Dr. Kerri Murphy, DMS, PA-C

With over twenty years of experience as a Physician Assistant practicing in family medicine and urgent care, Professor Murphy integrates her clinical background into the PA curriculum training a new generation of providers. She continues to care for patients at the Waukesha Free Clinic as well as train students to develop holistic care plans for underserved populations. She also serves on the Board of Directors at the Waukesha Free Clinic. She extends education to other health professionals through her work with the Interprofessional Council.

• Butler University, Doctor of Medical Science, 2025
• Midwestern University, Masters Physician Assistant Studies, 2004
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Bachelors Biology, 2001

Special interest in preventative medicine and mental health

Murphy KL, Klug KB, Kasimatis MD. Strengthening mental health literacy in interprofessional health science students utilizing mental health first aid and simulation. Educ Health Prof. 2023;6(1):22-26. doi:10.4103/ehp.ehp_1_23

• Midwest Psychology Association, Chicago, IL. Poster: Strengthening Mental Health Literacy Skills in Graduate Health Sciences Students. (April 2022)

• Boos K, Murphy K, George TSt, Brandes J, Hopp J. The impact of a didactic and experiential learning model on health profession students’ knowledge, perceptions, and confidence in the use of telehealth. J Educ Health. 2022;11(1):232. doi:10.4103/jehp.jehp_1553_21

• Global Nursing Virtual Conference (March 2023): The impact of a didactic and experiential learning model on telehealth education.

GRANTS

• Primary Investigator, Korkor Grant — Trained 200+ faculty and students in Mental Health First Aid; implemented simulated events for crisis recognition and stigma reduction.

• Co-Primary Investigator, HRSA Primary Care Training & Enhancement Grant — Advised interprofessional student teams serving Latino seniors at Milwaukee’s United Community Center and Waukesha Free Clinic.

My teaching philosophy is very similar to my approach to patient care. Working together as a team is very important to me by fostering a learning community. I put a strong emphasis on developing communication skills as these are so vital to being an effective health care provider.

I have always been passionate about the field of medicine and am grateful to be able to educate future providers as well as continue to care for patients.

Students tend to make deeper connections to the material when I am able to draw from previous clinical experience and use these cases to illustrate the topics. Facilitating interactions between students, who will also be their future colleagues, helps to make learning more engaging and develop communication skills.