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The Â鶹´«Ã½ Fox University 112-credit, 6 continuous semester, Physician Assistant (PA) program awards a Master of Medical Science (MMSc) degree. New cohorts begin every January. Classes are held in person at the university’s Newberg campus and affiliated clinic sites.

The program seeks to develop well-informed, resilient, and compassionate PAs who provide patient centered and service-oriented medical care in diverse environments.

Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the PA

The national organizations representing PAs, including the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA), the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA), the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA), and the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) worked to develop a set of overarching competencies for PAs and the PA professions. The Competencies were subsequently nationally adopted and intended to serve as a "map" for both the development and the maintenance of professional competencies inherent to PAs and the PA profession.

Some of the competencies are acquired during the PA education process while others are developed and honed throughout a PA’s career. The PA program acknowledges the importance of the national competencies and further recognizes that, although excellent benchmarks for PA performance, not all of the competencies can truly be evaluated within a PA education program. As such, the PA Program has adapted the competencies into specific measurable outcomes, each falling within the general heading of the original competencies (e.g., medical knowledge), but reduced to a specific and measurable performance item that best reflects the goals of the PA Program. As a result, the following are the Graduate Competencies for the Â鶹´«Ã½ Fox MMSc PA Program:

Medical Knowledge (MK): PAs must demonstrate core knowledge about established and evolving biomedical and clinical sciences and the application of this knowledge to patient care in their area of practice. In addition, PAs are expected to demonstrate an investigatory and analytic thinking approach to clinical situations. Outcome expectations for this competency include:

• MK: Demonstrate the ability to effectively recognize, assess, diagnose, and treat patients across the lifespan with a variety of problems to include preventive, emergent, acute, and chronic clinical practice of medicine. 

Interpersonal and Communication Skills (ICS): PAs must demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills that result in effective information exchange with patients, their patients’ families, physicians, members of the healthcare team, and the healthcare system. Outcome expectations for this competency include:

• ICS1: Demonstrate knowledge and application of effective interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills necessary to elicit and record a medical history, explain and document diagnostic studies, and present an appropriate treatment plan.
• ICS2: Communicate in a patient-centered and culturally responsive manner to accurately obtain, interpret and utilize information and implement a patient-centered management plan.

Patient Care and Clinical Problem Solving (PC): PAs must demonstrate care that is effective, safe, high quality, and equitable; includes patient- and discipline-specific assessment, evaluation, and management. Outcome expectations for this competency include:

• PC1: Demonstrate the ability to perform a new or routine follow-up physical exam.
• PC2: Demonstrate the ability to effectively work within a patient-centered healthcare team.
• PC3: Demonstrate the ability to apply an evidence-based approach to the evaluation and management of patients.

Technical Skills (TS):  PAs must demonstrate the ability to obtain informed consent, perform clinical procedures common to primary care, and interpret diagnostic tests. Outcome expectations for this competency include:

• TS: Demonstrate skills including but not limited to: venipuncture, intravenous access, injections, wound care, casting and splinting and interpretation of radiographic images, laboratory studies, and ECGs.  

Professionalism (P): Professionalism involves prioritizing the interests of those being served above one’s own while acknowledging their professional and personal limitations. Additionally, PAs must demonstrate a high level of responsibility, ethical practice, sensitivity to a diverse patient population, and adherence to legal and regulatory requirements. Outcome expectations for this competency include:

• P1: Demonstrate professionalism in interactions with others including, but not limited to, patients, families, and colleagues.
• P2: Demonstrate knowledge and application of an understanding of the PA role including ethical and professional standards regarding the PA profession.
• P3: Demonstrate knowledge and application of intellectual honesty, academic integrity and professional conduct throughout the program.

Transcripts

All transcripts must be submitted and support completion of a bachelor's degree and required science prerequisites.

Bachelor's Degree and Associated Academic Standards

Prerequisite Courses and Associated Academic Standards

• Human Anatomy and Physiology I & II - Lecture and Lab (8 semester hours) OR Human Anatomy with Lab (4 semester hours) and Human Physiology (3 semester hours) Note: Successful completion of the Special Operations Combat Medic Course meets the Anatomy and Physiology requirement.
• General Biology with Lab (4 semester hours)
• Other Biology (3 semester hours)
• Microbiology (3 semester hours)
• General Chemistry with Lab (4 semester hours)
• Other Chemistry (3 semester hours)
• Introductory to Psychology or higher (3 semester hours)
• Statistics (3 semester hours)
• Medical Terminology is highly recommended

Note: (1) All labs must be completed in person (no online labs are accepted). (2) Survey courses (100) do not meet prerequisite requirements.

Letters of recommendation

Three letters of recommendation are required (each from a professional source (employer, teacher, and similar); they should not be from a relation or close family friend).

Additional Admissions Information

See Admissions webpage for more specifics regarding admissions recommendations and guidelines.

Students enrolled in GFU’s PA Program must maintain adherence to the program standard of academic performance and professionalism. Due to the sequential nature of the curriculum, students must successfully complete all courses for a given semester before becoming eligible to take courses in the subsequent semester.

Didactic grades are given as A, B, C and F. Experiential (clinical) course grades are given as Pass or Fail.

The MMSc PA program has an ongoing ‘professionalism’ grading component. To receive a passing score, students must receive a 73% or higher rating.

The goal of remediation is to identify areas of weaknesses or knowledge gaps and assist the student in overcoming those weaknesses and develop material mastery. Within courses that do not utilize exams, Course Directors may use other tools to evaluate the need for remediation. In all instances, the Course Director, in conversation with the student, will establish the remediation plan and complete the Remediation Form, which will be kept in the student’s file. In addition, all active remediation processes will be evaluated (for effectiveness and/or adjustment) during each end of semester Academic Progress and Professionalism Committee meetings. Remediation can be looked at in three areas: (1) Didactic, (2) Clinical, and (3) Professionalism.

Deceleration

The GFU MMSc PA program’s curriculum is delivered on a full-time basis to students in a cohort. There is no formal deceleration plan nor is there an option to complete the curriculum on a part time basis (A3.17f). Students who request and have an approved leave of absence from Â鶹´«Ã½ Fox University may be required, due to course availability, to resume studies with the subsequent cohort. Any changes to the student’s requirements and deadlines for progression in and completion of the program that result from a leave of absence and having to decelerate to the subsequent cohort will be documented as part of the student’s leave of absence plan.  In some instances, a student who has previously attended the program and did not complete the program or have an approved leave of absence must reapply. The admissions application will be treated in the same manner as all other applications.

To graduate from the MMSc PA Program and earn a Master of Medical Science degree, students must meet the following:

• Successfully complete all coursework according to program-defined academic standards (cannot have any incomplete or outstanding grades). This is reviewed with the PA Program Advisor at the beginning of Fall II and can be done via Zoom or email if necessary. 
• Achieve a minimum cumulative 3.0 GPA
• Successfully pass all components of the summative evaluation/course
• Demonstrate they have met all graduate competencies and learning outcomes
• Be in good professional standing
• Submit a completed to the Registrar at least two semesters prior to the graduation. Information on graduation can be found at /catalog/handbook/academic/graduation/application.html. 
• Finally, to graduate, students cannot have any financial or library obligation with Â鶹´«Ã½ Fox University.