Cara Jacobs, PA-C

Cara Jacobs Advocates Prevention and Health Screenings for Baselines and Early Detection

“Screenings are crucial to benchmark patients’ health; they are a barometer of the present and the future.”

Cara Jacobs was motivated in science and began her career doing neuroscience research; but although she learned a great deal, she found it lonely. “I wanted the give-and-take with people,” says Cara. “That’s when I decided to switch my career direction and focus on medicine, which would give me the opportunity to interact with patients and other health care professionals on a daily basis.”

As a physician assistant, Cara is passionate about wellness care and providing screenings to all her patients when appropriate. She is a proponent of early detection saving lives. According to Cara, “Preventive care is crucial, and I encourage physical screenings, including PAPs, mammograms, colonoscopies and other screenings, so that a baseline can be recorded; and if an abnormality is detected, it can be treated early.”

She joined Vanguard in 2016 as a physician assistant and provides a variety of services, including annual physicals, sick visits, medication management, blood pressure screenings, vaccinations and extension of services from one of our physicians. Cara is also a certified Department of Transportation medical examiner. This certification allows her to conduct the detailed physicals required for bus and truck drivers with commercial drivers’ licenses.

Cara co-authored “Rebound Potentiation of Inhibition in Juvenile Visual Cortex Requires Vision-Induced BDNF Expression” in the Journal of Neuroscience, August 6, 2014. During her free time, she enjoys reading, jogging with her husband and spending time with her friends.