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H H S Department of Health and Human Services
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Helping Veterans Become Physician Assistants

Work Group

Mission

The mission of the Helping Veterans Become Physician Assistants Work Group is to use the collective experience and expertise of its members to make recommendations that will aid the civilian and military physician assistant education community’s efforts to prepare service men, women, and veterans to be excellent applicants, students, and professional physician assistants.

Background

The Helping Veterans Become Physician Assistants Work Group was formed by public and private stakeholders in veteran and physician assistant education who are invested in creating a career path for veterans to enter the civilian physician assistant workforce and to improve the quality of education received by veterans.  The work group formed spontaneously from discussants during the Helping Veterans Become Physician Assistants Initiative webinar hosted by HRSA’s Division of Medicine and Dentistry in the Bureau of Health Professions on November 16, 2011.  HRSA continues to support the work group by providing a communication forum, connections to outside experts and stakeholders, and providing guidance and resources as indicated.

Membership

Work group participation is voluntary and without restriction.  Members are experts in PA training, military education, and stakeholders in transitioning veterans to the civilian healthcare workforce.  HRSA’s role in the work group is to provide a communication forum, connections to outside experts and stakeholders, and guidance, support, and policy expertise as indicated.

Activities

Summary of January 30, 2013 Work Group Meeting:

Dr. Ellen Dawson from George Washington University (GW) presented an overview of their new initiative to award credits to Independent Duty Corpsman (IDC) completing their education and planning to become registered nurses or nurse practitioners.   Dr. Dawson will collaborate with the Work Group and provide updates of GW program’s progress.  

The Recruitment and Training of Veterans and Service Members Committee is collecting information on PA educational programs’ outreach activities targeting local service members and veterans.  The committee also continues to work with the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) to develop a Facebook page to disseminate information about PA careers to veterans and service members and connect interested applicants.  

The Committee on Bridge Programs for Veterans Transitioning to PA Education is preparing a survey to determine how PA education programs use ACE and evaluate credits veterans’ earned while in the service, and how to create alternative programs that help address medics’ and corpsmen’s gaps in knowledge and skills preventing their entrance into civilian PA educational programs. The committee is also planning to interview 40 veteran service organizations to obtain additional perspectives on overcoming obstacles preventing veterans from entering civilian PA educational programs.

Summary of October 24, 2012 Work Group Meeting:

Ms. Sherrillyn Crooks summarized a meeting with the Department of Defense (DoD). HRSA and the DoD agreed that it would be beneficial to convene a federal forum to discuss veteran activities conducted by varying federal agencies. DoD and HRSA will continue to collaborate on activities that will assist veterans with becoming physician assistants (PA), including credentialing/licensing, recruitment, career mentoring, and academic equivalency activities.

The Recruitment and Training of Veterans and Servicemembers Committee is pursuing development of a pilot program to allow veteran and military applicants to job shadow veteran physician assistants that are practicing in their local community.   The committee also continues to work with the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) to develop a Facebook page to disseminate information about PA careers to veterans and servicemembers and connect interested veteran applicants. The Facebook page is scheduled to launch in early 2013.  

The Committee on Bridge Programs for Veterans Transitioning to PA Education continues to prepare for its focused group discussion at the November 2012 PAEA Educational Forum to learn about successes and challenges with implementation of bridge programs for veterans applying to PA programs.  

Summary of September 26, 2012 Work Group Meeting:

Dr. Shannon Bolon summarized a meeting with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Center for Minority Veterans. Attendees received an overview of the VA’s Intermediate Care Technician (ICT) pilot program.  The ICT is a new, innovative healthcare role that builds upon the specialized skill sets of medics and corpsmen in fifteen selected VA emergency departments.

The Recruitment and Training of Veterans and Servicemembers Committee continues to work with the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) to develop a Facebook page to disseminate information about physician assistant (PA) careers to veterans and servicemembers and connect interested veteran applicants.  The committee is also planning a survey of key stakeholders in veteran, servicemember, and PA education, including personnel from the Department of Defense, PAEA, the Helping Veterans Become Physician Assistants Initiative workgroup, PA students, and military veterans involved in PA training.  Committee members will present preliminary Central Application Service for Physician Assistants survey results describing recent PA applicant demographics at the annual PAEA Educational Forum in November 2012.

To improve clarity, the Bridge Committee has revised its name to “Committee on Bridge Programs for Veterans Transitioning to PA Education”. The committee is preparing to conduct focus group discussions at the PAEA Educational Forum to learn about successes, challenges, and innovations from PA educators in implementing programs to better prepare veteran applicants and students to successfully complete PA training.

Summary of August 29, 2012 Work Group Meeting:

Attendees included representatives from multiple PA educational programs, PAEA, military organizations and the Department of Defense (DoD).  Ms. Sherrillyn Crooks updated the workgroup on HRSA’s Physician Assistant Training in Primary Care competition.  13 new awards were made with 11 of them having recruitment, retention, and mentoring activities targeting veterans.  HRSA announced it will host an anniversary ‘Helping Veterans Become Physician Assistants’ webinar in November 2012.

The Recruitment and Training of Veterans and Service members Committee is collecting data from a CASPA survey of veterans.  The survey results will be presented at the PAEA Education Forum in November 2012.  The committee is also working with PAEA to develop a veteran’s Facebook page.  In addition, the committee is working on developing a comprehensive guide for PA education programs that wish to develop partnerships with their local military bases.  The Bridge Program Committee continues to work on developing and conducting structured interviews to collect data from existing PA bridge programs. 

