Physician Assistant Program Gets Boost From Grant Funds
Song-Brown Grant Allots For Scholarships, Other Expenses
Paying for college is a major consideration for any student, but for those in professional career programs, those challenges can be magnified.
Students in Touro University California’s Joint MSPAS/MPH program should get a little help relieving some of that stress following the awarding of $180,000 from the Song-Brown Healthcare Workforce Training Program.
The grant, distributed through California’s Department of Health Care Access and Information’s (HCAI), will be applied to help all students in some way, with a focus on clinical rotations and the Bridge Program.
Gaining work and educational experience through clinical rotations is an integral part of the PA program, but these experiences often come with added costs for gas to travel to rotation sites, for example. Funding can help students offset some of the add on costs of rotations and help them conserve funding set aside for food, rent and other day-to-day expenses.
The Bridge Program is somewhat akin to a “prep school” experience. Incoming PA students who may desire a little extra time to transition from their previous life – those who haven’t been in school for some time, those moving across country, living on their own for the first time or other circumstances that warrant a little extra adjustment period.
Song-Brown funding can be used to accommodate the services the PA program offers to help students build a strong foundation prior to starting their program officially.
One last area of need for this funding that benefits students is for Remediation Preceptors. In effect, the funds are used to pay preceptors for their time to work with students who need a little extra practice and focus on specific clinical skills.
The end result of this funding effort by the PA program is to ensure students have every opportunity to succeed without applying the burden of funding onto their shoulders.