Increased Interest in Primary Care with Early Clinical Exposure

Primary care shortages throughout the United States have reached a staggering deficiency. According to an Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) the United States is projected to be deficient between 46,000 and 90,000 medical providers by the year 2025. An analysis compiled for the AAMC by Immunohistochemistry, Inc., a global information company headquartered in Englewood, Colo., estimates a primary care shortage of 12,500 to 31,100 primary care physicians and a shortfall of 28,200 to 63,700 non-primary care physicians.1 A promising solution to meet these deficiencies and increase interest in primary care requires a multi-pronged approach. This research proposes one avenue to be the increase in exposure to primary care in rural settings early in the academic didactic year of physician assistant (PA) schooling to elicit a genuine interest in continued commitment to the field of medicine