SPARK mentorship program for emergency services assistants underrepresented in medicine interested in physician assistant programs.

Background: Increasing diversity in the health care workforce has been shown to improve patient health care and create psychological safety for employees who feel marginalized and underrepresented. While several measures exist for increasing racial and ethnic diversity in the physician workforce, few programs target expanding representation among physician assistants (PAs). Despite increasing the role and responsibility of PAs in the emergency department (ED), there remains a significant lack of diversity within this group. The SPARK mentorship program, a combined mentorship and educational opportunity for emergency services assistants (ESAs; also called aides and technicians) who are underrepresented in medicine (UiM), may create a pathway to recruiting diverse individuals to PA careers in emergency medicine.

Methods: Our goal was to implement and evaluate a combined didactic and mentorship curriculum focused on recruiting ESAs UIM to become PAs in the ED. Using Kern's framework, an interprofessional group created a 3-month mentorship program including individualized mentorship from senior PAs, didactic content covering the roles of PAs in the ED, and strategies to apply to PA school. This curriculum was implemented in 2022 for five ESAs following an application process. Outcomes were measured using the NIH Mentoring Evaluation Form and Munich Evaluation of Mentoring Questionnaire as well as longitudinal monitoring after the program to determine progress of ESAs toward a career as PAs.

Results: All five mentees completed the mentorship program. Postprogram surveys showed all participants described the program as meeting their expectations and being goal oriented. One-year follow-up demonstrated progress in all participants along their desired career path.

Conclusions: The SPARK mentorship program appears to be a feasible approach to creating a pathway for recruitment of ESAs UIM into the PA profession. Preliminary outcome data suggest that this curriculum was highly acceptable to participants and may have a positive impact on recruiting ESAs to become PAs. Continued evaluation is needed to determine what effect programs such as this one have on increasing diversity in the PA workforce.