When he takes office in January, 2019, Dr. Ernest Grant will make history: he’ll be the first man elected president of the American Nurses Association (ANA).

Nursing roles have traditionally been filled by women, but the profession’s gender gap has rapidly narrowed over the past several decades.

In September, Grant — who holds a PhD in nursing and works as a clinician at North Carolina’s Jaycee Burn Center in Chapel Hill — was elected to the ANA presidency by a large margin. He’ll head an organization that represents more than 4 million nurses nationwide.

As the United States faces an anticipated nursing shortage over the next decade, one of Grant’s primary goals, he told WRAL-TV’s Mandy Mitchell, will be to raise the profession’s profile and interest more students — female and male — in it.

Get the full story here, from Raleigh’s WRAL-TV.