Alisa Vickrey was born in a small, rural farming town in western Illinois and experienced rural medicine first hand growing up. She also participated in two surgical missions to Honduras that inspired her to pursue her interests of medicine. After graduating high school, she enrolled in surgical technology school, and eventually decided to pursue a graduate degree in medicine. She first obtained a Bachelors in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Cornell College, IA in 2010, with a focus in neuropharmacology and Parkinson’s disease. After graduating, Alisa went to Pittsburgh to participate in a two year fellowship at UPMC for Patient and Family Centered Care (PFCC), researching and developing a methodology with Anthony DiGioia, MD who she had met through her time volunteering in Guatemala (and later Panama) with Operation Walk, an Orthopedic volunteer organization that specializes in joint replacement surgery’s in third world countries. After her experience at UPMC for three years, she decided to pursue a Masters in Physician Assistant Studies at Chatham University, where she had a rotation in Dutch Harbor, Unalaska during her training, and fell in love with Alaska and rural medicine. She graduated in 2015 from Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA with her MPAS, became certified as a PA, and returned to Alaska with a passion for underserved and rural medicine. Alisa is also a certified RYT-200 yoga instructor, and enjoys finding time for meditation, yoga, music, biking, fishing, travel, hiking, camping, climbing and generally exploring all things outdoors. She also volunteers at Brother Francis Shelter in the Caring Clinic, and has newly been appointed by Catholic Social Services in Anchorage as the new Caring Clinic Volunteer Coordinator.