The proportion of physician assistant (PA) graduates who enter practice in rural settings has dropped over the last two decades, though PAs still continue to enter rural practice at a higher rate than primary care physicians. Between 2000 and 2012, 10% of PA training programs produced about 34% of rural PAs; those same programs produced only 14% of all the PAs graduating in the same period. This study identifies the PA training programs that produced high proportions and/or numbers of rural PAs and the program characteristics associated with that success.
Contact Information:
Eric Larson, PhD
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Phone: 206.616.9601
ehlarson@u.washington.edu