Mary Fargen entered the US Army after graduation with a MOS as a combat medic, and was in the Army for 7 years. She then graduated from the Unversity of Washington- Medex PA program in 1981. Ms. Fargen currently works at Adams Medical Clinic in Austin, Minnesota, a rural clinic in a town of 800. The clinic is part of the Mayo Clinic Health System.

Ms. Fargen has traveled to Haiti 13 times to help improve medical care and also volunteered in Louisana after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. She is the American Academy of Physician Assistants' 2011 Humanitarian PA of the Year.