By Ryan Clark
CHS Communications Director

Two students in the College of Health Sciences’ Physician Assistant Studies Program presented their research poster at the Kentucky Rural Health Association Annual Conference in Bowling Green this fall.

Abigail Jones and Ashley Clemons, both second-year PA students, presented the research, which was centered around gauging the knowledge of pre-PA undergraduate students in Kentucky and what drives them to want to pursue the profession.

“Due to almost half of the state being deemed ‘medically underserved,’ Kentucky utilizes pipeline programs such as regional area health education centers (AHEC) to partner with educational and professional organizations to promote healthcare vocation opportunities for young people,” said Jones, who hails from Powell, Ohio. “Therefore, the correlations drawn from this study can serve as the groundwork for both AHEC, and PA affiliated organizations so that they may gain a perspective on how to recruit and encourage future healthcare advocates and providers, specifically in the rural areas of Kentucky.”

The information can be used to further pipeline programs, expand public awareness, and increase PA retention in the state of Kentucky, she said. With continued focus, and deliberate effort, officials can increase access to quality healthcare, and increase retention of healthcare workers within rural areas of Kentucky.  

“Our hope is that through working with both AHEC and our state organization, KAPA, we can encourage Kentucky students to stay and help those in areas where practitioners are needed the most,” said Clemons, a native of Leitchfield.

Both said these kinds of experiences are also important for their continuing education.

“Events like these are essential to building confidence and communication skills as a future clinician and provider,” Jones said. “It is also an opportunity to connect with others who you may not directly work with as a future PA but are also integral to the healthcare and educational system.”

“I believe that it is important to go to experiences like this as it gives an opportunity to both network with future colleagues as well as build your knowledge from learning from others with unique experiences and perspectives,” Clemons said.

It’s just another factor that makes the PA program in CHS great, they say.

“The UK PA Program has given us the support and opportunities that we've needed to share our research and guide us to become the healthcare professionals we have always dreamed of being,” Jones said.

“The PA program here at UK is a special one,” Clemons said. “Each member of the staff, from administration to the professors, always makes an effort to show their support towards us students. Healthcare is ever-changing, and I know that the program will continue to adapt with it, ensuring that our state receives the healthcare practitioners that it deserves.”