We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ebony Joyner, MS, MMSc, PA-C. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ebony below.
Hi Ebony, thanks for joining us today. Can you share an important lesson you learned in a prior job that’s helped you in your career afterwards?
After completing my Physician Assistant training, I accepted a position in a rural town in South Carolina. As a new graduate, I was so excited to be offered my first job in my career that I immediately accepted the position….without negotiating my contract. The benefits were good and the salary seemed great because of course it was more than I had ever received at the time. As time went on, I became increasingly overwhelmed, overworked, no social life in the small town, and didn’t have nearly enough PTO to support my mental health. After finally doing the research, that should have been done beforehand, I learned that I was about $10,000 underpaid (even as a new graduate), and the small-town life was simply not for me. Looking back, I think as a young, new grad it was easy to get caught up in the excitement of obtaining that first job and afraid that any questions or perceived pushback would cause employers to change their mind about hiring me. This thinking led me to accept the first seemingly good position that came along. Of course, a great salary and benefits are important but it’s just as important to consider the location, work-life balance, opportunities for career growth, time off, and work environment/culture. Never again will I sign a contract without negotiating and considering the other factors.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
My name is Ebony Joyner and I am a graduate of Fayetteville State University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biotechnology. After completing my BS, I went on to complete a Master’s of Medical Science in Physician Assistant from Emory University. I practiced as an Internal Medicine Physician Assistant for 4 years before walking away due to my own health conditions and to preserve my mental health. I had given so much to my patients and to a system that I felt completely failed me when I became the patient.
Frustrated by a broken healthcare system that had little to offer me other than prescription after prescription, I set out on a journey of self-healing. It was on this journey that I discovered the power of herbs as medicine and decided to return to school for a Master of Science in Clinical Herbal Medicine. It was also through this journey that Just a Little Herb LLC was birthed in August 2020 from the desire to share the power of herbs with others. Just a Little Herb creates herbal products that not only promote health and wellness but also provides alternatives that aid and support conventional medicine.
As a Clinical Herbalist, I also work with clients on a one-on-one basis to explore their health goals and concerns. I create personalized protocols which may include herbs, lifestyle & dietary recommendations, and/or supplements that are aimed to assist the body’s own healing properties. I have a passion for and special interest in conditions that overwhelmingly affect the African American community.
My extensive training and years of experience as a Physician Assistant combined with my Clinical Herbal Medicine training allow for me to help clients by integrating the language of medicine with traditional herbalism, thus “bridging the gap between conventional and herbal medicine.”
If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?
The journey to where I am now has been nothing short of the scariest, up and down, twists and turns rollercoaster you could ever imagine, but I wouldn’t change it for the world! When I decided to become a Physician Assistant it was based on a desire to help eliminate health disparities and a lack of seeing people that looked like me in healthcare. African Americans are at the highest risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer (to name a few), yet only about 5% of healthcare providers are black. Representation is important in order for patients to feel understood and in order to meet their unique social and cultural needs; I found this to be true in my practice. While practicing in Internal Medicine at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), the majority of my patients were uninsured or underinsured, black, and of lower socioeconomic status. Many of the patients I saw would not be able to receive adequate healthcare if they were not seen at the health center and I truly felt as though I was making a difference. However, I was limited due to the high patient load and time constraints of the traditional health system.
As a Clinical Herbalist with my own practice, it affords me the ability to truly educate my clients on their health and simple yet effective lifestyle modifications. I am able to spend more time with them which helps build better rapport and trust. I am able to partner with my clients using a holistic approach to achieving wellness. As an herbalist with my PA background, I am able to help my clients advocate for themselves in a medical system that often overlooks the whole person.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
In 2019 after having progressively worsening migraines for the past several years, I was ultimately taken out of work by my Neurologist. I went from a full-time healthcare provider to a full-time patient overnight. Being on this side of the healthcare system was a completely different world and one that I was not prepared for. I endured more tests and procedures than I care to count and began suffering from major depression and anxiety. I was suddenly faced with questions that so many people face on a daily basis, what am I going to do for health insurance? How am I going to pay for my medical bills? Will I even be able to continue to seeing my healthcare providers? It wasn’t until a Radiology Technician who knew nothing about me, during one of my procedures looked at me and said “change your prayer from asking God to remove the mountain to asking for the strength to climb the mountain.” From that point on my outlook changed. I realized that I had been placed in a unique position to experience the healthcare system from a different perspective. I was able to see the challenges of navigating a broken system through the lens of an everyday patient. I saw the difficulties of searching though the insurance marketplace, the feelings of not feeling heard by providers, and the lack of care and empathy in healthcare. I have since made it my mission to be a patient advocate and help clients navigate the system which includes finding health insurance, preparing for appointments (ie. knowing what questions to ask), translating the language of medicine, and encouraging self-advocacy.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.justalittleherb.com
- Instagram: @justalittleherb
- Facebook: @justalittleherb
- Other: Email: [email protected]
Image Credits
Jessica Hill of Sincerely Captured by J