Goals
Education Experience
To provide a comprehensive, patient- and family-centered educational experience with emphasis on evidence-based medicine, clinical application of medical knowledge, effective communication skills, and life-long learning.
The success of achieving the goal:
- Provide a curriculum in which courses are comprehensive and correlate together to foster learning.
- Provide patient- and family-centered educational experiences across the curriculum, including 10 core clinical rotations and two elective rotations in the clinical phase.
- Provide two courses and a capstone project that emphasizes evidence-based medicine.
- Provide early patient experience in the didactic curriculum and the case-based clinical reasoning courses to emphasize the clinical application of medical knowledge.
- Provide two courses that emphasize patient communication skills.
Educational Culture
To promote an educational culture that values professionalism, diversity, inclusivity, and compassion.
The success of achieving the goal:
- Demonstrate professionalism, integrity, ethical behavior, cultural awareness, and compassion by students who are continuously evaluated for professionalism during the didactic and clinical phases of the program.
- Faculty and staff serve as role models for students and exhibit professionalism, integrity, ethical behavior, cultural awareness and compassion.
- Provide two didactic courses that emphasize cultural competency.
- Provide clinical experiences in underserved areas.
- Provide service-learning experiences across the lifespan and work with diverse groups.
- Strive for diversity of faculty, staff and students.
Professional Preparation
To produce physician assistants who are prepared to practice in any discipline of medicine and in any health care environment.
The success of achieving the goal:
- Achieve a five-year average graduation rate of 96%
- Achieve a first-time Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination pass rate of 89%
Collaboration and Engagement
To foster an atmosphere of interprofessional collaboration and engagement within the university, and communities across the state of Arkansas.
The success of achieving the goal:
- Provide interprofessional education experiences in the didactic and clinical phases of the program.
- Provide service-learning experiences in the didactic phase of the program.
- Participate with the student-led, interprofessional 12th Street Health and Wellness Center.
Improve Access to Health Care
To produce practicing physician assistants who will improve access to healthcare for the residents of Arkansas.
The success of achieving the goal:
- Five-year average: 96% graduation rate
Competencies
The following are the Physician Assistant Education Council core competencies for new physician assistant graduates.
Medical Knowledge
- Recognize normal and abnormal health states across the lifespan (NG 1.1)
- Discern among acute, chronic, and emerging disease states. (NG 1.2)
- Determine differential diagnoses; order and interpret diagnostic studies; perform necessary clinical procedures; diagnose, treat, and manage illnesses. (NG 1.5)
Interpersonal and Communication Skills
- Understand the role of structural disparities in causing illness. (NG 2.4)
- Provide effective, equitable, understandable, respectful, and quality care that displays cultural humility and is responsive to diverse health beliefs and practices, preferred languages, health literacy, and other communication needs. (NG 3.6)
- Organize and communicate information with patients, families, community members, and health team members in a form that is understandable, avoiding discipline-specific terminology when possible and checking to ensure understanding. (NG 3.7)
Patient-Centered Care
- Recognize the potential impacts of social determinants of health, biology, and genetics on patients and incorporate them into decisions of care. (NG 2.2)
- Gather accurate and essential information about patients through history taking, physical examination, and diagnostic testing. (PAP 3.1)
- Develop, implement, and monitor the effectiveness of patient-centered management plans. (PAP 3.4)
Professionalism
- Articulate standard of care practice. (NG 5.1)
- Reflect on personal and professional limitations in providing care. (NG 2.7)
- Demonstrate respect for the dignity and privacy of patients while maintaining confidentiality in the delivery of team-based care. (NG 5.5)
- Demonstrate commitment to personal wellness and self-care that supports the provision of quality patient care. (PAP 5.8)
Systems-based Process
- Recognize financial implications to the provision of healthcare. (NG 6.1)
- Appreciate the value of team-based care and the collaborative physician/PA relationship. (NG 6.3)
- Understand different types of health systems, funding streams, and insurance, including the role of Medicare and Medicaid as payors. (NG 6.4)
Citation Legend
NG: Core Competencies for New Physician Assistant Graduates (2019)
PAP: Competencies for the PA Profession (2021)