Joanne Rolls, M.P.A.S., PA-C, MEHP

Joanne Rolls, MPAS, MEHP, PA-C, is a Certified Physician Assistant and an Associate Professor (Clinical) at the University of Utah School of Medicine, Division of Physician Assistant Studies. She is a Family Medicine PA who serves University of Utah students and patients as a PA Educator and Family Medicine PA.

Ms. Rolls has been with the University of Utah PA program since 2012. She is highly involved with teaching first-year PA students, primarily history taking and physical exam skills. She is an active faculty advisor and also precepts second-year PA students during their Family Medicine clinical rotations. She has authored book chapters in the 2016 edition of Procedures for the Primary Care Provider (Edmunds), and the 2021 Advanced Pharmacology for Prescribers (Springer Publishing). She has published in the Journal of Physician Assistant Education, Academic Medicine, and JAAPA, and is a peer-reviewer for the Journal of Nurse Practitioners, Transgender Health, and LGBT Health. She has a background in emergency medicine, pre-hospital care, and wilderness medicine and is a Fellow of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine and the University of Utah Academy of Health Science Educators. She lectures regionally and nationally on wilderness medicine topics as well as LGBTQ+ healthcare issues. She is a member of the board of trustees of the Utah AIDS Foundation. At a national level, Ms. Rolls serves the Physician Assistant Education Association as a Facilitator for faculty skills development.

As a didactic educator, Ms. Rolls has a special interest in teaching reproductive and sexual health, quality improvement principles, laboratory medicine, excellent history taking and physical exam skills. Additionally, her academic interests include promoting adult learning principles in graduate medical education, and addressing diversity in healthcare and healthcare education. In order to advance her skills, she completed a Master's of Education for Health Professionals at Johns Hopkins University, in 2019.

Ms. Rolls grew up in Toledo, Ohio, and was a competitive rower at Boston University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts. She spent many years in Colorado working in pre-hospital care and volunteering with a mountain search and rescue team prior to moving to Salt Lake City to pursue her PA training at the University of Utah PA program.

She is currently not taking new patients

Research Statement

Joanne Rolls, MPAS, PA-C has a strong interest in both education and clinical research. Ms. Rolls earned a Master's in Education for Health Professionals at Johns Hopkins University in a research track. Her research thus far has focused on the impact that one-time federal funding grants can have on expanding physician assistant training, student wellness, curricular innovation, sexual and gender minority health and curricula.