Physician Assistant Program Goals: A Thematic Analysis.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to provide a descriptive analysis of the goals of the accredited physician assistant (PA) programs across the country in order to obtain a baseline understanding of their themes.

Methods: Initial review of the goals resulted in the identification of recurring themes. The goals were evaluated relative to meeting the requirements specified in Standard A3.14 of the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, including listing the goal with the defined benchmark expected and the program's progress in reaching the goal. Accreditation status was compared.

Results: Of the 238 accredited PA programs at the time of the study, 157 (66%) had Accreditation-Continued status, 56 (24%) were Accreditation-Provisional, and 25 (11%) had Accreditation-Probation status. The median number of 5 goals per program did not vary dependent on accreditation status. Only 43 of 238 PA programs (18%) provided goals with required benchmarks and supporting outcomes on their webpages. Almost all programs included at least one goal (and often more than one) with the theme of student acquisition of knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to be a PA. Other commonly included themes in programmatic goals included the "capacity" of students to graduate from the PA program and become employed, valuing diversity and cultural differences, a comprehensive and strong curriculum, as well as alumni who are self-directed, lifelong learners.

Conclusion: Program goals should be reviewed to ensure they include benchmarks that define success and report progress or outcomes in achieving those goals. Thematic analysis provides a powerful summary that then can be used to make conclusions across a large set of program data.