Shortly before finishing her doctoral degree, Jessica Wirth ’21 DMSc, PA-C had an article accepted for publication by the Journal of the American Academy of PAs (JAAPA). These are huge accomplishments in their own right, but, Wirth has also had to overcome a brain injury to earn this success.
On her journey of recovery to the completion of her doctorate, she said:, “It has been a long road. I went to speech therapy for two years, and I haven’t had a seizure for four years. So it was all just a little hiccup in the road.”
Wirth began that journey by studying exercise physiology in college, having an interest in body movement and orthopedics.
“I originally wanted to go to medical school, but I learned about the PA profession from my father. I was completely drawn in by the flexibility. You can work in different areas according to your interests, or you can specialize,” she said.
Wirth has practiced in urgent care and occupational medicine. Shortly before applying for Lynchburg’s DMSc program, she found a calling to education.
“Teaching is very rewarding, and I also still enjoy working clinically. I absolutely love being a PA!” she stated.
She was drawn to the DMSc by her desire to write and be published. Wirth suffered a serious head injury in the late fall of 2014, shortly after PA school.
“I lost a lot of memory, and I developed expressive aphasia and epilepsy. I thought my PA career was over before it had even begun, she said.
Wirth said that with speech therapy, she improved over time.
“I wanted to prove to myself that I could overcome this! So I enrolled at Lynchburg, knowing I would have to write, and my goal was to be published. So here we are!” she said.
In 2021, Wirth had an article accepted for publication in JAAPA. Her topic was ARFID — Avoidant Restrictive Food Disorder. She explains,
“ARFID is an interesting eating disorder. Most eating disorders are emotionally based — they are based on the perception of body weight, shape, or size,” she said. “ARFID is not at all based on body image; it is based on what the body perceives of food. ARFID is actually quite difficult to treat, because how do you overcome something that your body naturally perceives?”
