The Outcome-Based Education section of this site explained the relationship between course objectives, content and assessment. This section contains samples of instructional goals and specific instructional objectives corresponding to physician assistant education.

The sample content areas of education were drawn principally from three sources:

1. A report of instructional objectives collated from PA programs as a part of a previous contract funded by the Bureau of Health Professions.
2. The Accreditation Standards for Physician Assistant Education published by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA).
3. The National Commission on the Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) blueprint for the PA National Certifying Examination (PANCE). In addition, content areas not otherwise classified were identified by a panel of PA educators.

This list is not meant to be exhaustive or complete, but illustrates the wide range of instruction typically found in PA education.

Sample instructional goals are provided for each content area. These goals are not prescriptive to PA education, but serve as examples to stimulate individual PA faculty members to consider the goals utilized in individual curricula.

Following the instructional goals are sample instructional objectives which, again, are only examples to illustrate the wide variety of objectives possible in PA education. Each PA program will likely have more individualized instructional objectives unique to the philosophy and mission of the program. While PA faculty are welcome to utilize any of the goals and objectives provided in this manual, it is expected that in most, if not all circumstances, the material here will require revision to appropriately fit the individual program's curricula.

Several instructional objectives included in the manual refer to "common conditions" in defining the specific elements of the instructional content, as the exact content may differ regionally across the country. Useful instructional objectives, however, are more detailed in identifying this instructional content for the intended faculty and students.

Assessment of the listed instructional objectives will often need to be tailored to the individual course. For example, in assessing an instructional objective by a written examination, the performance criteria utilized in this manual's objectives typically requires 90 percent accuracy by the student. This will undoubtedly vary within an individual program's evaluation strategy.

Each instructional objective listed is classified into a related education domain and taxonomy category. These classifications are often subjective and are open to interpretation.

Practical applications of instructional objectives are presented in the "How We Do It" (HowDI) boxes associated with various objectives. Within those boxes, PA educators from across the country have shared examples of how these objectives have been operational in specific PA program curricula. These examples of instructional and assessment strategies are included to stimulate thinking around creative and novel ways to teach and assess these important curricular goals. If the reader would like to contact the PA educator identified with the example, he or she is welcome to do so.

It deserves restating that this list of instructional content areas, goals and objectives is not an all-inclusive or exhaustive listing, but an extensive resource that will assist the veteran, as well as the novice PA educator in developing clearer objectives for classroom instruction.