MURFREESBORO, TN (WGNS) - Marie Patterson’s journey to becoming one of Tennessee’s most influential voices in physician assistant education started long before she ever stepped into a clinic or classroom. It began as a little girl in the stands at Middle Tennessee State University, cheering on the Blue Raiders with her dad.
“I’ve been here in Murfreesboro since I was 5 and I love, love Murfreesboro,” said Patterson, now a physician assistant and founding director of MTSU’s Physician Assistant Studies program in the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences.
That hometown pride came full circle this year when Patterson was inducted into the Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants Hall of Fame — a recognition of her decades of service, advocacy and innovation.
“Marie Patterson embodies the very best of what we strive for,” said MTSU's College of Behavioral and Health Sciences Dean Peter Grandjean. “Her leadership and commitment to advancing health care make this honor well-deserved.”
Patterson’s résumé reads like a roadmap of physician assistant (PA) progress in Tennessee. She helped launch PA programs at both Lipscomb University and MTSU, served as president of the Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants, chairs the Tennessee Board of Physician Assistants, and represents the state on the National PA Compact Commission.
Her drive to serve, she says, comes from her upbringing as the child of former missionaries. A high school anatomy class nudged her toward medicine, and discovering the PA profession sealed the deal. She earned her PA degree at Trevecca Nazarene University, later completing her doctorate — all before raising eight children with her husband, a high school baseball coach.
Her clinical career took her from a rural ER in West Tennessee to urgent care and eventually MTSU’s Student Health Clinic, where she spent a decade caring for students. After the birth of her seventh child, she felt the pull toward education and joined Lipscomb as founding faculty.
Then came the unexpected opportunity: building MTSU’s PA program from the ground up. She accepted the role in spring 2020 — just as the pandemic hit — and navigated approvals, accreditation and clinical placements in a world where doors were literally closed.
Under her leadership, the program quickly distinguished itself with cadaver lab access, two Anatomage tables, expanded simulation training and a bold first: providing point‑of‑care ultrasound devices to every student.
“Our students have a leg up,” Patterson said. “It helps them step right into those harder specialties.”
Learn more about the program at https://bit.ly/4uZwoWq.
