The center said 37 percent of USD’s 390 PA graduates are working in communities with fewer than 10,000 people. An online map shows the location of 183 of them who practice in South Dakota.

The PA profession emerged in the United States in the 1970s as a way to boost access to expert health care providers for people living in rural areas. USD’s PA program, which started in 1993, is one of 10 different health profession programs that are part of the university’s School of Health Sciences.

Modern physician assistants attend many of the same classes as medical students but spend less time on their formal education because they are not required to undertake a residency. PAs now provide important health care services in all areas of every state, and opportunity forecasts for the profession are among the brightest in the employment sector.

USD currently accepts 25 new students each year, and 20 of them must be South Dakota residents.

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