Summary of July 18, 2012 Work Group Meeting:

Attendees included representatives from multiple PA educational programs and PAEA. Ms. Vicki Chan-Padgett presented information obtained while attending the Armed Forces Medical Symposium.  She found a lack of knowledge among servicemembers about the process and requirements for applying to PA educational programs.  The workgroup is currently investigating methods to address this issue.

Ms. Sherrillyn Crooks reviewed the purpose of the initiative, which is to identify and develop best practices that provide enhanced veteran recruitment, retention, and mentoring services that facilitate veterans with becoming physician assistants. The workgroup has added outreach to servicemembers in order to achieve optimal outcomes for the initiative.  The workgroup will also continue to engage interprofessional partners while focusing on the primary purpose of the initiative described above.

The Recruitment and Training of Veterans and Servicemembers committee is gathering information for a Frequently Asked Questions document regarding the requirements for enrollment into physician assistant educational programs.  The document will be available for veterans and servicemembers in order to prepare them about eligibility requirements.

The Bridge Program committee is developing a survey to gather data from current physician assistant programs that have bridge programs.  The committee has defined bridge programs as those that offer accelerated admissions, mentorship, and/or prepare students for PA education programs. The survey will obtain information on current bridge program practices, challenges, and accomplishments.

Summary of May 16, 2012 Work Group Meeting: 

Attendees included representatives from multiple PA educational programs, PAEA, military and the Department of Defense (DoD). Mr. Denni Woodmansee described a new task force working for the department of Veteran Affairs (VA). The mission of this task force is to increase the employment of medics and corpsmen leaving service. A pilot program has been proposed that will select 20 medics and corpsmen to be employed as advanced emergency department technicians in VA medical centers. Potentially, this could be used as a career pathway to other, more advanced health professional careers. The three committees each identified objectives that will strengthen recruitment and retention of veterans who are in or wish to enter PA education programs. 

Ms. Sherrillyn Crooks began a discussion on the accepted definition of a veteran. The discussion to find a definition that the group can all recognize will strengthen cohesion among the group. The workgroup realized the many variables that could change the definition of a veteran. Dr. Shannon Bolon suggested that members with the most expertise regarding this issue gather information for continuing the discussion at the next meeting.

Summary of April 4, 2012 Work Group Meeting:

Attendees included representatives from multiple PA educational programs, PAEA, AAPA, military and the Department of Defense (DoD). Dr. William Tozier presented a summary of the Interservice Physician Assistant Program (IPAP). He provided data that indicate IPAP students with non-medical backgrounds have been as successful as students with medical backgrounds.

Ms. Sherrillyn Crooks provided a summary of HRSA’s meeting with the Veterans Health Administration. The Veterans Administration is interested in collaborating to disseminate recommendations developed by the work group to veterans. HRSA will continue to pursue strengthening its partnership with the VA. 

Committees have been developed for each of the three opportunities for strengthening recruitment and retention of veterans who are in or wish to enter PA education programs. The co-chairs for each committee provided an overview of their initial objectives. The committees will meet before the next work group meeting to develop their objectives and methodologies.

Summary of March 7, 2012 Work Group Meeting:

Attendees included representatives from multiple PA educational programs, PAEA, AAPA, military and the Department of Defense (DoD).  Ms. Sarah Lange, HRSA Public Health Intern from the University of Maryland, provided a summary of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity Hearing on Licensure and Certification, July 10th, 2010. The hearing highlighted the need for schools to recognize military course credits, properly assess military transcripts, and counsel veteran applicants. There was strong consensus that servicemembers require better career counseling and training.

The hearing testimonies and submitted statements support the three areas for growth identified by the workgroup in the 2/1/2012 meeting:

  1. Classes to give veterans the coursework required to enter PA education programs
  2.  Improved recruitment to and training of veterans in PA education programs
  3.  Improved preparation for and recruitment of servicemembers to PA education programs

Work group members began forming committees that will research one of the three opportunities for strengthening recruitment and retention of veterans who are in or wish to enter PA education programs. The first step is to finalize the committees and develop a research plan.

Summary of February 1, 2012 Work Group Meeting:
Attendees included representatives from multiple PA educational programs, PAEA, AAPA, military and the Department of Defense (DoD).  Dr. Ed Michaud, Dr. Paul Jacques, and Mr. Gino Gianola provided a research presentation on an article currently in press, “Assessment of Admissions Policies for Veterans, Corpsmen, and Medics Applying to Physician Assistant Educational Programs.” 

The work group described three interventions to address the areas of interest identified:

  1. Establish successful bridge programs that will provide the necessary course requirements for veterans to matriculate into PA education programs and make them more competitive candidates.
  2. Provide superior career counseling to veterans about civilian health professions.
  3. Partner with DoD and military branches to improve career counseling quality for service members.

The work group agrees to investigate current program practices to find successes or learn from failures using qualitative methods and use the results to recommend strategies for health profession programs to improve the success of veteran students.

Summary of December 14, 2011 Work Group Meeting:
Attendees included representatives from multiple PA educational programs, PAEA, AAPA, military and the Department of Defense.  The work group members identified three areas that they would like to address: assessment of service members’ career planning and preparation, improving veterans’ preparation for civilian PA education programs, and developing guidance to advance and adapt best practices of recruiting, mentoring, and educating veterans.  The work group discussed collecting data not only on veterans who have been admitted to PA programs but also to review the needs of all returning veterans that are just coming out of the military with healthcare experience.