3. Mission/Vision/Goals - Objectives, Expectations, and Outcomes

OBJECTIVES OF THE PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT PROGRAM

The Physician Assistant practice, as a medical profession for the 21^st century, must be responsive to social needs and demands, as well as keeping pace with changing technology. In response to this challenge, the faculty of the PA Program emphasizes ongoing review and adaptation of educational techniques to meet the health care needs of society for today and tomorrow.

The curriculum of the program is designed to instill a caring and competent attitude of a health care professional. Principles stressed to achieve this goal include development of a strong foundation in the basic sciences relevant to the practice of clinical medicine, early exposure to patients in a clinical setting, an emphasis on active student centered learning, and the use of technology in both classroom and clinical settings. Through these principles students learn to take on progressive responsibility for patient care commensurate with their level of training. Using a competency-based curriculum, student progress is tracked and assessed to ensure that graduates are ready for clinical practice. 

Student progress toward these competencies is carefully monitored to determine that the fundamental knowledge of the basic sciences in relation to career goals in medicine is achieved. The first year of the program places emphasis on the basic sciences. The second year of the program emphasizes clinical training with repeated reinforcement of theme throughout the educational process. Physician assistant and physician mentors in both inpatient and outpatient settings provide valuable guidance. Through this training program, students will attain established competencies related to the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values of the physician assistant.

Note: Students must not substitute for or function as instructional faculty for the program. Students cannot substitute for clinical or administrative staff during supervised clinical practical experiences. Students may act as tutors for fellow students.

To achieve these objectives, the PA Program strives to train physician assistants who:

• Have the clinical knowledge and skills necessary to evaluate, diagnose, and manage common acute and chronic primary health care problems in the emergency, ambulatory care, and hospital setting.
• Have the ability to screen for disease and counsel patients on issues of health promotion and disease prevention.
• Have the ability to provide psychological support to patients during episodes of illness or emotional crisis.
• Utilize community health care resources in a cost effective manner.

• Communicate and work effectively with other members of the health care team and the patient’s family.

Upon successful completion of the two-year curriculum, the student is awarded the Master's of Physician Assistant Studies degree as well as a Certificate of Completion. The graduate is then eligible to sit for the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE) administered by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA).

Preamble

In 2003, the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) initiated an effort to define PA competencies in response to similar efforts being conducted within other health care professions and growing demand for accountability and assessment in clinical practice. The following year, representatives from three other national PA organizations, each bringing a unique perspective and valuable insights, joined NCCPA in that effort. Those organizations were the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA), the body that accredits PA educational programs; the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) - formerly the Association of Physician Assistant Programs (APAP), the membership association for PA educators and program directors; and the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA), the only national membership association representing all PAs.

The resultant document, Competencies for the Physician Assistant Profession, is a foundation from which each of those four organizations, other physician assistant organizations, and individual physician assistants themselves can chart a course for advancing the competencies of the PA profession. This document was updated in 2012 and approved in its current form by the same four organizations.

General Academic Objectives

We endorse the NCCPA Content Blueprint.

Professional Behavioral Objectives

The student should be able to:

• Articulate the importance and privileged nature of the patient/provider relationship.
• Discuss the importance of intellectual honesty and truthfulness in carrying out his/her role as a physician assistant.
• Discuss the physician-dependent nature of the physician assistant’s role.
• Describe the importance of data contained within established medical care records and the value of these records as the best evidence to assure quality of care and facilitate risk management.
• Explain the importance and practical application of studies in basic sciences to the understanding of specific aspects of and skills used during the physical examination and in the practice of medicine.
• Describe the importance of the financial costs and potential hazards which might result from indiscriminate or inappropriate ordering of laboratory tests and procedures as important in patient care and the interaction with the patient.
• Discuss the increased effectiveness of using a multidimensional / interdisciplinary plan in the care of patients.
• Discuss the importance of diet and nutrition in the overall health of the patient and in disease prevention.
• Explain how lifestyles influence a person’s health and identify his/her belief about the responsibility or obligation of a patient to change these behaviors.
• Discuss how the biopsychosocial impacts of diseases are important to the overall care of the patient.

