|
The Content of PA Education
James F. Cawley, MPH, PA-C
Immediate Past President, APAP
What is the content of PA education? What do we know
about the essential substance of PA education, an approach that has
proven so successful over the years? The short answer to these questions
is: very little. Despite nearly forty years of experience in preparing
PAs, it is still difficult to know what is it about the PA educational
experience that produces a competent clinician.
PA education is continually evolving and with it the
content of educational curricula, which has proven to be a rich area
for innovation and experimentation in medical education. The Standards
of the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician
Assistant (ARC-PA), with which programs comply, are a key factor in
promoting this. The Standards purposefully give wide latitude in accreditation
criteria, so as to promote curricular diversity in PA programs. Another
factor is the remarkable expansion and transition that the PA educational
sector has witnessed over the past several years as new programs have
been established that grant graduate (master’s) degrees and others
have converted their curricula to be able to award some form of graduate
degree. The combination of these factors, in addition to the innate
creativity on the part of many PA educators who construed this environment
as an opportunity, has resulted in a wide variety of curricular approaches
and programs of study. That said, however, we have come to the point
where we know remarkably little about the content of PA education
as it now exists in this era of graduate degrees.
After years of considerable debate and strife, it is
accurate to say that PA education is now clearly on the graduate level.
A majority (currently estimated to be more than 90) of the 134 PA
programs accredited by the ARC-PA now award the master’s degree
or provide for a master’s option. This remarkable transition
has fostered the design or redesign of PA educational curricula, and
the graduate degrees that have been developed are remarkably diverse
in their names, requirements, and content.
Only the fundamental goals of graduate PA education
are similar. Graduate education in PA programs is intended to reflect
current clinical practice standards and requirements, to foster proficiency
in independent thinking, to promote ability to engage in lifelong
learning, and to value clinical practice excellence. Yet the ways
in which these goals are achieved is very different as programs take
a variety of approaches and pathways to ensure that their curricula
fulfill expectations and requirements.
Some PA educators have looked to APAP to provide leadership
and direction in navigating the uncharted seas of the new PA curricula.
As a result, APAP has formed the Graduate Education Commission (GEC)
to examine and describe the content of PA graduate education and to
address the many ancillary questions that accompany this line of investigation.
Under the able leadership of Patricia Cook, MD, FACP,
of the University of Texas Southwest Medical Center PA Program, the
GEC is charged with identifying the current state and content of graduate
PA education. Comprised of senior PA education leaders, the GEC is
currently attempting to more clearly delineate the type, character,
and content of PA graduate education by first conducting a comprehensive
survey of programs. Based on the results of the survey, a detailed
analysis is anticipated that will include a set of recommendations
and guidelines. It is hoped that the final product will assist programs
in the design and development of PA graduate, educational experiences.
The GEC effort represents an exciting challenge in defining the frontier
and setting the course of PA education.
|
