Curriculum
CURRICULUM DESIGN
The curriculum design is based upon the concepts of professional education which focus on mastery of knowledge, skills, and professionalism required by the graduate to practice effectively as a physician assistant. The curriculum, offered in didactic and experiential components, is an approach that moves from basic to more advanced skills. The curriculum design assumes that students will develop the necessary skills to be self-directed learners and to apply effectively what they learn in the clinical setting.
PROGRAM DELIVERY MODEL
The Physician Assistant Program courses are conducted in-person and on a full-time basis only. The length of the program is seven consecutive semesters (27 months). The credit load ranges from 11 to 20 hours per semester totaling 123 credit hours. Learners are expected to adjust their non-curricular demands to complete the degree requirements. As adult learners, it is expected that students will actively engage in independent study, inquiry, and fieldwork outside the classroom to augment learning and maximize the effectiveness of classroom and laboratory contact time. Students will be expected to complete and present a scholarly project, an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), and a comprehensive examination to graduate from the PA program.
Computer literacy is an expectation since the PA Program will use computer technology in the delivery of the curriculum. The ability to use the computer for research and the exchange of campus e-mail will be expected.
Students must not substitute for or function as instructional faculty, must not be required to work for the program or substitute for clinical or administrative staff during supervised clinical practice experiences.
Clinical Year
The Clinical Year consists of 4 didactic weeks and 40 weeks of required clinical rotations. The first four weeks are dedicated to the Introduction to Clinical Practice course followed by a Behavioral Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Surgery, Women’s Health, and an Elective rotation. The Elective rotation can be in the student's preferred specialty of medical practice. Each student is responsible for his or her transportation to and from the clinical sites.
P.A. Program course list and credit hours
Didactic Year
1st semester (fall ) - 17 credit hours
ANAT5000 Anatomy (8 credit hours)
PHSL5050 Human Physiology (4 credit hours)
PHYA5010 Introduction to the PA Profession (1 credit hours)
PHYA5100 Principles of Interviewing & Medical History (2 credit hours)
PHYA5140 Health Care Teams & Systems (2 credit hours)
2nd semester (spring) - 20 credit hours
PHYA5130 Patient Evaluation (4 credit hours)
PHYA5210 Diagnostic & Therapeutic Skills I (2 credit hours)
PHYA5310 Clinical Medicine I (5 credit hours)
PHYA5400 Pathophysiology (4 credit hours)
PHYA5510 Fundamentals of Pharmacology (4 credit hours)
PHYA6050 Ethics for the PA Profession (1 credit hour)
3rd semester (summer) - 19 credit hours
PHYA5220 Diagnostic & Therapeutic Skills II (4 credit hours)
PHYA5340 Clinical Medicine II (5 credit hours)
PHYA5410 Pathophysiology II (4 credit hours)
PHYA5520 Fundamentals of Pharmacology II (3 credit hours)
PHYA6110 Health Promotion & Disease Prevention (3 credit hours)
4th semester (fall ) - 20 credit hours
PHYA5230 Diagnostic & Therapeutic Skills III (5 credit hours)
PHYA5330 Clinical Medicine III (6 credit hours)
PHYA5430 Pathophysiology III (2 credit hours)
PHYA5530 Fundamentals of Pharmacology III (1 credit hour)
PHYA6010 Clinical Genetics (1 credit hour)
PHYA6130 Evidence Based Medicine (3 credit hours)
PHYA6150 Behavioral Science (2 credit hours)
Clinical Year
Spring - Fall - 47 credit hours
PHYA6500 Introduction to Clinical Practice (4 credit hours)
PHYA6610 Scholarly Project I (1 credit hour)
PHYA6620 Scholarly Project II (1 credit hour)
PHYA6630 Scholarly Project III (1 credit hour)
Rotation I-VIII (40 credit hours)
Clinical Year consists of the following specialties:
- Behavioral Medicine
- Elective (which may be any specialty of medicine except the required rotations)
- Emergency Medicine
- Family Medicine
- Internal Medicine
- Pediatrics
- Surgery
- Women's Health