As a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Laura Martin, PA-C, majored in psychology and completed her pre-med course work while considering a career as a psychiatrist.
The further she progressed on that path, however, the more she realized that her real passion was for the entire patient, incorporating both physical and mental health.
Instead of psychiatry, Martin decided on a career as a physician assistant, a profession that would allow her to combine both interests. On July 24, she will join Todd Nicholson, PA-C, in an expansion of the family care services offered at FirstHealth Family Medicine in Whispering Pines.
The practice is located in the same office space, 7473 Highway 22, as FirstHealth Convenient Care-Whispering Pines.
As an Army wife, Martin is especially excited about working in Whispering Pines, an area long associated with a retiree population but now also welcoming many young families with connections to Fort Bragg. Martin and husband Ryan have settled there with their infant son, Finn, and plan to make it their permanent home.
“I know and can relate to the specific needs and daily struggles of military families and want to work to serve them, being a source of consistency and providing dependable care,” she says. “I also love working with the aging population. Family medicine is the perfect combination of age ranges and incorporates both acute and chronic conditions.”
After earning her B.A. with university distinction and highest honors in psychology from UNC-Chapel Hill, Martin spent three years working in the mental health field at a treatment facility in Denver, Colorado. She received her Masters of Physician Assistant Practice from Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina, in December 2016, and is a member of the North Carolina Academy of Physician Assistants.
She is certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants.
FirstHealth Family Medicine-Whispering Pines is located in the Food Lion Shopping Center on Highway 22 in Whispering Pines. To make an appointment with Todd Nicholson, PA-C, or Laura Martin, PA-C, call 215-5115.