We endorse the NCCPA Code of Conduct for Certified and Certifying Physician Assistants.

Competencies for the Physician Assistant Profession

MISSION

To provide a scholarly environment in which students from diverse backgrounds receive the requisite knowledge and skills to equip them to deliver high-quality, culturally sensitive, and compassionate healthcare, in collaboration with physicians in an interdisciplinary healthcare team.

VISION

To achieve national prominence for excellence in developing innovative educational strategies in order to produce high-achieving graduates, who serve their communities as professional evidence based, patient-centered health care providers[CL1] .

• High Standards - In upholding the highest standards, we will:

  • Demonstrate ethical leadership by example.
  • Conduct ourselves with integrity, avoiding conflicts of interest.
  • Hold our work to the highest academic standards.

• Respect for Individuals - In valuing respect for individuals, we pledge to:

  • Treat others with respect and dignity, honoring individual differences.
  • Promote open communication and listen proactively.
  • Create collegial environment based on loyalty to our co-workers.

• Advancing Knowledge -  In expressing our passion for learning, we encourage:

  • Exploration of new ideas in our teaching and research.
  • The courage to meet challenges and assume risk.
  • Diverse learning opportunities where creativity thrives.
  • Interdisciplinary teamwork.
• Personal Development and Leadership - Recognizing that exceptional quality begins with people, we create:
• A culture of personal development and professional fulfillment.
• A workplace where expectations are matched by our reward system.
• An atmosphere where people value the balance between work and family.
• A mentor-rich culture where faculty, staff and students can enhance their leadership skills.
• Commitment to Health - Supporting our fundamental belief in the PA/patient relationship, we are committed to
  • The highest quality medical care to our patients.

  • Training the next generation of Physician Assistants to be capable and compassionate.

  • Promoting good health and well-being in response to the needs of our community.

• • Our community partners who help us achieve excellence in all that we do.

GOALS

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ATTITUDES, AND VALUES

Learning Outcomes and Expectations

The PA Program defined learning outcomes and expectations are based on the Competencies for the Physician Assistant Profession as developed jointly by the National Commission on Accreditation of Physician Assistants (NCCPA), the Accreditation Review Commission for Education of the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA), the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA), and the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA).

Student success in achieving the program defined learning outcomes and expectations will be monitored throughout the didactic and clinical phases of the program. The program faculty and clinical preceptors will evaluate students through a variety of assessment tools, including but not limited to: multiple choice examinations, collaborative group projects, objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs), reflection papers, and clinical performance evaluations.

Our graduates will demonstrate entry-level proficiency as Physician Assistants in the following program defined learning outcomes:

Medical Knowledge

• Demonstrate core knowledge about established and evolving biomedical and clinical sciences and the application of this knowledge to patient care.

• Demonstrate an investigative and analytic thinking approach to clinical situations.

• Understand, evaluate, and apply the following to common emergent and non-emergent medical, surgical, and behavioral scenarios:

  • History and physical findings and diagnostic studies to formulate differential diagnoses

  • Management of general medical and surgical conditions to include pharmacologic and other treatment modalities

  • Interventions for prevention of disease and health promotion/maintenance

Interpersonal & Communication Skills

• Demonstrate interpersonal and communication (verbal, nonverbal, written, and electronic) skills that result in effective information exchange with patients, patients’ families, physicians, professional associates, and other individuals within the health care system.

• Accurately and adequately document information regarding care for medical, legal, quality, and financial purposes.

Patient Care

• Obtain an accurate history and perform a comprehensive physical exam.
• Perform medical and surgical procedures common to primary care.
• Provide health care services and education aimed at disease prevention and health maintenance.

Professionalism

• Demonstrate a high level of responsibility, ethical practice, and adherence to legal and regulatory requirements.
• Demonstrate sensitivity to a diverse patient population by identifying the socio-cultural, familial, psychological, economic, environmental, and spiritual factors impacting health care and health care delivery; and responding to these factors by planning and advocating the appropriate course of action at both the individual and the community level.

Practice-Based Learning and Improvement

• Critically evaluate the medical literature in order to use current practice guidelines and apply the principles of evidence-based medicine to patient care.

