Carroll College grant will help launch physician assistant program

HELENA, Mont. — A nearly $1.6 million grant backed Carroll College’s work to build its physician assistant program.The college said the funding will help create training space with laboratory simulation technology, medical equipment and furnishings for the future program. Educators said the investment is meant to prepare future health care workers to serve Montana and the surrounding region.The Montana Department of Health and Human Services said the state continued to face a critical shortage of health care professionals, especially in rural communities. The department said 51 of Montana’s 56 counties had been designated health professional shortage areas, showing the access challenges many communities faced for timely, quality care.Carroll College Director of the Physician Assistant Program Richard Bennett said the program aims to reach students with roots in rural places and frontier communities."Students that are from a rural and frontier area are the students that go back to practice in those areas. So, our goal is to capture students from Montana, students from the region that want to return home to practice medicine and be able to equip them with the most up to date skills to be able to do that," Bennett said.Applications for the inaugural cohort were expected to open in April 2027. Classes were expected to begin in May 2028, pending accreditation.