2021 Dean’s Award | College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences

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Laura Gerstner, MHA, MSHS, PA-C

Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Education

Ms. Laura Gerstner received her Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from Pennsylvania State University, her Master of Science in Health Sciences from George Washington University and a Master of Healthcare Administration from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

She has served as a Physician Assistant at Emerge Orthopaedics (formerly Triangle Orthopaedic Associates) since 2006 and was a preceptor and lecturer for the Duke University Physician Assistant Program from November 2007 through July 2010. Ms. Gerstner joined Campbell University’s Physician Assistant Program as a founding faculty member in August of 2010. She serves as the director of clinical education for the Physician Assistant program and in October of 2020, was promoted to Associate Professor.

Ms. Gerstner is truly an exceptional professor who gives 100 percent to everything she does. She has developed into a wise, deliberate, and very capable leader in the PA program and across the college as well as in professional organizations. She has led the PA clinical team through the past turbulent year with keen insight, thoughtful anticipation, and diligent follow-through. Laura’s careful attention to detail coupled with strategic problem-solving facilitated the rapid response required by the impact of the pandemic on clinical year students/placements.

Her team’s design for alternative and supplementary learning opportunities during the lockdown and restrictions due to the COVID pandemic was unmatched across the nation. The PA accrediting body (ARC-PA) accepted without question the clinical year modifications she designed. Ms. Gerstner’s contributions to the Physician Assistant program have been critical to the department’s success, and she exemplifies excellence in all that she does.

She is an exemplary example of the qualities recognized by the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching for the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences.

Michael L. Adams
PharmD, PhD Dean and Professor
College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences