VET-UP © Program
History
The Physician Assistant profession was founded on the premise that returning veterans would offer added value to our country’s need for access to quality health care. The first Physician Assistant programs started at Duke University and the University of Washington with military medically trained veterans lead the way for over 80,000 Physician Assistant alumni to follow today. Those men and women went on to form a new sustainable career in health care that changed the healthcare system that we have today.
At South College we are following in the footsteps of Drs. Stead and Smith by focusing on the valuable skill sets of compassion, caring, and the endless lifesaving efforts of today’s veterans. They are once again our future.
There are over 8,000 medics and corpsmen that have seen combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. They have been called the best trained first responders in the world, receiving training far above their counterparts here in the United States. They would all make great PAs.
- They have heard of our profession but have found barriers put in their way to entering our academic venues,
- Often they have not completed the pre-requisite undergraduate education due to numerous deployments,
- On the academic side of the bridge, many institutions of higher education have academic restrictions that prevent them from an easy transition into a PA career.
