Hosting Global Physician Assistant Students in the United States

Abstract

As health care systems around the world struggle to meet their populations' needs, the physician assistant (PA)-type provider is achieving a new era of growth and expansion. There are exponentially more PA-type students in the world than there have ever been before. These students are technologically savvy and globally connected, and they frequently exhibit a desire to visit and learn from other PA societies, systems, and cultures. Hosting global PA students is as much a philosophy as it is a set of logistical checkpoints. When a US (or other country) PA program hosts a PA student from abroad, they must make the switch from teaching primarily medicine to teaching about the PA role, behaviors, and socialization. It is this type of learning experience that will give traveling PA students a unique toolset to bring back home enabling them to lead with new ideas in their organizations. Hosting a global PA student requires thinking outside of the box, and the long-term reward for that effort is a global connection with another program and new PAs who will share their wisdom, resources, and philosophy with your program as well.