Student Performance Metrics and the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam ® : A 3-Year Multi-Institutional Study.

Introduction: Given the 2019 Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE) blueprint update from the National Commission on the Certification of Physician Assistants, it is imperative that programs conduct analyses of student performance metrics and PANCE scores. The purpose of this multi-institutional study was to examine the relationship between PANCE scores and student performance metrics/attributes from PA program graduates from 2017-2019.

Methods: A multiple linear regression was calculated to predict PANCE score indicators based on student attributes and performance metrics from 3 PA programs.

Specialty certification and clinical flexibility.

The ability for PAs to easily move from one specialty to another without additional formal training is a unique feature of the profession that is valued by PAs and their employers. Specialty certification has been viewed as a threat to this flexibility, yet 73% of PAs are in specialty practice. How can the desire to preserve flexibility be balanced against the desire of specialized PAs to distinguish themselves in their chosen specialty? This article reviews the issue of specialty certification in the context of contemporary PA practice and concludes that although specialty certification remains a threat to the flexibility of the PA model, it may be appropriate in some situations.

Attitudes Toward Academic Dishonesty in Health Profession Students.

Introduction: Academic dishonesty of health profession students may negatively impact the clinical environment. This study examined the attitudes, experiences, and behaviors of nursing, physician assistant, and physical therapist students towards academic dishonesty and explored differences based on demographic variables.

Methods: A survey was administered to health profession students in their last semester of the program.

Improving Clinical Risk Stratification at Diagnosis in Primary Prostate Cancer: A Prognostic Modelling Study.

Introduction: Over 80% of the nearly 1 million men diagnosed with prostate cancer annually worldwide present with localised or locally advanced non-metastatic disease. Risk stratification is the cornerstone for clinical decision making and treatment selection for these men. The most widely applied stratification systems use presenting prostate-specific antigen (PSA) concentration, biopsy Gleason grade, and clinical stage to classify patients as low, intermediate, or high risk.

Attitudes Toward Academic Dishonesty in Physician Assistant Students.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess physician assistant (PA) students' attitudes and experiences toward academic dishonesty during training and to determine whether PA students self-report cheating during PA school.

Methods: An anonymous, quantitative, exploratory, descriptive survey was sent to clinical-year PA students enrolled in PA programs accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA).

Results: A sample of 493 self-selected PA students in their clinical year of training responded to the survey.

Trends and outcome from radical therapy for primary non-metastatic prostate cancer in a UK population.

Background: Increasing proportions of men diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK are presenting with non-metastatic disease. We investigated how treatment trends in this demographic have changed.

Patient And Methods: Non-metastatic cancers diagnosed from 2000-2010 in the UK Anglian Cancer network stratified by age and risk group were analysed [n = 10,365].

An exploratory analysis of research directors in US physician assistant programs.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the current and anticipated utilization of research directors in physician assistant (PA) programs in the United States.

Methods: The study employed a descriptive, cross-sectional design. Research directors and/or PA program directors responded to a web-based survey assessing the characteristics and responsibilities of current and anticipated faculty or staff responsible for performing research and/or evaluation activities.

Incidence of glioma in a northwestern region of England, 2006-2010.

Background: Gliomas are important because they affect disproportionately high numbers of people of working age and have a poor prognosis. Neurosurgeons were concerned about a possible recent cluster of glioma cases in a northwestern region in England.

Methods: All patients aged 18-89 years in Lancashire and South Cumbria with a histologically confirmed glioma diagnosed at the Royal Preston Hospital between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2010, were ascertained.

Population-based trends in use of surgery for non-small cell lung cancer in a UK region, 1995-2006.

Objective: To assess time trends in use of surgery in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in a UK region.

Methods: Cancer registration data for patients diagnosed with NSCLC between 1995 and 2006 in the East of England were analysed. Rates of surgery use for different age, gender, diagnosis period, tumour subtype and deprivation quintile groups were examined.

Trends in the use of radiotherapy and radical surgery for patients with bladder urothelial cell carcinoma in East Anglia, 1995-2006.

Objective: • To examine the use of radiotherapy and radical surgery for bladder urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC) before, during and after national initiatives for reorganization of uro-oncology services.

Patients And Methods: • Population-based data (1995-2006) from a cancer registry with stable coding practices were analysed. • Bladder UCC was defined using relevant International Classification of Disease site and morphology codes.

Physician assistant specialty choice: a factor analysis.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify factors related to physician assistant (PA) graduates' specialty choice.

Methods: A web-based cross-sectional study of PAs graduating between 2007 and 2009 was conducted (N = 12,128). Factor analysis was performed on 897 useable survey responses.

Population based time trends and socioeconomic variation in use of radiotherapy and radical surgery for prostate cancer in a UK region: continuous survey.

Objective: To examine variation in the management of prostate cancer in patients with different socioeconomic status.

Design: Survey using UK regional cancer registry data.

Setting: Regional population based cancer registry.

Trends and variation in the management of oesophagogastric cancer patients: a population-based survey.

Background: Previous evidence indicates potential variation in the quality of care of cancer patients. We aimed to examine whether recent changes in the treatment of oesophagogastric cancers have been distributed equally among different patient subgroups.

Methods: We analysed population-based cancer registry data about the treatment patterning of oesophagogastric cancer (other than oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma) during 1995-2006.