Vision, Mission, Competencies, Goals and Outcomes

Vision, Mission, Competencies, Goals, and Outcomes

Program Vision

Our students, alumni and faculty will be leaders through their commitment to providing high quality healthcare to all patients through innovative clinical education that promotes clinical competence, professionalism, community involvement, leadership and life-long learning.

Program Mission

The program educates and inspires the future generation of Physician Assistants to become compassionate clinicians who demonstrate professionalism; practice collaborative, evidence-based medicine and advocate for patients and their communities.

Program Graduate Competencies

The program has adopted the ARC-PA accreditation agency core competency domains as its own and expects all students to exhibit development of the following program competencies required for entry level PA practice:

Patient-Centered Practice Knowledge - possess the fundamental knowledge to apply care to patients based on individual needs through use of evidence-based decision-making and lifelong learning.

Interpersonal & Communication Skills - possess the skills to determine patients' capacity for understanding information about their health, how to best communicate with patients to ensure clarity of content, to establish a rapport and communicate in meaningful ways, to recognize and overcome linguistic and cultural barriers to effective communication and understand different perspectives and expectation about healthcare and health disparities.

Clinical & Technical Skills - possess the skills to recognize healthy and diagnose ill patients and apply skills in acute, chronic, emergent, and preventive patient encounters across the lifespan, understanding all patient contact as therapeutic to the well-being of patients.

Professional Behavior - possess the behavior to interact with patients, families, and collaborate with interprofessional health care teams to deliver care through self-reflection, self-awareness, resiliency, teamwork, beneficence, humility, accountability, advocacy, patient-centered, self-directed learning and effective communication.

Clinical Reasoning & Problem-Solving Abilities - synthesize information such as general knowledge, basic sciences, medical advances, and the characteristics of a patient case to reason and act decisively in professional practice situations.

Program Goals

• Prepare entry-level physician assistants who have a broad base of fundamental knowledge and technical skills to be competent, general, advanced care practitioners.
• Prepare entry-level physician assistants who communicate effectively and work collaboratively with all members of the interprofessional healthcare team including patients and their caregivers while promoting patient-centered care.
• Prepare entry-level physician assistants who educate patients on health, disease and prevention.
• Prepare entry-level physician assistants who demonstrate professionalism in their interactions with patients, families and all members of the healthcare team.
• Promote and support student leadership opportunities and community outreach.
• Graduate marketable, entry-level Physician Assistants

Program Level Student Learning Target Outcomes

At the completion of the Program, the Physician Assistant student will have acquired the ability to:

• Evaluate, obtain a history, conduct a physical examination, identify the diagnosis and design a management plan for patients as a general practitioner in an entry-level position
• Model effective communication, team-based and patient-centered care
• Generate health education tools for discussion to support health maintenance education
• Demonstrate ethical and respectful practice of medicine
• Seek and fulfill leadership roles in professional practice and community outreach efforts
• Employed as a practicing PA and provide care to a diverse patient population

Download the overview of program goal success rates [PDF].

Download the PANCE pass rates [PDF] for the five most recent graduating classes.

Download the PANCE performance summary report [PDF] for the five most recent graduating classes.