Here’s a direct path into one of the hottest careers in the nation. Officials from the University of Rhode Island and Johnson & Wales University signed an agreement this fall to guarantee admission into the Physician Assistant Studies master’s degree program at JWU for up to six qualified URI graduates each admission cycle. The agreement also creates the URI-JWU Early Identification Program, modeled after an existing program between URI and the Brown University Alpert Medical School, whereby second semester sophomores can secure a seat in physician assistant school for the year following their graduation.

In the Johnson & Wales program, the first of its kind in the state, “we are educating our physician assistant students to become collaborative practitioners,” said JWU Providence Campus President Mim L. Runey. “Not only do PAs work directly with physicians, they are members of teams of nurses, therapists, medical technicians, and other professionals dedicated to delivering patient-centered, humanistic care.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics and a 2013 CNNMoney/PayScale project predict the need for physician assistants will grow by 30 percent during the next 10 years. U.S. News & World Report ranks the physician assistant career as one of the most in-demand in the country. Their data indicate physician assistants had a median annual salary of $90,930 in 2012. Doctors’ offices, general medical and surgical facilities, and outpatient care centers employed the most physician assistants in 2012.

George Bottomley ‘73, director of the Center for Physician Assistant Studies and assistant dean at JWU, is proud of the collaboration. He said the first physician assistant class at Johnson & Wales enrolled 23 students in June, with three URI alumni among them.

“For years, I have had a dream of starting a physician assistant program in Rhode Island, and I wanted to develop a relationship with my alma mater to provide URI students with this opportunity,” said Bottomley, adding that the collaboration is advantageous to both institutions. “URI will be able to recruit incredibly bright students into the program, and Johnson & Wales will benefit from having gifted, driven students well prepared in the health and life sciences by URI.”

“This collaboration with Johnson & Wales will create a highly skilled workforce for job opportunities in a dynamic and rapidly expanding health care field, and strengthen Rhode Island’s already strong position in the health sciences,” said URI President David M. Dooley.