EFFECTIVENESS OF EDUCATIONAL-STRATEGIES PREPARING PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS, NURSE PRACTITIONERS, AND CERTIFIED NURSE-MIDWIVES FOR UNDERSERVED AREAS

A study of physician assistant, nurse practitioner, and certified nurs e midwifery programs was undertaken to identify and assess the effecti veness of recruitment, educational, and deployment strategies that pro grams use to prepare practitioners for medically underserved areas. Th e 51 programs studied were those having mission statements or known tr ack records relating to this goal. A total of 170 interviews were cond ucted with faculty, students, graduates, and employers from 9 programs visited onsite and 42 programs surveyed by telephone.All programs had some recruitment and training activities in underserved sites. Only a bout half of the programs were able to submit data on their graduates' practice settings and specialties. These data suggest that older stud ents who have backgrounds in underserved areas and clearly identified practice goals are more likely to practice in underserved areas. Progr ams that actively promote service to the underserved do so through pub licly stated missions and recruitment and educational strategies that complement these missions. Such programs also are more likely to evalu ate and document their success than programs that lack strategies.