In this blog spotlight, we’re featuring Joseph Powell, FNP-C, a family nurse practitioner at ExcelENT of Alabama. With a background in emergency medicine and medevac transport, Joseph brings a sharp clinical eye and a genuine passion for patient-centered care to our growing allergy and sinus program. 

Inside ENT and Allergy Care with Joseph Powell, FNP-C

I came to ENT by a road I never quite expected, but looking back, it makes a lot of sense. My background is in emergency medicine. I graduated from AUM in 2012, spent years working in the ER in Montgomery, and did medevac helicopter air transport before going back to school for my nurse practitioner degree at UAB. 

Fast-paced environments, complex cases, and never knowing what was coming next—that was my world for a long time. ENT is a different pace, but it has that same energy in a lot of ways. No two patients are the same, and there’s always something to figure out. I joined the ExcelENT team in December 2025, and I’ve been getting my footing here ever since.

How I Found My Way to ExcelENT

Family played a big role. My brother-in-law is an ENT physician, and while he was going through med school and I was going through nurse practitioner school, we used to bounce cases back and forth constantly. We always half-jokingly talked about working together one day. That dream didn’t pan out exactly as planned; he ended up going the pediatric route at Children’s. But through that connection, he had built a solid relationship with Dr. Davis.

That introduction was really what brought me here. And once I started learning more about what Dr. Davis had built at ExcelENT—the surgical involvement, the cutting-edge approach to sinus care, the use of biologics—I was genuinely interested. The program is doing things that are at the forefront of what’s happening in ENT medicine right now, and that matters to me.

What I Love About Working in ENT

Coming from the ER, I was used to a certain kind of variety; you never knew what was rolling through the door. ENT has that same quality, just in a very different setting. Every patient who walks into the exam room has a different story, a different combination of symptoms, a different history. It keeps me engaged.

One thing that surprised me about ENT is how much of it is objective. We do nasal endoscopies, and patients can actually see what’s going on inside their nose right there in the room. Same with the ears. Patients get to lay eyes on what we’re treating, and I think that changes the dynamic in a meaningful way. When someone can see what we’re dealing with, they understand it better, and they’re more invested in the process. I really enjoy that.

The other shift from emergency medicine is the relationship side. In the ER, you meet someone in a crisis and then they’re gone. Here, patients come back. I’ve only been at ExcelENT for a few months, but I already see how Dr. Davis knows his patients, not just their charts, but their lives. That kind of connection takes time to build, and I’m looking forward to building it.

A New Model for Allergy and Sinus Care

One of the reasons I was brought on is to help develop ExcelENT’s unified airway model; the idea that sinus and allergy care should happen under one roof, with providers communicating clearly at every step.

Before, if a patient needed allergy testing, they’d be referred elsewhere. The results would come back eventually, but there was often a gap, sometimes months, where no one was really walking the patient through what those results meant or what came next. Dr. Davis recognized that patients weren’t getting the seamless experience they deserved, and that’s what prompted the move to bring allergy testing in-house.

Now, my role is to close that gap. When a patient comes in with symptoms like congestion, drainage, watery eyes, chronic sore throat, and their nasal endoscopy points toward an allergy component, we can test them right here. We test for 58 environmental allergens with a skin test that takes about 30 minutes. I can go over the results that same day, explain whether their triggers are seasonal or year-round, and talk through options like immunotherapy.

Allergy Shots, on Your Terms

ExcelENT uses a hybrid immunotherapy model that I think is genuinely smart for patients. Instead of coming in every single week for an allergy shot, patients come in for their first appointment, receive a shot in the office, and then leave with eight weeks of doses to administer at home. They come back every eight weeks for a ramp-up dose and a new supply.

The needle is small—comparable to an insulin needle—and patients are taught how to administer it before they ever leave the office. For anyone in school or working full-time, the flexibility is a real difference-maker.

Allergy testing and immunotherapy are currently offered at our Homewood location, which is also where I’ll be based full-time.

Start Feeling Better with Expert ENT and Allergy Care in Birmingham, AL

Chronic sinus problems and allergy symptoms have a way of becoming background noise; something you learn to live with instead of actually treating. At ExcelENT of Alabama, Joseph Powell, FNP-C, Dr. Davis, and the rest of our team take a different approach: treating your sinus and allergy health together, under one roof, so nothing falls through the cracks.

From allergy testing and sinus care to hearing concerns and beyond, our Homewood clinic offers comprehensive ENT care built around the full picture of your health. Schedule an appointment today and experience what coordinated, patient-first care actually feels like.