Complete List of Physician Assistant Programs

How PAs Began In the mid-1960s, physicians at Duke University Medical School recognized the need for a health professional trained in the medical model who would work with physician supervision to extend patient access to care. These physicians, led by Dr. Eugene Stead, developed the concept of the physician assistant. They envisioned a medical school-type curriculum, geared toward primary care and focused to provide the appropriate education in an intense and uniquely designed curriculum. The physician assistant profession has retained this commitment to the medical educational model and to team practice with physician supervision.

The Educational Model Applicants to physician assistant programs must complete at least two years of college courses in basic science and behavioral science as prerequisites to PA training. This is analogous to pre-med studies required of medical students. Preference is usually given to candidates who have prior experience in health care. Most PA students have earned a bachelor’s degree and have nearly three years of health care experience before they are admitted to a program.1 The mean length of PA education programs is 26.8 months.1 Educators of PAs include physicians, PAs, and basic scientists. Physician assistant education is characterized by an intense yet practical curriculum, with both didactic and clinical components. The first year of PA education provides a broad grounding in medical principles with a focus on their clinical applicability. This didactic curriculum typically consists of coursework in the basic sciences, including anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, physical diagnosis, pathophysiology, microbiology, clinical laboratory sciences, behavioral sciences, and medical ethics. In the second year, students receive hands-on clinical training through a series of clerkships or rotations in a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings. Rotations include family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, general surgery, emergency medicine, and psychiatry. Physician assistant students complete on average more than 2,000 hours of supervised clinical practice prior to graduation. PA education is tightly structured and focused and recognized by many as highly innovative, efficient, and effective. It is competency based, meaning that students must demonstrate proficiency in various areas of medical knowledge and must meet behavioral and clinical learning objectives. Many other professions also offer competency based degrees. The M.D., D.O., D.D.S., and J.D. degrees are competency based. Feel like buying me a cup of coffee...Thanks for the support!		Physician assistant programs are accredited by the independent Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA), which is sponsored by the American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Surgeons, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Physicians, Physician Assistant Education Association, and American Academy of Physician Assistants. Accreditation standards are rigorous. Although all accredited PA programs must meet the same educational standards, they have the flexibility to offer a variety of academic degrees.3 More than three-fourths of the programs offer a master’s degree. However, graduation from an accredited PA education program remains the definitive credential. Regardless of the degree awarded, only graduates of accredited programs are eligible to sit for the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination administered by the independent National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. Excellence in Practice Numerous studies have repeatedly demonstrated that PAs, practicing as part of a supervising physician’s team, provide high quality health care. Patient satisfaction with PA care also has been very high. The Office of Technology Assessment of the U.S. Congress studied health care services provided by physician assistants and determined that, within their scope of practice, physician assistants provide health care that is indistinguishable in quality from care provided by physicians. References 1. Twenty-third Annual Report on Physician Assistant Educational Programs in the United States, 2006-2007. Alexandria, VA. Physician Assistant Education Association. 2. Eleventh Annual Report on Physician Assistant Educational Programs in the United States, 1994-95. Washington, DC. Association of Physician Assistant Programs. 3. Accreditation Standards for Physician Assistant Education, March 2002. Duluth, GA. Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. 4. Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, and Certified Nurse- Midwives: A Policy Analysis, December, 1986. Washington, DC. Office of Technology Assessment, United States Congress.