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Physician Assistant Program - Success in Meeting Program Goals

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Members of the Physician Assistant Class of 2024 recite the student oath during a ceremony on April 7, 2023, in Hershey.

Physician Assistant Program

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PA Program Goal Details 1

Physician Assistant Program: Success at Meeting Program Goals

Goal 1: To enroll an academically qualified, diverse student body.

To determine our effectiveness in meeting this goal each year consideration is given to the following data sources:

  • Demographics: Percentage of students who met one or more of the following categories collected from self-reported data on CASPA applications by matriculating students: underrepresented in medicine, first generation in college, veterans, and active-duty Service Members, educationally disadvantaged, or economically disadvantaged.
  • Student Academic Profiles: The average undergraduate GPA, science GPA and GRE scores of matriculating students.

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PA Program Student-Reported Disadvantages DataTable

Demographics

Table 1: Number and percent of matriculating students who self-report underrepresented in medicine, first generation in college, veterans and active duty Service Members, educationally disadvantaged, or economically disadvantaged.

PA Program Goals Demographics Tab Tagline Basic Content

Additional special consideration for admission is also given to those applicants who are from the state of Pennsylvania, and/or are employees of Penn State Health, and/or have graduated from/will be graduating from Penn State.

PA Program Goal 2 Details Opening

Goal 2: To promote the development of critical thinking skills.

To determine our effectiveness in meeting this goal, we utilize the following data sources:

  • Number of courses that utilize Team Based Learning (TBL), a critical thinking pedagogy, throughout the PA curriculum
  • Preceptor ratings of student’s critical thinking skills during clinical rotations
  • Performance on the PACKRAT in the area of diagnosis
  • Performance on the PAEA End of Curriculum assessment in the task area of “Diagnosis”
  • Performance on the PANCE in the task area of “Formulating Most Likely Diagnosis”

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PA Program Goal 2 Table 1 TBL Courses

Team-Based Learning (TBL)

Table 1: Number of courses that utilize TBL

PA Program Goal 3 Details

Goal 3: To enable graduates to practice competent health care with an emphasis in primary care and/or work in federally designated underserved communities.

To determine our effectiveness in meeting this goal each year consideration is given to the following data sources:

  • The program considers the curriculum and preparation provided in the course offerings.
  • The number of NHSC scholars who are committed to provide primary care health services in communities in need after graduation.
  • The percentage of Penn State College of Medicine PA graduates who practice in at least one of the following: primary care and/or in a federally designated underserved community.

Curriculum, Preparation and Outcomes:

  • 100% of students participated in a longitudinal PCP series, taught by instructional faculty from the Department of Family and Community Medicine, in the following courses:
    • PAS 763 Principles of Immunology, Hematology, and Oncology
    • PAS 784 Principles of Dermatology
    • PAS 785 Principles of Infectious Disease
    • PAS 786 Principles of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology
    • PAS 788 Principles of Nephrology and Genitourinary Disease
    • PAS 787 Principles of Endocrinology
    • PAS 789 Principles of Pulmonology
    • PAS 790 Principles of Cardiology
    • PAS 791 Principles of Gastroenterology
    • PAS 723 Principles of Behavioral Medicine
    • PAS 792 Principles of Neurology
    • PAS 793 Principles of Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Diseases
    • PAS 722 Principles of Human Sexuality and Reproductive Health
    • PAS 729 Principles of Emergency Medicine
    • PAS 794 Principles of Surgery.
  • 100% of students complete Family Medicine rotations at an academic Family and Community Medicine Practice Site.
    ** During the clinical year phase, students also have the opportunity to complete an Ambulatory Selective at a Family and Community Medicine Practice Site, and an elective in Family Medicine. 

PA Program Goal 3 Table 1 Datatable

Table 1: Penn State College of Medicine PA Graduates Practicing in Primary Care or Federally Designated Underserved Communities

Note: Medically Underserved refers to MUA/HPSA designated areas.

PA Program Goal 4 Details

Goal 4: To foster the development of patient centered professional clinicians working as part of an interprofessional team.

To determine our effectiveness in meeting this goal, we utilize the following data sources:

  • Preceptor ratings of student performance
  • Preceptor ratings of student preparedness for practice
  • Number of courses incorporating patient centered practices working as part of an interprofessional team, and/or courses that PA student engage in interdisciplinary learning with the MD students
  • Students ratings on the Graduating Student Exit Survey

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PA Program Goal 4 Table 1 Datatable

Preceptor Ratings

Table 1: Average of preceptor ratings of student performance in each area of concentration taken from preceptor evaluations of student's clinical performance displayed by graduating class.

(Ratings: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree, 0 = Neutral - excluded from calculations)