Projected physician assistants shortage may hit rural Iowa

A recent University of Iowa study projects a shortage of physician assistants as 32 percent of the state's PAs were age 50 or older in 2015 and may retire within the next 15 years. This has the potential to compound difficulties for health care institutions across the state which are already facing a shortage of primary care physicians going forward, especially in many rural areas which have become more reliant on PAs to meet the growing needs of an aging population.