REPRESENT! NCCPA Summit

The REPRESENT! NCCPA Summit is a biennial gathering of physician assistants (PAs), PA faculty, PA students, organizational leaders, physicians, and employers committed to increasing the representation of historically underserved groups within the PA profession. The inaugural Summit was held in 2022, followed by the 2024 event, and the next Summit will take place September 18–19, 2026, in Atlanta, GA.

The Summit is designed for clinically practicing PAs, PA educators, leaders of PA organizations, physicians, and employers. We welcome PAs who are interested in advancing the objectives of building a more inclusive workforce and strengthening representation within the PA profession.

The event is guided by the REPRESENT! Steering Committee, which includes representatives from major PA organizations, AAPA, ARC-PA, NCCPA, and PAEA, as well as leaders from the African Heritage PA Caucus, the nccPA Health Foundation, the LGBT+ PA Caucus, PAs for Asian Health, PAs for Latino Health, and leaders from academic institutions.

Through interactive discussions, guided activities, panel sessions, and a poster exhibition, the REPRESENT! NCCPA Summit organizers invite speakers and researchers to submit a presentation or poster on any of the following topics:

• Expanding Representation: Strategies to improve access and/or opportunity in the PA profession
• Inclusivity: Strategies that support the development of an inclusive healthcare workforce
• Barriers to Care: System-level factors influencing health outcomes
• Community or Social Drivers of Health: How external factors shape patient well-being
• Workforce Pathways: Approaches to strengthen entry and/or advancement in the PA profession
• Reducing Bias: Practical methods for education and clinical practice
• Well-being and Resilience: Initiatives supporting PA students or PAs
• Leadership and Collaboration: Models that foster connection and representation
• Identity and Health: Impact of intersecting factors on access or outcomes
• Policy and Organizational Change: Practices that improve fairness and inclusivity in health care delivery
• Health Systems Research: Examining structures, resource allocation, or models that shape education, workforce, or patient outcomes

Check out our photo gallery from the 2024 REPRESENT! NCCPA Summit

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Check out our photo gallery from the 2022 REPRESENT! NCCPA Summit

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David A. Acosta, MD
Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer
Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)

As chief diversity and inclusion officer, David A. Acosta, MD, provides strategic vision and leadership for the AAMC’s diversity and inclusion activities across the medical education community, and leads the association’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion unit.  Dr. Acosta, a family medicine physician, joined the AAMC from the University of California (UC), Davis School of Medicine (SOM) where he served as senior associate dean for equity, diversity, and inclusion and associate vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer for UC Davis Health System.

He previously served as the inaugural chief diversity officer at the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine, where he established the Center for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and was the founder of the UW SOM Center for Cultural Proficiency in Medical Education. He was a clinical professor in the Departments of Family Medicine at both UC Davis SOM and UW SOM, and served as clinical faculty for the UW MEDEX Northwest PA program.

Dr. Uche Blackstock
Founder & CEO
Advancing Health Equity

Dr. Uché Blackstock is a physician and thought leader on bias and racism in health care. Dr. Blackstock founded Advancing Health Equity in 2019 with the goal of partnering with health care organizations to dismantle racism in healthcare and to close the gap in racial health inequities. Dr. Blackstock’s writing, including numerous op-eds, has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, Scientific American, the Washington Post and STAT News for the Boston Globe.
In June 2020 she became a Yahoo! News Medical Contributor and appeared regularly on radio and cable news programming to discuss the Coronavirus pandemic and to raise the alarm about racial health inequities.

Dr. Blackstock is a former Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and the former Faculty Director for Recruitment, Retention and Inclusion in the Office of Diversity Affairs at NYU School of Medicine. She received both her undergraduate and medical degrees from Harvard University.

Theresa Robinson  is an ATD certified Master Trainer, professional speaker, advisor, coach, and author. One of seven anti-racism educators of 2020 featured in Forbes, Theresa is a “disruptive inclusionist” in the anti-racism and DEI space, focusing on the uncomfortable conversations and the self-work necessary for growth and change.

She is also the founder and president of Master Trainer TMR & Associates, a DEI, Anti-Racism, and Well-Being training firm. Averaging 50+ speaking engagements annually since 2005, Theresa has partnered with over 125 clients in 23 countries. Her client list includes corporate executives from a wide range of Fortune 500 companies including Microsoft, Nationwide, Deloitte, Mars, Allstate, Disney, KPMG, General Electric, Cisco, John Deere, Marriott, Nordstrom, Procter & Gamble, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, ExxonMobil, Walmart, and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

With a style that is direct and relational, Theresa delivers transformational learning experiences to equip leaders with the awareness, competency, confidence, and desire to sustainably model everyday habits of Anti-Racism, Equity, Inclusion, and Well-Being. She also equips organizations with the foundation to effectively assess and implement more inclusive and equitable policies, practices, and processes. She calls this…doing the “HEART” Work.

Theresa has an MA; ABD in African-American Literature and Shakespeare from Cornell University and a BA in English from Howard University. She is also the author of four books.