“The medics and the corpsmen are often very skilled in acute medical care of younger people,” said Paul Chelminski, the director of UNC’s new Physician Assistant Program. “They’re extremely skilled in trauma care if they’ve been deployed.”

But Chelminski said there are some gaps in the veterans’ ability to diagnose and manage chronic illness, which is a large part of civilian health care. UNC’s program will fill in those gaps. The program will also accept some field experience in lieu of other, more standard, training.

The insurance company Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is donating $1.2 million to help launch the training program and provide scholarships. North Carolina Blue Cross CEO Brad Wilson said the program will also help with a growing need for primary-care providers in the state as more people get insurance through the Affordable Care Act.

“The customers who are accessing the health-care system through the ACA are using more services than any other groups,” he said. “Many are in need of primary care, and the physician assistant plays a key role in delivering high-quality, high-value health care.”

Physician assistants work under the supervision of doctors but still diagnose and treat patients.

The first class is underway with 20 students, including nine veterans. The program is open to students of all backgrounds and takes two years to complete. Chelminski said this first class has an extraordinary amount of clinical experience compared to the national average. Its members are also a few years older than what is typical, with an average age of 33.

UNC research shows many troops with medical training are more interested in becoming a physician assistant than a doctor, and Manning, who is 43, said he is definitely in that camp.

“As I was coming out of the military in my early 40s, I didn’t want to spend a decade training and being in school,” he said. “I just wanted to get in and get out, and physician assistant is perfect for that.”

This post appears courtesy of K aiser Health News .

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Michael Tomsic is a reporter for WFAE radio in Charlotte, North Carolina.