent organizations, and the Student Academy Assembly of Representatives prior to her first election to the AAPA Board of Directors in 2014.
Based in Fort Worth, Texas, Dobbs is a PA, associate professor, department chair and program director at the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC) Department of PA Studies. She practices clinically at the UNTHSC Department of Pediatrics and directs the department’s Children’s Literacy Program which provides books and literacy education to patients and their parents as part of their well-child checks. The program partners with the local Red Oak Foundation. She also worked in family medicine when she resided in Oklahoma.
Dobbs’ commitment to childhood and professional education is reflective of her start in the profession. As a college student, she knew she wanted a career in healthcare, but wasn’t sure which path to pursue until she shadowed a PA in a rural Kansas clinic and emergency room. She credits her success to family, friends, teachers, students, and patients who encourage and challenge her to keep learning and explore new ideas. Dobbs hopes to offer that same opportunity to others. She has been honored with the UNTHSC Outstanding Preceptor Award six times.
Dobbs believes strongly in the potential for PAs to improve the state of healthcare and has been a dynamic advocate for legislative change in both Texas and Oklahoma. During her term as president of the Texas Academy of PAs (TAPA), the organization was able to work with lawmakers to eliminate practice barriers for PAs and increase the number of AAPA-recognized key elements of PA practice. She was awarded the TAPA Legislative Advocate Award in 2014.
Dobbs received a Bachelor of Science degree in health and exercise science at Wake Forest University and her Master of Medical Science degree from Wake Forest University School of Medicine Department of PA Studies.