The University of Queensland has announced it is dropping its pioneering physician assistant (PA) program.
You can read the official reasons in the media release. No doubt there is also a back story (which I don’t have time to research more fully just now).
Professor David Wilkinson, Dean and Head of the School of Medicine, said in the statement: “The School will ensure that current students complete their degree successfully, and we will continue to monitor the health workforce landscape in Australia carefully. If a commitment to the development of a physician assistant workforce arises, the University will give serious consideration to re-activating the program.”
The former dean who helped establish the program, Professor Peter Brooks, a longstanding advocate for PAs’ potential in resolving health workforce shortages, told Croakey it was a “sad day for Australian health care”.
It is also very sad for the current students, who must now be feeling even more anxious for their futures.
