This resource was developed to assist physician assistant (PA) educators with curriculum and course design. While it is now commonly recognized that instruction should be directed toward expected student outcomes, the task of creating instructional goals and objectives to guide instruction can be a daunting process. The intent of this project is to help faculty members develop instructional design skills to support higher level problem solving and skill development in teaching and assessment.

This faculty resource consists of two main parts. Outcome-Based Education , authored by Project Director, Anita Duhl Glicken, MSW, explains how student outcomes serve as a framework for curriculum planning, design and assessment. A basic approach to preparing instructional goals and objectives is presented and related to various assessment strategies. Sidebars present “teaching tips” from PA educators across the country. Although unrelated directly to the content of the first section, they provide both new and seasoned educators thoughtful “tips” for strengthening instruction and assessment.

Sample Goals and Objectives, co-authored by Project Leader, Michael Huckabee, MPAS, PA-C and Project Assistant, Wallace Boeve, MSPA, PA-C, contains sample instructional goals and objectives. Given the almost infinite number of topics that could be addressed, previous research and current standards served as a guide for selecting relevant examples. Sixty-nine content areas were selected from a broad sampling of PA curriculum themes identified through a previously funded contract from the Bureau of Health Professions¹. Additional content areas were incorporated from the Accreditation Standards for Physician Assistant Education published by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA)².

A guiding principle of this project is that course design and objectives are unique to the individual PA program and user. The information provided here is in no way meant to be all inclusive. While specific objectives are identified in this collection of content areas, these are intended to serve only as illustrative examples. This list is not exhaustive and individual programs will identify additional professional practice outcomes unique to their program’s mission and graduates.

Sample instructional objectives, corresponding to each curricular goal, identify the knowledge, skills and/or attitudes requisite for clinical competency. These objectives are enhanced through the inclusion of a number of real world examples of “How We Do It” (HoWDI). HowDIs offer descriptions of how PA program faculty have implemented objectives in their curricula. Both HoWDIs, and “teaching tips” were collected from educators who volunteered their suggestions at the last two APAP educational forums in Phoenix and Nashville. Submission of teaching tips, “HoWDIs” and objectives are always welcomed by APAP for inclusion in updates of this website.

This website also includes additional resources and information. Be sure to view the resource section which includes an annotated bibliography and useful links such as the American Council on Graduate Medical Education’s (ACGME) competency project and toolbox of assessment strategies. This toolbox is a valuable reference for faculty interested in exploring alternative ways to measure outcome achievement.

Instructional design is an iterative process. Successful instructors often find themselves circling back to aspects of course design that need to be revised in light of new experiences or the ever changing arena of medical practice. In much the same way, this resource is also a “live” document, subject to grow and change as physician assistant scholarship and teaching evolves over the next decade.

An outcome-based approach to medical education reminds PA educators to keep the pre-eminent goal of high quality patient care in the forefront of curriculum design. Instruction should be strategically designed to reach this goal. The PA student, graduate and educator must never forget that the profession’s greatest value is best measured through the eyes of the patients we serve.

¹Core Competency Study, I-ASK Project, unpublished report, American Academy of Physician Assistants, released approximately 1996.

²Accreditation Standards for Physician Assistant Education, 2nd Edition. Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. 1000 North Oak Avenue, Marshfield, WI, http://www.arc-pa.org 2001.