Expert Insights from Program Leaders
Terry Scott, MPA, PA-CProfile Photo

Terry Scott, MPA, PA-C

Program Director and Section Head

Terry Scott, MPA, PA-C, DFAAPA is Program Director and Section Head of MEDEX Northwest
(since 2015), the PA program at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle.
Terry grew up during a time of segregation in the midst of the civil rights movement; he
remembers the struggle for equality and the disparate healthcare in his community. As a young
person in rural East Texas, he was moved by his environment, where he witnessed the poor
health outcomes in his community. These were not just statistics but real impacts on day-to-day
morbidity and mortality.
As a teenager in the 1970s, his family moved to Seattle, where he attended Garfield High
School. Through the Seattle Public Schools Work Training Program, he was fortunate to work at
the UW Health Sciences Center each day after school and during the summers. This gave him a
valuable opportunity to learn from, work with and be exposed to those in the medical field. As
a lab technician, he worked in the Virology Division when HIV was in its early stages in America
and was honored to work with some very bright clinical researchers.
He is a graduate of MEDEX Class 25 (1993; class president) and has learned and worked in both
rural and urban communities in Washington State. He has also worked in HIV vaccine research
and has provided primary care to HIV-positive patients. He joined the MEDEX faculty in 1996.
In 2007, he was elected to the City Council in Shoreline, WA. In this position he was able to
successfully advocate for funding to support vulnerable populations in the community. This
included developing a “Healthy City” strategy to ensure community access to much-needed
human services.
During his childhood in the 1960’s, Terry was profoundly impacted by the nonviolent civil rights
struggle, and the words of Martin Luther King. As a result, his personal mission in life has been
one of love and service: he has loved his fellow human being enough to care, and cared enough
to act in service to others. He entered the MEDEX program as a student in 1991 because he
determined that the school’s mission was in alignment with his own core values - a mission he continues to uphold and promote to this day.

Aug. 9, 2021

Season 1: Episode 6: MEDEX Northwest PA Program - Terry Scott, MPA, P…

Mr. Terry Scott, MPA, PA-C, DFAAPA is the Program Director and Section Head of MEDEX Northwest, the PA Program at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle. Terry and I discuss our passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion and the …

Episode page