Ben Olmedo traveled from Afghanistan to Alaska to find the gaps he wanted to fill. Wisconsin-born Carrie Kowalski found her niche in Venice Beach, Calif. And Vicki Chan-Padgett found her space full of needy women and children in Las Vegas 30 years after she first trained as an Air Force medic. The three physician assistants are already helping to fill the many holes in the U.S. health care system, providing tests, counseling and other basic care when a doctor is unavailable. They expect to get busier as health care reform starts making it easier for people to pay for medical care.
