POTSDAM, NY – Certified Physician Assistant (PA-C) Kelsie Fournier has joined the Canton-Potsdam Hospital medical team as the Director of the Student Health Center at Clarkson University’s Potsdam campus.
Ms. Fournier earned her degree in Physician Assistant Studies at Clarkson University, where she is currently an adjunct instructor in the program. She is certified through the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. During her clinical rotations, she spent time working at Gouverneur Hospital, and with St. Lawrence Health’s Dermatology team in Canton.
While a native of Tupper Lake, Ms. Fournier said she felt like she was “coming home” when she drove to Canton-Potsdam Hospital on her first day of work.
“This employment opportunity truly was the opportunity of a lifetime for me. I am a North Country girl, and after graduating from Tupper Lake High School as Valedictorian, I moved to Potsdam and spent the next four years as a double major in Biology and Psychology at Clarkson. I was then accepted into the University’s PA program that following January, and spent and additional 2.5 years in Potsdam,” she said.
Ms. Fournier worked in the North Country region for the next few years, and upon her return to Potsdam, she said she could not imagine being anywhere else.
“I’m so excited to be back and serving the Clarkson community. I hope to expand the services already provided to our students and raise awareness/reduce the stigma of mental health,” she said.
Ms. Fournier is a member of the New York State Society of Physician Assistants, and during her graduate course work she went on a Medical Mission trip to Nicaragua with Clarkson’s Physician Assistant Students Without Borders program.
As a PA, she conducts physical examinations, diagnoses illnesses, prescribes medications, and is qualified to assist in a multitude of medical and surgical procedures. Ms. Fournier may also order and interpret diagnostic tests, and perform suturing and castings.
