Univ North Carolina Medic to PA program!

[mycrofft]

http://www.northcarolinahealthnews....ll-turn-army-medics-into-local-practitioners/

NPR's Morning Edition had an article just now about this. Two year program aimed at bridging Special Forces medics who have returned to civilian life to Physician Assistants. Slated to begin classes in 2015, goal is to train community providers for rural and underserved North Carolina locales. It will confer a master's degree.

Here's another article from the school itself.:

http://www.med.unc.edu/ahs/unc-pa/about-pa-program

 

[ExpatMedic0]

great news

 

[EpiEMS]

Curious how they'll work out this program. Do most of the 18Ds have undergrad degrees? Great concept, I very much like it!
The article sorta underlies the problem with EMS though, some of the quotes are quite revealing...

Morning Edition +1 so good

 

[ExpatMedic0]

Curious how they'll work out this program. Do most of the 18Ds have undergrad degrees? Great concept, I very much like it!
The article sorta underlies the problem with EMS though, some of the quotes are quite revealing...

Morning Edition +1 so good

I was wondering the same thing about the undergrad, however I think with AARTS and ACE credits plus the medic cert and whatever else they might be bridged in that way as undergrads. I have no idea, just a guess

 

[mycrofft]

I wish a university counselor was on here. Or a NC recruiter.

 

[Christopher]

Curious how they'll work out this program. Do most of the 18Ds have undergrad degrees? Great concept, I very much like it!
The article sorta underlies the problem with EMS though, some of the quotes are quite revealing...

Morning Edition +1 so good

My best friend is an 18D and has a degree from prior to enlisting; ballparking from the guys I've met who went thru class with him is >50% had BA/BS degrees.

 

[JPINFV]

“If you look at the task list that they get in their year of clinical training, it overlaps about 85 percent with an emergency medical residency,” said Benson,

::cough: Sucking Bull Fhit ::cough::

 

[Christopher]

“If you look at the task list that they get in their year of clinical training, it overlaps about 85 percent with an emergency medical residency,” said Benson,

::cough: Sucking Bull Fhit ::cough::

That was my read...they really do not get much chronic care experience or acute care of civilian medical emergencies. Their education doesn't transfer well to a civilian paramedic without some bridge course to pick up those conditions to be honest.

 

[Brandon O]

Apart from the needlessly arrogant quotes, this is very much in line with the PA tradition. The original PA concept took returning military corpsmen and retrained them to practice medicine semi-autonomously, filling the provider shortage in underserved areas.

With that said, from this info it's not quite clear what's being done here. Most PA programs are two years and (generally) confer a master's degree. It may be that this is simply a specialized program that preferentially or exclusively recruits military providers, and orients the curriculum toward their background. Or it may be that this is a master's program which allows students without a bachelor's degree, or without some of the usual prerequisites, by offering some type of recognition for non-traditional academic background. But they're not getting any shortcuts on the curriculum.

 

[Veneficus]

I would point out that most PAs do not work in these "rural and underserved environments."

What would encourage graduates from this program to behave any differently?

 

[Brandon O]

I would point out that most PAs do not work in these "rural and underserved environments."

What would encourage graduates from this program to behave any differently?

Yes, I don't see any reason to think they'd have unusually high rates, unless military personnel are more prone to staying local and working in these environments. But it's de rigueur to mention this mission whenever PA programs come up.

I believe UW MEDEX does preferentially recruit veterans (among other things) with the idea that they're more likely to follow this route.

 

[JPINFV]

It's like medical schools, especially DO schools, espousing the primary care mission... and their applicants doing likewise until it comes time to schedule audition rotations.

 

[EpiEMS]

I would point out that most PAs do not work in these "rural and underserved environments."

What would encourage graduates from this program to behave any differently?

They could structure the financing of the program such that tuition etc. is conditional on practicing in a medically underserved environment?

 

[ExpatMedic0]

I would point out that most PAs do not work in these "rural and underserved environments."

What would encourage graduates from this program to behave any differently?

18D, hooah! Duh Vene!

 

[Brandon O]

They could structure the financing of the program such that tuition etc. is conditional on practicing in a medically underserved environment?

Yes, there are grants and scholarships that work this way, and I believe others available to veterans. Never seen a program that mandated it for all applicants.

 

[Veneficus]

Yes, there are grants and scholarships that work this way, and I believe others available to veterans. Never seen a program that mandated it for all applicants.

The same for doctors, but it doesn't take a financial expert to figure out it is not worth it.

 

[Wheel]

I would point out that most PAs do not work in these "rural and underserved environments."

What would encourage graduates from this program to behave any differently?

One reason I can think of is that they're used to increased autonomy and operating in austere environments. They might be a little reluctant to give that up for more oversight and doing fast track in the city.

 

[EpiEMS]

The same for doctors, but it doesn't take a financial expert to figure out it is not worth it.

Valid point. If, however, they see a rural lifestyle as desirable, then it might be ok. I just don't quite see that as likely for a huge number of them.

 

[mycrofft]

N. Carolina is specifically stating this is targeting underserved areas, but as I saw in Nebraska, "how you going to keep 'em down in the farm"?

 

[Brandon O]

N. Carolina is specifically stating this is targeting underserved areas, but as I saw in Nebraska, "how you going to keep 'em down in the farm"?

Again, every PA program I've encountered says this. How serious they are about it varies widely.