Faculty
Sonya L Earley, EdD, MA, CDCES, PA-C
Fall 1980 - Fall 2120
Assistant Professor II
Physician Assistant Program
SonyaEarley@scuhs.edu
Current Position
Biography
Sonya Earley, EdD, MA, CDCES, PA-C, is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and holds a Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Kinesiology, a Master’s in Biology from California State University, Dominguez Hills, and a Doctorate from USC Rossier School of Education, Global Executive Doctoral Program. She is an alumnus of the Charles R. Drew Physician Assistant Program, where she trained at the “original” Martin Luther King Hospital in South Central, Los Angeles. She has completed her Residency Program at Los Angeles County + USC (LAC + USC) Medical Center in the specialty of Pediatrics and has a sub-specialty in Endocrine and Diabetes. Dr. Earley is a former Certified Insulin Pump Consultant and continues her passion for treating patients with Diabetes at Southern California Kaiser Permanente Medical Group and holds a special classification as a Certified Diabetes Consultant and Education Specialist. She is currently a Clinical Associate Professor at a local medical school and is an Assistant Professor II at the Southern California University of Health Science (SCUHS) Master of Physician Assistant Program, where she was the founding Clinical Director. Dr. Earley is honored to be the President-Elect of the California Physician Assistant Board in 2024 and is the first female and African American to hold this position. Dr. Earley has a wonderful husband, is the proud mother of five (5) incredible children, and is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated.
Degrees
M.A., Biology, California State University Dominquez Hills, Carson, California, United States
B.H.S., Health Science, Charles R. Drew University of Health Sciences, Los Angeles, California, United States
B.Sc., Kinesiology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States
Professional Licensures (Healthcare)
PA-C, California, United States, Active, 1993, December 2026
Certifications (Healthcare)
NCBDE, CDCES, Endocrine and Diabetes, Pediatrics, 00000, 2003, 2024
American Heart Association, BLS, Adults, Children, 00000, 2023-12-05, 2025-12-05
Post-Graduate Training
Type: Residency, LAC + USC Women's and Children's Hospital, Residency, Pediatrics, Los Angeles, California, United States, September 1994, September 1995
Work Experience
2016 - Ongoing
Assistant Professor II, SCU, Whittier, California, United States
2007 - Ongoing
Southern California Kaiser Permanente Medical Group, Kaiser Permanente, Orange, County, California, United States
2004 - Ongoing
Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, USC Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, United States
Hospital / Clinical Appointments
Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, USC Keck School of Medicine December 2004, PRESENT
Scholarly Contributions and Creative Productions
Other Scholarly Work
Completed/Published
Honors and Awards
Spring 2024 - Ongoing
President of the California Physician Assistant Board, 2023, California Physician Assistant Board
Spring 2022 - Ongoing
Vice-President of the California Physician Assistant Board, 2021, California Physician Assistant Board
Professional Membership
Spring 1986 - Ongoing
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, March 1986
Hear from the Students Who’ve Been in Your Shoes
I chose SCU when looking for a PA program because of their Integrative Medicine approach. I am from Michigan, and not many programs focus on this Integrative, Holistic approach when it comes to patient care in the Midwest, and I felt that was very important for me to learn as a future provider. My transition to semi-virtual learning has been very smooth and quite enjoyable. [su_accordion][su_spoiler title="Read More..." open="No"]My favorite part about attending SCU is how tight-knit and diverse the community is. Coming from a large undergrad university and moving so far, it was very important for me to have a PA program that made me feel valued and invested in my success. At SCU, they do a great job of making you feel that.[/su_spoiler][/su_accordion]
Brianna Hadley
MSPA Class of 2022
One of the great things about SCU is we do have a campus layout, so all your classes aren't in a single room. We have our cadaver lab. We have different specialty rooms for physical assessment classes vs. acupuncture classes. All our acupuncture-specific classes have all the herbs in the room. You can pull out the herbs and look at them, whether in class or in between classes to get that extra studying in.[su_accordion][su_spoiler title="Read More..." open="No"]My favorite part of SCU is the collaboration from our beginning terms. We were working alongside chiropractor students, PA students, and ayurvedic students. It's a unique community where we get to learn about these different fields and sit in classrooms with them and work with them in the clinic. It allows you to get an understanding of all the different fields and how they can work together, and what is unique about your field. I think that is a wonderful aspect that I didn't think was going to be as prominent as it is here; even now, in my upper term classes and I am not in class with chiropractic students, I can still reach out to them about a certain aspect I may not understand or if I am working on a case. I want another perspective I know I have them to reach out to, so that has been a great networking community to have resources for.[/su_spoiler][/su_accordion]
Dr. Jamie Kuljis
Graduate, Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine
"There are a lot of things that I love about the program at SCU. The first one is that the faculty come from a long line of Ayurvedic knowledge deeply rooted in ancient classical text. They studied Ayurveda, but they also lived it. When you learn from people who embody this wisdom, it's much easier to grasp this knowledge. The second thing I love is the camaraderie within the cohort. The combination of the training, supportive faculty, and the support of my peers and classmates has given me the confidence I need to start my own practice."
Portia Harris
Student, Ayurveda Program
Some of my favorite courses at SCU have to be the chiropractic procedure classes; those are the classes you get to hone in on your chiro skills, your palpation skills and ultimately work on the adjustments that make you a chiropractor. Those are the classes I feel enhance my knowledge the most and are some of the reasons I chose to become a chiropractor here are SCU.[su_accordion][su_spoiler title="Read More..." open="No"]On top of chiropractic procedures classes, my favorite is the cadaver lab experience. The cadaver classes opened up my perception of what the human body is made up of. It allowed me to get an in-person perspective of how the body works and looks on the inside. I am genuinely thankful for those experiences because they opened and broadened my horizons to the human body and anatomy in general.[/su_spoiler][/su_accordion]
Jordan Vega
Student, Doctor of Chiropractic
Getting Started
View our application requirements above or fill out a request for information to start speaking with an enrollment advisor today.
Financing Your Education
Graduate students have a variety of ways to help fund their education. From graduate-dedicated federal loans to speciality grants and scholarships, paying for your education can be easy at SCU. In addition, our distinctive Fixed Rate Tuition Guarantee for degree programs provides students with confidence in planning for their educational investment.
Fixed Tuition Guarantee Benefits:
- Your per term rate is guaranteed for the scheduled duration of your program*
- No tuition price uncertainty
- Plan your finances in advance
- Learn more about tuition and financial aid.
Attend a Virtual Interactive Information Session
Learn more about SCU and get a feel for campus without ever leaving home by joining an interactive information session. Information sessions include a brief presentation and specific program break out groups so you will have plenty of opportunities to ask questions via chat. Join early and compete in our game to win SCU apparel! RSVP to our Virtual Information Session.
Virtually Tour Your Campus
Not able to attend a campus preview day in person? That’s okay. You can get to know your SCU campus with this virtual tour.