Accreditation Status
The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA) has granted Accreditation-Continued status to the Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ Physician Assistant Program sponsored by Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ. 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remains in effect until the program closes or withdraws from the accreditation process or until accreditation is withdrawn for failure to comply with the Standards.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 2033M. 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.
Program Goals
- Outcome Measure: Five-year first-time PANCE pass rate that exceeds the national average.
- Rationale: Successful completion of the PANCE is required to obtain licensure in all 50 states. The Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ PA program is committed to delivering a comprehensive student-centered curriculum to prepare its graduates for outstanding success.
- Actual Outcome: The Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ PA 5-year (2019-2023) first-time pass rate is 96%, which exceeds the national average of 93% for this same period.
- Outcome Measure: 95% of program graduates will secure employment as a PA or be enrolled in a post-graduate training program within 9 months of graduation.
- Rationale: The program’s graduates will become active members of the healthcare workforce where they can use their knowledge and skills to provide competent, compassionate, patient-centered care to all patients.
- Actual Outcome: As of November 2024*, the program verified that 100% of the Class of 2023 was employed as physician assistants.
*The program recognizes this information was verified >9 months after graduation as this was a new goal established in October 2024. Going forward this information will be verified at 9 months from graduation for all cohorts (February of the following year)
- Outcome Measure: Upon completion of the Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ PA program, rates of graduates who would recommend the Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ PA program will exceed the department’s benchmark of 3.4 on a 5-point Likert scale with 1= strongly disagree and 5= strongly agree on a 5-year average.
- Rationale: The program recognizes that prospective students have many options for PA schools locally and nationally. Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ PA strives to exceed all expectations and provide an overall positive experience for all students.
- Actual Outcome: The 5-year average (2020-2024) of graduates who would recommend the Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ PA program was a 4.2 on a 5-point Likert scale exceeding the department’s benchmark of 3.4.
| Class of 2022 | Class of 2023 | Class of 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum entering class size (as approved by ARC-PA) |
65 | 65 | 65 |
| Entering class size | 70 | 74 | 66 |
| Graduates | 54 | 57 | 49 |
| * Attrition rate | 22.9% | 23% | 25.8% |
| **Graduation rate | 77.1% | 77% | 74.2% |
*Attrition rate calculation: Number of students who attritted from cohort divided by the entering class size.
**Graduation rate: Number of cohort graduates divided by the entering class size.
Comments
- Program has 2 didactic years and 1 clinical year. Entering class size accounts for students who decelerated into the given cohort at any point. Total cohort enrollment never exceeded 65 students for any of the above cohorts.