Accreditation Outcomes: Does Program Director Experience Matter?

Purpose: The program director (PD) is responsible for providing effective leadership and possessing knowledge of accreditation. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a PD's experience in higher education affects the accreditation outcome.

Methods: This cross-sectional study includes Physician Assistant (PA) programs that underwent an accreditation visit between January 2012 and January 2022.

An Examination of Predictors of Attrition in Physician Assistant Programs.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between program characteristics and attrition rates.

Methods: Program graduation rates, attrition rates, and Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE) pass rates were extracted from program websites from February-March 2021 and summarized for 2018, 2019, and 2020. Means were compared across categories of independent variables.

Course Prerequisites: Here, There, and Everywhere. Time to Standardize?

Introduction: This study's aim was to examine prerequisite course requirements and compare them to previous studies with a secondary aim to examine potential differences relative to program characteristics.

Methods: Data were extracted from the websites of 265 entry-level physician assistant (PA) programs from October 2020 until December 2020. Course prerequisites as well as number of courses and semester hours required were described and examined according to program location, phase, Carnegie Classification, association with a medical school, and the public/private status of the sponsoring institution.

Physician Assistant Education Community Assumptions About an Entry-level Doctoral Degree.

Purpose: This study described the assumptions that PA educators hold regarding the option and/or transition to a doctoral entry-level degree for PA graduates.

Methods: A cross-sectional electronic survey of all members of accredited PA programs was administered. The survey comprised 32 Likert-type statements that measured respondents' level of agreement ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree and general demographic information.

Challenges of Clinical Education.

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the physician assistant (PA) profession and specifically PA education, think of the tens of thousands of clinical preceptors who were or currently still are involved in the education of PA students. The clinical phase of PA programs has become the rate-limiting issue in PA education. For decades, developing clinical education sites was relatively easy.

Assessing the value of dual physician assistant/public health degrees.

The popularity of dual physician assistant/master of public health degree programs continues to increase within US physician assistant (PA) education. The advantages and disadvantages of pursuing dual degree training have not been fully explored in the PA literature. Potential advantages of dual training include broadening of the student's perspective on health and health care beyond the "one provider, one patient" medical model, increased training in evaluation and use of the medical literature, increased skill in assessing community factors that affect the health of patients, enhanced expertise in health care administration or policy, and improved prospects for future roles as PA faculty members.