MPS-Phys Assist Science - FL

INTRODUCTION

Physician Assistants (PAs) are medical providers who are nationally certified, and state licensed to practice medicine as a member of a team with other healthcare professionals. Their specific tasks vary widely due to differences among state laws and hospital policies.

PAs are qualified to obtain patient histories, perform comprehensive physical examinations, order and interpret diagnostic laboratory tests, diagnose, implement a treatment plan for common illnesses, deliver patient education and counseling, perform certain surgical procedures, and provide emergency care. PAs may assist in surgery and deliver pre-operative and post-operative care. PAs may deliver patient care in any setting in which the physician works.

The Physician Assistant Science Department at the Ruskin Campus offers a Master of Physician Assistant Science degree available through a post baccalaureate curriculum. The curriculum is predominantly clinical during the final year of the program. Adjunct regional medical faculty, in conjunction with various health care institutions, provide the students professional physician assistant training. Clinical sites are offered primarily in Florida, as well as some locations farther afield. Students are responsible for their own housing and transportation to and from clinical sites.

The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA) has granted Accreditation-Continued status to the Gannon University Physician Assistant Program-Ruskin sponsored by Gannon University. Accreditation-Continued is an accreditation status granted when a currently accredited program is in compliance with the ARC-PA Standards. Accreditation remains in effect until the program closes or withdraws from the accreditation process or until accreditation is withdrawn for failure to comply with the Standards. The approximate date for the next validation review of the program by the ARC-PA will be September 2033. The review date is contingent upon continued compliance with the Accreditation Standards and ARC-PA policy.

The program’s accreditation history can be viewed on the ARC-PA website at https://www.arc-pa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Accreditation-History-Gannon-U-Ruskin.pdf

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

• Applicants must possess a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university.

• A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required from previous professional education (including a 3.0 sciences and prerequisite GPA) and prerequisites must have been completed within the last ten years.

• As part of the application process, applicants must submit recommendation forms from three evaluators and complete a personal interview.

• In addition, applicants must submit the following: official transcripts, curriculum vitae, and 30 hours of documented volunteer/paid medical experience or 30 hours of shadowing a Physician Assistant.

• Altus Suite – admissions assessments of non-cognitive skills: All applicants are required to complete Altus Suite as part of the admissions cycle. To complete Altus Suite, visit https://TakeAltus.com to create an account and complete the following assessment:

  • Casper: 60-90 minute online, open response situational judgment test (SJT)

• You will register for the American Professional Health Sciences test (CSP10101) and reserve a test. Specific test dates are assigned each year. Please register as soon as possible and at least a month prior to the December 1st application deadline.

• All international students must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and Test of Spoken English (TSE) exams. A minimum TOEFL score of 600 (paper test) or 250 (computer-based test) and a minimum TSE score of 50 are required for application.

• The application deadline is December 1. Applications received after the deadline will be reviewed on a space availability basis.

TECHNICAL STANDARDS

A candidate for admission to the PA Program must have the use of certain sensory and motor functions to permit them to carry out the activities described in the sections that follow. Graduation from the program signifies that the individual is prepared for entry into clinical practice or into postgraduate training programs. Therefore, it follows that graduates must have the knowledge and skills needed to function in a broad variety of clinical situations and to render a wide spectrum of diagnostic and therapeutic care. The candidate and student must be able consistently, quickly, and accurately to integrate all information received by whatever sense(s) are employed. Also, they must have the intellectual ability to learn, integrate, analyze, and synthesize data.

A candidate for the PA Program ordinarily must have the following abilities and skills as explained below: observation; communication; motor; intellectual, conceptual, integrative, and quantitative; and behavioral and social. Where technological assistance is available in the program, it may be permitted for disabilities in certain areas. Under all circumstances, a candidate should be able to perform the following tasks in a reasonably independent manner:

1. Observation: Candidates and students ordinarily must have sufficient vision to be able to observe demonstrations, experiments, and laboratory exercises. They must be able to observe a patient accurately at a distance and close at hand.

2. Communication: Candidates and students ordinarily must be able to communicate with patients and colleagues. They should be able to hear, but if technological compensation is available, it may be permitted for some handicaps in this area. Candidates and students must be able to read, write, and speak English.

3. Motor: Candidates and students ordinarily should have sufficient motor function such that they are able to execute movements reasonably required to provide general care and emergency treatment to patients. Examples of emergency treatment reasonably required of physician assistants is cardiopulmonary resuscitation, administration of intravenous medication, the application of pressure to stop bleeding, the opening of obstructed airways, the suturing of simple wounds, and the performance of simple obstetrical maneuvers. These actions require coordination of both gross and fine muscular movements, equilibrium, and functional use of the senses of touch and vision.

4. Intellectual, Conceptual, Integrative, and Quantitative Abilities: These abilities include measurement, calculation, reasoning, analysis, and synthesis. Problem solving, the critical intellectual skill demanded of a physician assistant, requires all of these intellectual abilities. In addition, candidates and students should be able to comprehend three-dimensional relationships and understand the spatial relationships of structures.

5. Behavioral and Social Abilities: Candidates and students must possess the emotional health required for full utilization of their intellectual abilities, the exercise of good judgment, the prompt completion of all responsibilities required for the assessment and care of patients, and the development of mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with patients. Candidates and students must be able to tolerate physically taxing workloads, adapt to changing environments, display flexibility, and learn to function in the face of uncertainties inherent in the clinical problems of many patients. Compassion, integrity, concern for others, interpersonal skills, interest, and motivation are all personal qualities to be assessed during the admissions and educational processes.

The PA Department is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to students with an identified disability as defined by the Americans with Disability Act. In doing so, however, the PA Department must maintain the integrity of its curriculum and preserve those elements deemed essential to educating candidates to become effective physician assistants.

Students in the program must be of sufficient health to meet the criteria of our clinical affiliates.

The PA Department reserves the right to reassess the student’s ability to meet the technical standards at any time during the student’s training and act accordingly.

EMPLOYMENT POLICY

Students may be eligible for employment through the work study program of the University. PA students will not be required to work in the PA Department and will not substitute for or function as instructional faculty, clinical or administrative staff. PA students are eligible to be hired as graduate assistants through the University.

Employment during the PA Program is not recommended. Demanding courses and time constraints are to be expected. Employment during the clinical phase of the PA Programs is strongly discouraged. Students will spend an average of 40 hours a week on clinical site, plus complete reading assignments in order to prepare for end of rotation exams. Students may need to relocate every five weeks, precluding steady employment. Students who choose to work may jeopardize performance and continuation in the program.

MASTER OF PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT SCIENCE CURRICULUM

The Master of Physician Assistant Science is a post baccalaureate program that requires successful completion of 91 credits.

PREREQUISITES

Following are prerequisites for the Post-Baccalaureate Option and must be completed prior to enrolling:

* Anatomy and Physiology 1 and Anatomy and Physiology 2 course and lab sequences are acceptable.

Prerequisite courses must be from a regionally accredited college or university.

Prerequisites will not be accepted if they have been completed over 10 years prior to enrollment. Advanced standing is not granted in the program. No credits are awarded for experiential learning.

Recommended Courses (not required for matriculation into the program):

• Cadaver Anatomy Lab

• Biochemistry

• Organic Chemistry

• Introduction to Pharmacology