Master of Science in Physician Assistant
The mission of the Sullivan University Physician Assistant program is to educate future Physician Assistants to provide ethical, quality, and compassionate healthcare as part of an interprofessional team. This includes increasing access to healthcare in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the nation.
The Master of Science in Physician Assistant (MSPA) Degree program is a rigorous 24-month curriculum consisting of a 12-month didactic phase and a 12-month clinical phase.
Academic and professional growth is monitored closely throughout the program by the program director, the medical director, directors of Didactic and Clinical Education, and the academic, clinical, and course coordinators. Each student is assigned a faculty advisor for assistance and counseling regarding academic progress. If a student is having academic difficulty, he/she is counseled and offered opportunities to make improvements.
Consistent with the goals of Sullivan University, the PA Program is dedicated to providing cutting-edge, educational enrichment opportunities for the intellectual, social, and professional development of its students, whilst instilling the values of teamwork, compassion, excellence, professionalism, integrity, and accountability.
Program Information
Program Overview & Locations
The didactic year curriculum builds a foundation for clinical practice and focuses on biomedical, clinical, and behavioral sciences as well as courses in physical diagnosis and critical thinking. During the first half of the didactic year, students will take on coursework in the basic sciences as well as gross anatomy, while beginning to make applications of this material to physical exam and clinical medicine. As the classroom year progresses, students will begin thinking more critically and clinically, correlating classroom knowledge to clinical application through both problem-based and case-based learning, along with Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs).
The final weeks of the didactic year include written and practical summative examinations to assess each student’s preparedness for the clinical year. These examinations must be completed successfully as a requirement for entering the clinical year.
The clinical year consists of seven required clinical rotations and one elective clinical rotation. Each rotation is six weeks in length, and students return to campus the last two days of each rotation for required end-of-rotation testing, OSCEs, lectures, debriefing sessions, and student presentations. They also begin preparation for their next clinical experience.
During the four months prior to program completion, students will be required to pass a Summative Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) as well as the End of Curriculum Exam. The final week of the clinical year is spent on campus for final graduation prep, exit surveys, and review for the Physician Assistant National Certification Exam (PANCE).
