Veterans as physician assistants

Abstract

The physician assistant (PA) profession emerged nearly 50 years ago to leverage the healthcare experience of Vietnam-era military trained medics and corpsmen to fill workforce shortages in medical care. In 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Primary Care Training and Enhancement program was established to improve access to primary care. Training military veterans as PAs was again identified as a strategy to meet provider access shortages. However, fewer than 4% of veterans with military healthcare training are likely to apply to PA school and little is known regarding the factors that predict acceptance to training. In 2012, we surveyed all veteran applicants and a stratified random sample of nonveterans applying to PA training. We compare the similarities and differences between veteran and nonveteran applicants, application barriers, and the factors predicting acceptance. We conclude with a discussion of the link between modern veterans and the PA profession.

Commentaries on health services research

“…Fewer than 2% of potentially eligible military healthcare-trained veterans even apply for PA training, despite being signifi cantly more likely than nonveterans to be selected for training. 5 Program directors should attend carefully to the implications of these fi ndings, seek an improved understanding of the value veterans offer the PA workforce, and work to build outreach.…”

Using art to illustrate medical empathy to physician assistants

“…The people who responded to those cries were the first PAs. The terms "medic" and "corpsmen" are used interchangeably in the literature to refer to enlisted military personnel who are trained in emergency medicine and patient care (Brock et al, 2015). PAs have been practicing medicine since 1968, but their identity, role, and training are unknown to many people.…”