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Mission Statement

The Master of Physician Assistant Studies Program is committed to the education of highly qualified compassionate Physician Assistants who are part of the health care team and are responsive to the developing health needs of their communities as culturally competent clinicians, educators, facilitators, and leaders.

Program Goals

To provide comprehensive education in the basic, behavioral, and clinical sciences which will prepare graduates to practice evidence based medicine in the setting of their choice.

To prepare graduates to be an effective member of the health care team through communication and negotiation skills, professionalism, and awareness of the role of a Physician Assistant.

To prepare graduates to meet the needs of a culturally diverse population through the development of awareness, competency, and identification of resources.

To prepare the graduate to view the patient as a whole person and develop an awareness to treat the patient's emotional needs as well as medical problems.

To prepare the graduate to be an advocate of the community by assessing community needs, identifying resources, and developing a plan to meet the needs within the standard of care.

To prepare the graduate to seek and assume health leadership roles within the profession and the community at large.

To prepare the graduate to be an educator, patient advocate, facilitator, and coordinator.

Program Objectives

The clinical role of the PA mandates that, by the time of graduation, faculty members prepare this mid-level practitioner with the knowledge and skills requisite to accomplishing each of the following:

Elicit a preventive screening and problem-based health history consisting of the chief complaint, history of present illness, pertinent review of systems, past medical history, family and social history, and any associated factors.

Accomplish a preventive screening and problem-specific physical examination involving major organs and organ systems of the human body.

Select and properly order a range of laboratory, radiographic and other diagnostic studies to further delineate and monitor health risks, illness or injury under consideration.

Screen and identify abnormal findings within reports of a range of laboratory, radiographic and other diagnostic studies used to evaluate and monitor health risks, illnesses and injury.

Select and synthesize collected patient data pertinent to the identification of age-related physiologic changes, health risk factors, medical illness, behavioral disorders, and socioeconomic problems.

Define problems of a biological, functional, psychosocial and environmental nature to the maximum extent possible, with accuracy.

Report, record, and retrieve findings obtained through interview, examination and diagnostic testing to the physician and other health care providers in an articulate, efficient and accurate manner.

Generate accurate care plans that are relevant to the further evaluation and management of a range of at-risk behaviors, illnesses and injuries.

Implement problem management and treatment decisions for individuals seen initially or in follow-up for a previously diagnosed problem.

Provide continuous care to persons in the home, nursing home, extended care facility and hospital considered part of the physician’s practice.

Perform evaluations and therapeutic procedures in an independent manner when responding to life threatening illnesses and injuries.

Communicate with and counsel individuals and families about growth and development, family planning, disease prevention through risk factor reduction, diet and nutrition, immunizations, illness and injury evaluation, therapeutic management plans, and advanced care directives.

Work and communicate with physicians, and other members of the health care team, and one's peers about the evaluation and management of patients based upon illness severity and personal level of confidence.

Use critical analysis skills to evaluate whether information in the literature will help to better evaluate, manage and advise patients about prognosis, laboratory testing, and treatment benefit.

The learning experiences within the didactic and clinical phases of the curriculum are designed to develop each graduating student’s ability to demonstrate these competencies.