Sturgill exemplifies servant leadership in new role as faculty

Written by Lindsey Fleishman

Jordan Sturgill has truly embraced the motto of ECU, “to serve,” and has chosen to give back, as a faculty member, to the community that has given her so much. 

Jordan graduated from East Carolina University in 2015 with a degree in exercise physiology. After this, she chose to stay and continue her education and received her master’s in physician assistant studies in 2019. Most recently and most special to her, she has come to ECU as a faculty member, where she is able to continue clinical practice. 

Her mother is a physician, so growing up around medicine, she always knew that this was what she wanted to do. While she was drawn into the field by her family, her love and interest in medicine has carried her through her experiences. “I found that I love having the chance to bond with patients and provide comfort during a time that may be scary for them. I also love the challenge of medicine. Every single day and every single patient is different, and I am passionate about individualizing a plan alongside the patient and utilizing shared decision-making.”

While she knew that medicine was where she would thrive, the path within this career field was unclear. During undergrad, she worked as a GI technician at a local gastroenterology clinic, where she helped physicians during clinic visits and procedures. After PA school, she returned to the same clinic as a provider. 

Jordan is the perfect example of someone who used her college experience to determine where she wanted to go and how she was going to get there. Her advice to students would be, “Take advantage of this time to figure yourself out. You don’t have to know exactly what path you are going to take at this moment. There will never be a better time to explore your interests and take risks!”

When asked what her favorite memory of her time at ECU was, she mentioned a service learning experience that happened before her first week of classes as a first-year student. She said, “I met one of my best friends that day! We were eventually at each other’s weddings, we both became PA’s, and now we are moms to little boys born 4 months apart!”

We are so proud of Jordan and all she has done since graduating from ECU and all that she does to represent our program.