To make it easier for veterans to leverage their military medical training to become physician assistants, HRSA is giving priority in physician assistant education grant awards to universities and colleges that support veterans.
The first class of physician assistants, in 1965, was composed of former U.S. Navy hospital corpsmen. The curriculum was based in part on training programs for physicians in World War II.
Today, there are about 81,000 PAs in the U.S. and employment of physician assistants is expected to grow rapidly. Physician assistants deliver care in nearly one in ten visits to community health centers.
Learn more: Helping Veterans Become Physician Assistants
Many Iraq and Afghanistan veterans come home from their deployments with rich and deep medical training and experience that does not always qualify for academic credit.
To help these veterans translate the health care skills gained during their enlistment into civilian nursing jobs, HRSA is giving funding priority to nurse training grant program applicants that reach out to veterans and help them transition into nurse training.
Registered nurses are the largest health care occupation, with 2.6 million jobs. More than 15,000 RNs, nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives work at community health centers.
Learn more: Helping Veterans Become Nurses
Advanced Education Nursing Traineeship (2013 funding opportunity will be posted when available)
Primary Care Training and Enhancement Physician Assistant Training in Primary Care (2013 funding opportunity will be posted when available)
Behavioral/Mental Health of Veterans, Service Members & Families monthly webinars focused on the mental/behavioral health needs of veterans, service members, and their families, including issues related to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI).