The role of physician assistants in rural health care: a systematic review of the literature.

@article{Henry2011TheRO,
  title={The role of physician assistants in rural health care: a systematic review of the literature.},
  author={Lisa R Henry and Roderick S. Hooker and Kathryn Yates},
  journal={The Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association},
  year={2011},
  volume={27 2},
  pages={
          220-9
        }
}
  • L. Henry, R. Hooker, K. Yates
  • Published 1 March 2011
  • Medicine
  • The Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association
PURPOSE A literature review was performed to assess the role of physician assistants (PAs) in rural health care. Four categories were examined: scope of practice, physician perceptions, community perceptions, and retention/recruitment. METHODS A search of the literature from 1974 to 2008 was undertaken by probing the electronic bibliographic databases of English language literature. Criterion for inclusion was original data published on rural PAs. Each paper was assessed and assigned to the… 
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TLDR
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Rural community residents have more confidence in and satisfaction with PAs who have remained in a clinic for several years, and PAs committed to autonomous, rural primary care would benefit from additional training, particularly in emergency medicine, the benefits of community involvement, and adaptation to the local culture.
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