The Science Behind Health and Wellbeing

Provider Spotlight | Morrisa Regis, PA

It’s not every day you meet a physician assistant with a Ph.D. in chemistry. Before pursuing a career in healthcare, Open Door’s Morrisa Regis earned her doctorate at Purdue University and was a science educator at the high school and college level. Today, she applies her unique knowledge and experiences to help her primary care patients in Muncie understand the science behind health and wellbeing.  

Knowledge is key

Morrisa was born and raised in the Caribbean and came to the United States for college, where she studied biochemistry. After considering medical school, she decided to pursue a career in research. She moved from South Carolina to Indiana and started the chemistry Ph.D. program at Purdue.   

By the time she graduated, she had started a family. “I quickly found out that teaching was a better fit for me than working in a lab, especially at that phase of my life,” she said.  

Morrisa taught science to high school and college students for several years. Over time, she recognized that students with less understanding of science tended to make poorer health choices. “I started to see how more science knowledge could lead to better health outcomes,” she said. “And I began to want to work with people for longer than a semester or school year. I like the idea of walking with people throughout their health journey.”  She went back to school at Trine University for a Master of Science in physician assistant studies.

Now a provider of primary care at Open Door’s Downtown Muncie location, Morrisa loves to hear about her patients’ health goals and provide education and resources to help them be successful. She believes that with a bit of knowledge, patients are better able to prevent illnesses, follow treatment plans, and experience a higher quality of life.  

Giving patients the bigger picture

When Morrisa was teaching, she spent a lot of time trying to convince her students that making good choices now and sticking with them are worth the effort in the long run. Her message is the same for many of her patients.   

“So many patients have chronic health conditions that can’t be fixed immediately. Just like my students, they want instant answers and outcomes, or they try to make too many drastic changes at once,” she said. “Research tells us that even small adjustments to diet and exercise, over time, can greatly improve or even prevent conditions like diabetes and heart disease. But it can still feel overwhelming.”

Morrisa enjoys helping patients find steps they can take toward better health. Small actions like cutting soda and juice drinking in half or taking a 20-minute walk every other day can make a difference over time.

Even with good health habits, sometimes medication is necessary. In these instances, Morrisa’s chemistry background is especially handy. “I know some patients are fearful of putting medicines in their bodies. They are worried because the medicine was created in a laboratory and there is a long list of possible side effects,” she said. “My background in chemistry research gives me extra insights into how medications work, how they are tested, and why they may be better options than ‘natural’ treatments.”  

Morrisa also teaches her patients how to find reliable health information online. She strongly recommends using sources that are active and well-known for their medical research, including Johns Hopkins Medicine, Stanford Health Care, Mayo Clinic, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Luckily, a Ph.D. is not required to understand the information – each website has sections specifically geared toward patients.

Always moving forward

Although Morrisa no longer works in a lab, she is still energized by new and emerging scientific discoveries. Even in her free time, she’s drawn to science fiction movies and TV series that show what could be possible. She hopes that by sharing her knowledge with her patients, they too can see a healthier future.