James LaVelle Dickens, DNP, FNP-BC, FAANP

Captain James LaVelle Dickens, DNP, RN, FNP-BC, FAANP, serves in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Regional Office, Office of the Secretary, Region VI Dallas, TX as the Senior Program Manager Officer for the Office of Minority Health. He is an experienced Registered Nurse and Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner with over thirty years of federal healthcare experience. CAPT Dickens’ clinical experience includes Orthopedics, Emergency Department, Surgical Services, Long-Term Care, and the Primary Care setting. He is a fellow and a member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP). CAPT Dickens is a Commissioned Officer in the United States Public Health Service whose mission is to promote, protect and advance the health and safety of the nation. He was selected to participate as a clinical team member for the Afghanistan Health Initiative (AHI) in Kabul, Afghanistan. The mission of the AHI was to improve quality of care, as well as decrease maternal and infant mortality rates at the Rabia Balkhi Women’s Hospital in Kabul. In 2013, CAPT Dickens served as a technical advisor as a member of a Commissioned Corps hospital assistance team in Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and St Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. CAPT Dickens also served as the Officer in Charge of the Commissioned Corps Ebola Response, Team 2 (76 member inter-professional team) serving at the Monrovia Medical Unit (MMU) in Monrovia, LiberiaWest Africa overseeing local MMU response efforts.