; (B) An examination of whether the pilot program is achieving the goals of— (i) enabling individuals to build on medical skills gained as members of the Armed Forces by entering into the physician assistant workforce of the Department; and (ii) helping to meet the shortage of physician assistants employed by the Department. (C) An identification of such modifications to the pilot program as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services consider necessary to meet the goals described in subparagraph (B). (D) An assessment of whether the pilot program could serve as a model for other programs of the Department to assist individuals in obtaining certification and employment in other health care fields. (l) Source of amounts Not less than $8,000,000 of the amount necessary to carry out the pilot program shall be derived from amounts appropriated to the Department of Veterans Affairs before the date of the enactment of this Act. 3. Establishment of standards for the Department of Veterans Affairs for using educational assistance programs to educate and hire physician assistants (a) In general The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish standards described in subsection (b) to improve the use by the Department of Veterans Affairs of the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Professionals Educational Assistance Program under chapter 76 of title 38, United States Code, and other educational assistance programs of the Department, including the pilot program under section 2, to educate and hire physician assistants of the Department. (b) Standards The standards described in this subsection are the following: (1) Holding directors of medical centers of the Department accountable for failure to use the educational assistance programs described in subsection (a) and other incentives— (A) to advance employees of the Department in their education as physician assistants