Medicine with Meaning

Darcy Mosley has built a career defined by faith, family, and service to the place that raised her.

Words by Jenny Lynn Davis | Images by Al Blanton

Darcy Mosley grew up in Jasper, the daughter of an engineer and an educator, with no immediate role models in the medical field. Still, she carried a quiet pull toward healthcare. “I always thought I wanted to do something in medicine, but I wasn’t sure,” she recalls.

When she enrolled at Auburn University, she gave herself room to explore, declaring a double major in biomedical science and Spanish. She found herself caught between two identities: the science student drawn to biology and the language student intrigued by the wider world. “I had been vacillating between medicine and a Spanish-driven international path,” she says. “But God orchestrated things clearly. It became obvious this was my path.”

That clarity came, in part, through relationships. A nurse friend, Robin O’Bryant, told her about working alongside physician assistants. She was intrigued by the combination of patient care, decision-making, and the opportunity for autonomy, all while maintaining a balance in her family life. “It fit exactly what I was hoping for,” she says.

In true whirlwind fashion, she leapt into the unknown. During her third year at Auburn, she applied to UAB’s PA program, assuming she was testing the process. But as she drove home from her interview, the phone rang: she was accepted. “I panicked,” she laughs. “I was only in my third year. But it all worked out.”

Determined to graduate first, she overloaded her final semesters, ultimately finishing her Spanish degree even though the biomedical science requirements couldn’t all be met in time. By May, she was walking across the stage, and by August, she was sitting in her first PA school class.

Her early clinical experiences reinforced the call. She had worked as a patient care assistant in the ER at Walker Baptist Hospital between her first and second years. “That hands-on experience confirmed I wanted medicine,” she says. “It probably strengthened my application, too.”

If she thought she knew where she was headed, though, she was surprised by what came next.

UAB’s program included a clinical year with rotations in pediatrics, inpatient medicine, outpatient medicine, cardiovascular surgery, general surgery, and orthopedics. For her orthopedics rotation, Darcy specifically chose to focus on spine care at HealthSouth. “Spine intrigued me because it was different, and I loved it—which surprised me,” she admits. She also enjoyed OB and plastics, but spine care captured her interest in a way she didn’t anticipate.

That choice would define her career. Through family friends, she learned that Southern Orthopedics in Jasper was considering bringing in a PA. She arranged her final rotation there under Dr. Mark Prevost Sr., commuting from Birmingham. “It was seamless,” she says. “I finished that rotation one month and joined as an employee the next.”

Now, two decades later, she still remembers how natural the transition felt. “My career path has been marked by clear direction like that,” she says, reflecting on the way faith and timing have aligned at every turn.

Her tenure with Dr. Prevost, first at Southern Orthopedics and now at Alabama Back Institute, has been built on continuity, trust, and shared purpose. “Working together has become seamless. We know how the other thinks and move through the day like a well-oiled machine,” she says of her supervising physician. Along the way, she has learned lessons that go beyond surgical technique: respect, genuine care, and the power of patient relationships built over years.

Spine care has changed in her 20 years of practice. While the standard of care remains, new technology and procedures have expanded what’s possible. Much of that innovation came from the next generation. “Dr. Prevost’s sons, Matthew and Mark II, trained on the latest techniques during residency and their spine fellowships. They brought back procedures they had seen repeatedly, with real-world outcomes. Their confidence and exposure helped us adopt newer approaches here in Jasper,” she explains.

Even so, Darcy is quick to reassure patients that surgery is not the first step. “Many people come in saying, ‘I don’t want surgery,’ and we understand. There are so many conservative options like physical therapy, injections, chiropractic care, decompressive therapy, dry needling, and ablations. Many patients improve without an operation,” she says.

For those who do need surgery, she and her colleagues take the time to weigh the risks and benefits, carefully ensuring that patients feel supported rather than rushed.

Her workdays alternate between the operating room and clinic, keeping the pace varied. OR days involve rounding on inpatients, assisting in surgeries, and evaluating consults. Clinic days bring scheduled visits, exams, and treatment planning. “The back-and-forth between OR and clinic keeps things fresh,” she says.

While medicine has shaped her professional life, family has defined her personal one. She and her husband, Taylor, married while he was in medical school. They lived in Birmingham for seven years while he completed residency, and Darcy commuted back to Jasper to work. When Taylor finished his schooling, the couple returned home for good.

Today, the Mosleys are firmly planted in Jasper, raising three children: Oliver, Amelia, and Abraham. Her parents and siblings live here, as do Taylor’s parents. His father, Jerry Mosley, was an internist in the community for years, and Darcy even collaborated with him on patients before his retirement.

The family also makes time for adventure. Each year, Darcy and Taylor take their kids to a national park and completely unplug from cell phones and screens for days at a time. She says those trips have become a cherished family tradition, with the children happily tackling long hikes without complaint.

Serving her hometown brings deep meaning to Darcy’s work. She sees familiar faces daily in the clinic, and the connection she feels to those who once helped shape her now fuels her care for them. The closeness extends throughout the local medical community, where she counts pharmacists, nurse practitioners, and hospital staff as both colleagues and friends, and notes that these relationships make collaboration seamless.

More than anything, Darcy strives for her patients to leave with a sense of being truly seen and valued. She views each visit as an opportunity to slow down, and ensure people never feel rushed through their care.

When she reflects on her path, Darcy recognizes a series of moments that affirmed her calling. Each professional shift seemed to align perfectly with her family’s rhythm and her faith. Those experiences, she says, continually reinforced her sense of belonging.

Even with all the twists and turns, Darcy’s path has always circled back to Jasper. “This community raised me, and it’s an incredible blessing to have returned to serve the people I love.” 78