Primary Care Training Grants Through Title VII, Section 747: The Duke Experience

Abstract

Primary Care Training Grants provided by Title VII, Section 747 of the Public Health Service Act offer opportunities to enhance physician assistant (PA) education to improve access to care. Also, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) identifies crosscutting initiatives that focus on emerging issues in health care. The Duke University Physician Assistant Program was awarded a training grant for 2001–2004 to focus on increasing minority and disadvantaged enrollment, encouraging graduate selection of employment in medically underserved areas, developing curricula in oral health and the role of genetics in primary care, and expanding Duke’s existing PA teaching fellowship to a full-time position. In a larger sense, however, the Duke PA program is a microcosm of the Title VII program itself, having received funding to support program activities since its inception.