Medical and Physician Assistant Student Competence in Basic Life Support: Opportunities to Improve Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Training.

Introduction: Medical and physician assistant (PA) students are often required to have Basic Life Support (BLS) education prior to engaging in patient care. Given the potential role of students in resuscitations, it is imperative to ensure that current BLS training prepares students to provide effective cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The objective of this study was to assess whether current BLS training produces student providers who can deliver BLS in an American Heart Association (AHA) guideline-adherent manner.

Informing the Revolution: A Needs Assessment of Ultrasound Knowledge and Skills Among Graduating Physician Assistant Students.

Purpose: We performed a needs assessment to understand how existing physician assistant (PA) program curricula and clinical training affect students' ultrasound knowledge, skills, and competence and prepare students for performing ultrasound techniques in clinical practice.

Methods: Students graduating from a PA program completed a 23-item questionnaire examining their ultrasound training experiences, their self-assessment of competency, and their demographics. Students also completed a 15-item ultrasound knowledge assessment.