Physician Assistants in High Demand Due to Affordable Care Act
Reentry Program Helps PAs Sidelined by Kids, Life Get Back to Work
DENVER, Feb. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The increase in the number of insured patients due to the Affordable Care Act has left a sizable gap in the number of capable medical professionals available to handle the sudden influx of patients requiring care.
Physician assistants (PAs) are filling the void and helping to alleviate the physician shortage by providing a greater proportion of primary care services. CPEP, The Center for Personalized Education for Physician's Reentry to Clinical Practice program is helping physician assistants who have left the practice of clinical medicine get back to the workforce.
"Physician assistants are key to filling in the gaps in primary care. Unfortunately, there is a limited number of slots in PA schools. This is hindering the ability of schools to graduate enough PAs to keep up with demand," said Beth Korinek, chief executive officer for CPEP. "Our Reentry to Clinical Practice program allows PAs to obtain supervised training, helping them get back to the job of caring for patients in a short period of time."
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the U.S. will face a shortage of 90,000 physicians within the next five years, growing to a shortfall of 130,000 by 2025, which could be reduced to 6,400 primary care physicians if physician assistants and nurse practitioners can effectively be added to the health care delivery system.
Physician assistants and other clinicians leave the clinical practice of medicine for many reasons, perhaps most often to raise their children or care for elderly parents. Returning to practice can be daunting due to specific state standards that must be met and the difficulty in finding clinical training sites. CPEP's program helps overcome these challenges by providing personalized training and assistance in finding preceptorships.
For more information on the Return to Clinical Practice program, visit http://www.cpepdoc.org/programs-courses/reentry or call 303.577.3232. Clinicians interested in reentry are encouraged to review The Roadmap to Reentry, a one-stop resource guide created by CPEP and its partner organizations.
Contact:
Erich Kirshner
Evolution Communications Agency
303.921.6733 or [email protected]
SOURCE Center for Personalized Education for Physicians
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