Systems-Based Practice

• Provide advocacy and support to assist patients in obtaining quality care and in dealing with the complexities of health care delivery systems.

• Demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger system of health care to provide patient care that balances quality and cost, while maintaining the primacy of the individual patient.

TECHNICAL STANDARDS FOR PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT PROGRAM ADMISSION, ACADEMIC PROGRESSION, AND GRADUATION

The PA Program is committed to comply with Section 504 of the 1973 Vocational Rehabilitation Act and PL 101-336, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and also ascertains that certain minimum technical standards must be present in the prospective candidates.

The PA Program has determined technical standards that are essential for successful progression and completion of all aspects of the curriculum, as well as entry into the profession. These technical standards are required for admission and must be maintained throughout the student’s enrollment in the program. In the event a student is unable to fulfill these technical standards, with or without reasonable accommodation, the student will be subject to dismissal.

Candidates for and students of the program must have somatic sensation and the functional use of the senses of vision and hearing. Candidates’ and students’ diagnostic skills will also be lessened without the functional use of the senses of equilibrium, smell, and taste. Additionally, they must have sufficient exteroceptive sense (touch, pain, and temperature), sufficient proprioceptive sense (position, pressure, movement, stereognosis, and vibratory) and sufficient motor function to permit them to carry out the activities described in the section above. They must be able to consistently, quickly, and accurately integrate all information received by whatever sense(s) employed, and they must have the intellectual ability to learn, integrate, analyze, and synthesize data.

Technological compensation can be made for some disabilities in these areas, but a candidate should be able to perform them in a reasonably independent manner. The use of a trained intermediary would mean that a student’s judgment must be mediated by someone else’s power of selection and observation. Therefore, third parties cannot be used to assist students in accomplishing curricular requirements in the five skill areas specified below. Reasonable accommodations can be made for documented disabilities.

• Observation
• Candidates and students must be able to observe a patient accurately at a distance and close at hand.
• Observation necessitates the functional use of the sense of vision, hearing, smell, and somatic sensation.
• Communication
• Candidates and students must be able to speak, hear, and observe patients in order to elicit information, describe changes in mood, activity, and posture, and perceive nonverbal communications.
• Candidates and students must be able to communicate effectively and sensitively with patients.
• Candidates and students must be able to communicate (verbal, nonverbal, and written) effectively and efficiently in oral and written form with all members of the healthcare team.
• Candidates and students must possess reading skills at a level to be able to independently accomplish curricular requirements and provide clinical care for patients.
• Motor Coordination and Function
• Candidates and students should have sufficient motor function to elicit information from patients by palpation, auscultation, percussion, and other diagnostic maneuvers.
• Candidates and students should be able to do basic laboratory tests, carry out diagnostic procedures, and read EKGs and X-rays.
• Candidates and students should be able to execute motor movements reasonably required to provide general care and emergency treatment to patients.
• Examples of emergency treatment reasonably required of Physician Assistants are cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the administration of intravenous medication, application of pressure to stop bleeding, the opening of obstructed airways, the suturing of simple wounds, and the performance of simple obstetrical maneuvers.
• Such actions require coordination of both gross and fine muscular movements, equilibrium, and functional use of the senses of touch and vision.
• Intellectual, Conceptual, Integrative, and Quantitative Abilities
• Candidates and students must exhibit the following intellectual abilities:
• Measurement
• Calculation
• Reasoning
• Analysis
• Synthesis
• Comprehend three-dimensional and spatial relationships
• The above listed abilities are necessary skills in order to perform problem solving tasks quickly and efficiently.
• Behavioral and Social Attributes
• Candidates and students must possess the behavioral emotional health required for full use of their intellectual abilities, the exercise of good judgment, the prompt completion of all responsibilities attendant to the diagnosis and care of patients, and the development of mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with patients.
• Candidates and students must be able to tolerate physically taxing workloads and to function effectively when under stress.
• Candidates and students must be able to adapt to changing environments, to display flexibility, and to learn to function in the face of uncertainties inherent in the clinical problems of many patients.
• Candidates and students must demonstrate empathy, integrity, concern for others, interpersonal skills, interest, motivation, and the ability to interact with people at all levels in a culturally diverse society.

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