by Dr. Jennifer Coombs
The University of Utah Physician Assistant Program received a $1,201,656 Project Grant award from the Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration Bureau of Health Professionals under the Primary Care Training and Enhancement (CFDA 93.884) program. The goal of the project is to train physician assistant students at the University of Utah to provide high-quality primary care services to individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP) and those with physical, intellectual, or developmental disabilities (PD/IDD).
The university will create two new scholar programs - the LEP Scholar Program and the PD/IDD Scholar Program - that will each enroll five students per year for a total of 20 students in each program over the five year year project period. These programs will incorporate new didactic curricula to teach culturally competent and linguistically appropriate care, provide 2-month clinical rotations in community settings serving the target populations, and graduate a total of 40 physician assistants trained to serve individuals with LEP and PD/IDD.
