23. Questions 23 through 33 are based on the following passage and supplementary material.
The Physician Assistant Will See You Now
[Q23] The term “paramedics” refers to health care workers who provide routine and clinical services. While the pressures of an aging population, insurance reforms, and health epidemics have increased demand for care, the supply of physicians is not expected to [Q24] keep pace. The Association of American Medical Colleges predicts a shortage of over 90,000 physicians by 2020; by 2025, that number could climb to more than 130,000. In some parts of the country, shortages are already a sad fact of life. A 2009 report by the Bureau of Health Professions notes that although a fifth of the U S population lives in rural areas, less than a tenth of U S physicians serves that population. Because a traditionalist response to the crisis—[Q25] amping up medicalcollege enrollments and expanding physician training programs—is too slow and costly to address the nearterm problem, alternatives are being explored. One promising avenue has been greater reliance on physician assistants (P A’s).
[Q26] By virtue of [Q27] there medical training, P A’s can perform many of the jobs traditionally done by doctors, including treating chronic and acute conditions, performing minor [Q28] surgeries: and prescribing some medications. However, although well [Q29] compensated earning in 2012 a median annual salary of $90,930, P A’s cost health care providers less than do the physicians who might otherwise undertake these tasks. Moreover, the training period for P A’s is markedly shorter than [Q30] those for physicians—two to three years versus the seven to eleven required for physicians.
Physician assistants already offer vital primary care in many locations. Some 90,000 P A’s were employed nationwide in 2012. Over and above their value in partially compensating for the general physician shortage has been their extraordinary contribution to rural health care. A recent review of the scholarly literature by Texas researchers found that P A’s lend costefficient, widely appreciated services in underserved areas. [Q31] In addition, ruralbased P A’s often provide a broader spectrum of such services than do their urban and suburban counterparts, possibly as a consequence of the limited pool of ruralbased physicians.
Increasingly, P A’s and other such medical practitioners have become a critical complement to physicians. A 2013 RAND Corporation report estimates that while the number of primary care physicians will increase slowly from 2010 to 2025, the number of physician assistants and nursepractitioners in primary care will grow at much faster rates. [Q32] Both by merit and from necessity, P A’s are likely to greet more [Q33] patience than ever before.
Note: The following table supplements this passage.
Supply of Physicians, Physician Assistants, and NursePractitioners in Primary Care Clinical Practice in 2010 and 2025
|
2010
|
2025 (predicted)
|
Provider type
|
Number
|
Percent of total
|
Number
|
Percent of total
|
Physicians
|
210,000
|
71
|
216,000
|
60
|
Physician assistants
|
30,000
|
10
|
42,000
|
12
|
Nursepractitioners
|
56,000
|
19
|
103,000
|
28
|
Total
|
296,000
|
100
|
361,000
|
100
|
Adapted from David I. Auerbach and others, “NurseManaged Health Centers and PatientCentered Medical Homes Could Mitigate Expected Primary Care Physician Shortage.” ©2013 by Project HOPE: The PeopletoPeople Health Foundation, Incorporated.
Question 23.
Which choice is the best introduction to the paragraph?
Answer choices in context:
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A. The term “paramedics” refers to health care workers who provide routine and clinical services. While the pressures of an aging population, insurance reforms, and health epidemics have increased demand for care, the supply of physicians is not expected to keep pace. The Association of American Medical Colleges predicts a shortage of over 90,000 physicians by 2020; by 2025, that number could climb to more than 130,000. In some parts of the country, shortages are already a sad fact of life. A 2009 report by the Bureau of Health Professions notes that although a fifth of the U S population lives in rural areas, less than a tenth of U S physicians serves that population. Because a traditionalist response to the crisis—amping up medicalcollege enrollments and expanding physician training programs—is too slow and costly to address the nearterm problem, alternatives are being explored. One promising avenue has been greater reliance on physician assistants (P A’s).
B. For many Americans, finding a physician is likely to become a growing challenge. While the pressures of an aging population, insurance reforms, and health epidemics have increased demand for care, the supply of physicians is not expected to keep pace. The Association of American Medical Colleges predicts a shortage of over 90,000 physicians by 2020; by 2025, that number could climb to more than 130,000. In some parts of the country, shortages are already a sad fact of life. A 2009 report by the Bureau of Health Professions notes that although a fifth of the U S population lives in rural areas, less than a tenth of U S physicians serves that population. Because a traditionalist response to the crisis—amping up medicalcollege enrollments and expanding physician training programs—is too slow and costly to address the nearterm problem, alternatives are being explored. One promising avenue has been greater reliance on physician assistants (P A’s).
C. Getting treatment for an illness usually requires seeing either a general practitioner or a specialist. While the pressures of an aging population, insurance reforms, and health epidemics have increased demand for care, the supply of physicians is not expected to keep pace. The Association of American Medical Colleges predicts a shortage of over 90,000 physicians by 2020; by 2025, that number could climb to more than 130,000. In some parts of the country, shortages are already a sad fact of life. A 2009 report by the Bureau of Health Professions notes that although a fifth of the U S population lives in rural areas, less than a tenth of U S physicians serves that population. Because a traditionalist response to the crisis—amping up medicalcollege enrollments and expanding physician training programs—is too slow and costly to address the nearterm problem, alternatives are being explored. One promising avenue has been greater reliance on physician assistants (P A’s).
D. Worldwide the costs of health care are increasing at an alarming rate. While the pressures of an aging population, insurance reforms, and health epidemics have increased demand for care, the supply of physicians is not expected to keep pace. The Association of American Medical Colleges predicts a shortage of over 90,000 physicians by 2020; by 2025, that number could climb to more than 130,000. In some parts of the country, shortages are already a sad fact of life. A 2009 report by the Bureau of Health Professions notes that although a fifth of the U S population lives in rural areas, less than a tenth of U S physicians serves that population. Because a traditionalist response to the crisis—amping up medicalcollege enrollments and expanding physician training programs—is too slow and costly to address the nearterm problem, alternatives are being explored. One promising avenue has been greater reliance on physician assistants (P A’s).
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