SACRAMENTO — Medical professionals say there’s a critical shortage of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers in the United States. Now, one university is trying to address the crisis by opening a new school in Sacramento.
A patient whose heart stops and needs an airway tube inserted – it’s an emergency scenario students can now train for in a new school at the University of the Pacific (UOP) campus in California’s capital city.
“It really simulates how we’ll be taking care of our patients,” said Alejandra Diaz, a UOP physician assistant student.
Diaz is one of the students training to become a physician assistant in the 27-month-long master’s degree program.
“It is intense,” she said of the program. “We’re here all day, basically.”
Physician assistants can examine patients, perform procedures, and prescribe medication in collaboration with a medical doctor. The university says they are a way to help solve backlogs in the healthcare system.