Parental Guidance Required: How Parents Could Help Reduce the Shortage of Minority Physician Assistants.

Physician assistants (PAs) are essential to the health care system, and there are not nearly enough of them to meet the needs of our ethnically diverse population. Factors contributing to a lack of minorities in PA schools are related to academic performance, commitments outside work/school, and social and economic deprivation. From 2014 to 2016, the Texas Area Health Education Center East worked with the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston to implement Physician Assistant Learner Support programming. This program, targeting minority high school students, promoted and educated both students and parents about PA careers with the objective of alleviating one of the main barriers to minority higher education-lack of understanding of educational and career opportunities. This study found that parental knowledge about PA application requirements, PA degree requirements, financial aid, and career prospects at the high school level is essential to securing parental support of student selection of PA careers.

Improving Primary Care Retention in Medically Underserved Areas: What's a Clinic to Do?

To reduce health professional shortage areas, the National Health Service Corps has attempted to increase the number of primary care providers in underserved communities through scholarships and loan repayment. Program evaluations assessed Loan Repayment Program (LRP) propensity to work in underserved communities. The National Health Service Corps LRPs were asked about preferences for particular retention strategies and which strategies were utilized by their clinical sites. Loan Repayment Programs were asked to rank retention strategies. Loan Repayment Program top choices were competitive salary, 88%; professional development, 70%; knowledgeable/competent support staff, 59%, and professional support, 58%. Loan Repayment Programs were also asked to rank retention strategies provided by their clinical sites: professional development, 74.2%; competitive salary, 71.2%; policies that prohibit abusive behavior, 63.6%, and knowledgeable/competent support staff, 60.6%. Loan Repayment Programs indicated professional support was an important retention element. However, when asked if professional support opportunities were offered, LRP indicated that these were not in the strategies offered by sites.