Health for the Hidden

Physician Associate & Engineering Training

Decades of ethnic conflict in Eastern Myanmar have culminated in a serious healthcare crisis. To receive basic care, people will walk over an hour. Even then, a medic may only six months training.

To help address this problem, Earth Mission (EM) founded a Physician Associate Training Program. An Engineering Technician Training Program runs alongside the medical stream. The aim of the program is to establish and support not only a high-level health facility with out-patient and in-patient services, surgery, x-ray, and pathology, but also send out graduates to remote clinics.

Students are trained as Physician Associates in a five year program equipping them with the knowledge and skills to address the health problems of the areas they return to serve. The training the students receive is ethnically appropriate, focused on relationship building and aims to dramatically reduce morbidity and mortality. Approximately ten students are accepted into the PA program each year from rural and difficult-to-access areas.. Two to three student are accepted each year for the Engineering program.

As of early 2025, a total of 29 PA students have graduated the program and are working in remote clinics throughout Karen State. A post graduate surgical program is also offered to some students.