This page gives an overview of the general format of PA programs, and also the format of my program. Most PA programs are 2-3 years in length and consist of a didactic (classroom) year and then a clinical year where students do rotations in hospitals and clinics with preceptor physicians and PAs.
Differences in Physician Assistant Programs
There is a lot of variation between PA programs. There is no standard level of education required for certification of a physician assistant, so there are still a few programs that offer certificates of completion as the sole degree. There’s a fair number of bachelor-level programs, a whole bunch of Master’s-level programs, and even a doctoral program.
Some schools teach in a body-systems approach, meaning you’re studying cardiovascular physiology, diseases, and pharmacology at the same time and nothing else. Just cardiology. Other schools give a variety of topics to you all at once in a staggered manner. It seems that the vast majority of schools have a cadaver lab for their gross anatomy course, but not all allow PA students to do the dissections – some are pre-dissected by medical students and passed on to the PAs.
Some programs have their students share some classes with the medical students, some programs share classes with PT or other allied health students, and some programs don’t share classes at all. It seems that all programs use both faculty and guest lecturers, most or all of whom are licensed clinicians, either PAs or physicians.
My School’s Format
Didactic Year: We began last summer with gross anatomy (dissection), which I have to admit wasn’t my favorite experience, although many students loved it and felt it invaluable to their learning. Many of our “basic sciences” classes (anatomy, physiology, etc.) are shared, mostly with physical therapy, respiratory care, and occupational therapy students. Some of the classes were also shared with undergraduates and physiology grad students, but the tests that the grad and PA students took were longer and harder. I’m not particularly fond of this setup, as I believe the things we learn ought to be tailored toward the profession we pursue.
The “clinical” courses in our program are for the PA students only, and we have many guest lecturers for every specialty we discuss. That can be both a good thing and a bad thing. It’s good if the individual is an expert in his/her field and also happens to be a good teacher. It’s a really really bad thing if the person doesn’t specialize in the topic they’re discussing AND doesn’t want to be there (or has no presentation skills). It happens. Our faculty (all PAs) also present about half of our lectures.
Our clinical year is typical of most PA programs, where there are 10 rotations in many specialties for a year. For instance, I’ll spend 5 weeks in orthopedics, then 5 weeks in OB/GYN, then 5 weeks in family practice, and so forth. In this year we get to be pretend PAs – we interview and examine patients, create a list of differential diagnoses, suggest labs/diagnostic tests and interpret the results, recommend further course of action, do case presentations, and write lots and lots and lots and lots of SOAP notes. Our preceptors (the physicians and PAs overseeing us) should be keeping close tabs on our work and giving constructive feedback.
This is a Master’s degree program, and when I graduate I will receive a Master of Science (MS) degree. Some programs offer altered masters degrees such as the Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS), Master of Medical Science (MMS), and so forth. It really doesn’t matter at all what they call the master’s degree. It’s a master’s. What the degree means for me as a student is that I have to complete some kind of master’s project before graduation, in my case it basically amounts to a research paper (secondary, not primary). I’m not too worried about it because of the number of academic literature review papers I’ve written in the past. I just need to find a topic. Soon.
