The methodology for predicting medical workforce supply and demand consists of estimating the future medical provider workforce as well as modeling future demand for medical services.

The PA profession continues to shift away from primary care toward specialty care. Demand for PAs is increasing in relatively new specialties in the United States, creating new employment opportunities in these areas of practice.

This installment reviews a quality of care comparison study, a novel study of patient willingness to see a PA or NP rather than a physician prior to the visit, and an article that disagrees with the second article's conclusions.

This installment of Research Corner reviews a detailed analysis of a pilot project that utilized five US-trained PAs in various setting in Queensland, Australia.

Four articles that review the impact and roles for physician assistants in hospital-based practice settings are reviewed.

The increasing number of nonphysician health care providers is prompting researchers to study their impact on the health care workforce.

The studies discussed in this installment of Research Corner illustrate the growing demand for PAs in the American health care workforce across a variety of settings.

The student selection process and curriculum are important in producing primary care physicians and physicians willing to serve in rural and underserved settings. Public and rural schools do a better job of producing primary care, rural, and health center physicians.

Recent studies indicate that specialty mobility is a strong factor for choosing a career as a physician assistant. Most PAs exercise this option at least once during their career.

Scotland recently conducted a pilot project utilizing physician assistants in which the impact of PAs was carefully studied, analyzed, and reported in great detail.