LCSC, Idaho State announce program that will train physician assistants in northern Idaho

Dec. 15—Idaho State University is partnering with Lewis-Clark State College to place a new physician assistant training cohort to northern Idaho, the schools announced Friday.

ISU runs the state’s only physician assistant training program. Its PA students currently train in southern Idaho locations, including Pocatello, Meridian and the Treasure Valley.

The new cohort of 15 students will train in 21 clinical site rotations including Lewiston, Moscow, Coeur d’Alene, Sandpoint, Bonners Ferry and Kooskia.

Idaho faces a severe provider shortage, with some of the lowest numbers of physicians per capita in the country. Training mid-level practitioners including PAs and nurse practitioners is especially important, ISU President Kevin Satterlee said during an online news conference Friday morning.

“They actually deliver more direct primary care to patients than doctors do in this state,” he said.

According to the Idaho Department of Labor, physician assistant positions are the fourth most high-demand job in the state.

One of the biggest challenges Idaho doctors face, according to a survey by the Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho (WWAMI) medical training program at the University of Washington, is complexity of patient care.

Complex health conditions are often caused when patients don’t get early intervention for less severe health problems, often because they lack a primary care provider.

Though the northern Idaho PA cohort will start with just 15 students, Satterlee said, it will allow for the entire training program to grow.

“It will also allow us to continue to expand our other sites,” he said.

Idaho is in a health care provider crisis, said LCSC President Cynthia Pemberton. The two institutions’ partnership can begin to address those needs.

“As of today, it will be possible for students living in North Idaho to pursue physician assistant graduate studies,” Pemberton said. “This is a tremendous opportunity for students and a critically important step for our state.”

In addition to the new cohort, Satterlee said, ISU and LCSC are building a program where LCSC graduates can get guaranteed interviews into ISU’s PA program, and provide a seamless transition between undergraduate and graduate studies, Satterlee said.

The two institutions are also in talks regarding the expansion of LCSC undergraduate programs, namely physical and occupational therapy, that feed into graduate-level studies at ISU, Pemberton said.

“It’s not only a natural progression from our undergraduate through graduate education,” she said, “but really, the potential is from the two-year program all the way up to the graduate level. Available in real time, in location, in this part of the state.”

However, Satterlee said, there are no promises yet. Medical training programs require private partnerships for clinical site placement in addition to the partnerships between educational institutions.

“I think we have to promise that we’re following nature’s rule, right, which is, first you learn to crawl, then you walk, then you run,” he said.

While the two institutions discuss continued partnerships, Satterlee is scheduled to retire at the end of December. Pemberton is one of five finalists for the position.