Objectives: The objective of this project was to evaluate demand for PAs by examination of job postings. We compared proportions of PAs in primary care with proportions of job postings in primary care in 2014 and 2016 and described job postings for PAs by specialty in 2014 and 2016. Methods: Internet job postings for PAs supplied by Burning Glass Technologies were evaluated for practice specialty. Job postings were compared with existing filled positions by specialty as reported by the National Commission for the Certification of Physician Assistants. Results: In both years, more than 25% of PAs in practice were in primary care and fewer than 20% of job openings were in primary care. More than half of postings were in medical and surgical subspecialties. Conclusions: Our findings provide insights into which specialties have emerging high demand for PAs. The demand for PAs appears to remain much stronger for specialty jobs than for primary care jobs.

Background: Physician assistants (PAs) are an integral part of inpatient care teams, but many PAs do not receive formal education on authoring discharge summaries. High-quality discharge summaries can mitigate patient risk during transitions of care by improving interprovider communication. Objective: To understand the current state of discharge summary education at our institution, and describe a novel curriculum to teach PA students to write effective discharge summaries. Design: Students completed a pre-survey to assess both knowledge and comfort levels regarding discharge summaries. They wrote a discharge summary and received feedback from two evaluators, an inpatient provider (IPP) familiar with the described patient and a simulated primary care provider (PCP). Students completed a post-survey reassessing knowledge and comfort. Results: Prior to instituting this curriculum, the majority of students (92.9%) reported rarely or never receiving feedback on discharge summaries. Eighty-four of 88 (95.5%) eligible students participated. There was discordance between IPP and simulated PCP feedback on their assessment of the quality of discharge summaries; simulated PCPs gave significantly lower global quality ratings (7.9 versus 8.5 out of 10, p = 0.006). Key elements were missing from >10% of discharge summaries. Student response was favorable. Conclusion: Clinically relevant deficiencies were common in students' discharge summaries, highlighting the need for earlier, structured training. IPPs and simulated PCPs gave discordant feedback, emphasizing differing needs of different providers during transitions of care. This novel curriculum improved students' knowledge and confidence.

To help shape the future of health care in North Carolina, Duke University School of Medicine has implemented several new initiatives aimed at providing primary care providers with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to improve population health and health care.A n aging population, growing obesity rates, and increases in chronic disease are stressing the services of primary care practices in North Carolina. To adapt to these changes, primary care providers must learn to work smarterby adopting public health viewpoints, analyzing health data, using teams, and partnering with the community. To this end, Duke University School of Medicine is developing population health training for medical students, residents, and faculty members that will help them address adverse health trends and disparities in health and health care.

We present an interprofessional PCMH curriculum for medical and physician assistant students during their clinical year. This course provides students a familiarity with principles of the medical home model and practical experience with practice redesign issues in the context of PCMH transformation.