Five-year Physician Assistant Program gains popularity in its first year
The Five-Year Physician Assistant (PA) program, jointly offered by CHP's Physician Assistant Program and the College of Engineering & Science's Biology department, struck a positive chord with students and faculty in its first year. Introduced last fall to incoming freshmen, the new PA program option offers students the opportunity to earn a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master of Science in Physician Assistant studies in five years.
"We have some bright capable students enrolled in the program," says Rachel DeWitt, instructor for the Introduction to Physician Assistant course and part time PA program faculty. "It has taken off more than we ever thought possible. We're filling up and have a wait list for next fall."
Dewitt says the recent attention that the PA profession has received in non-medical journals benefits the program. These articles have generated awareness of the occupation and the need for PAs to enter the workforce as the number of retiring PAs steadily increases.
The high demand for the profession combined with the desire to graduate with a master's in five years was one of the program's main attractions for student Robert DeCoste (pictured at right).
"I considered other healthcare-related fields but job security was part of the reason I enrolled in the five-year PA program," says the 19-year-old. "I look forward to continuing along with the courses and consider myself lucky to be graduating at age 23 with a master's."
The intense curriculum is structured so that students learn outside of the classroom as well. They job shadow a PA and log time in emergency rooms and ambulances to fulfill the emergency medical technician training portion of the program.
"The required co-op provides students with hands-on knowledge. It gives them a clear understanding and a taste of the reality of healthcare especially if they haven't had that exposure to practical skills," says Suzanne York, associate professor and program chair.
DeCoste already completed this part of the curriculum having job shadowed a PA in general surgery at Troy Beaumont Hospital. The experience – a 12-hour shift – enlightened him. He checked on patients who were in post-op and observed surgeries ranging from gall bladder removals to hip replacements.
As a result of his close-up view of the operating room, DeCoste is leaning toward a practice in general surgery upon graduating.
"Job shadowing was another way of seeing the inner workings of a hospital and how a PA works side by side with the doctors and how patients respond to them," says DeCoste, who also completed his emergency medical technician training.
DeCoste anticipates that being a physician assistant will allow him to make a decent living and balance a family life. He is grateful that the Five-Year PA program came along in time for him to map out his future.
With a lengthy waiting list for enrollment next fall, this popular PA program appears to be on a healthy course of its own as well.
