Physician Assistant Program Details

Physician Assistants (PAs) are medical professionals educated in general medicine and trained to diagnose illness, develop and manage treatment plans, prescribe medications, and frequently serve as a patient’s principal healthcare provider. With thousands of hours of medical training, PAs are versatile, collaborative, integral members of healthcare teams in many hospitals and clinical practices. The role of the physician assistant is to practice medicine under the direction and supervision of a licensed physician and provide diagnostic and therapeutic patient care in virtually all medical specialties and settings. PA job descriptions are as diverse as those of physicians, and include clinical practice, patient education, team leadership, medical education, health administration, and research.

Arcadia’s Physician Assistant (PA) program provides students from across the country with the foundation for professional growth through personal attention, quality instruction, diverse clinical experience, and a commitment to excellence. To that end, the program continues to enjoy an overall exceptional pass rate (A3.12c) on the National Commission on the Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) board examinations, with a five-year, first-time taker average pass rate for the program of 97%. 

The program’s mission, values, and goals produce graduates who are well-equipped to deliver high-quality, cost-effective health care in a wide variety of settings, including hospitals, clinics, physicians’ offices, and other community settings. All students who meet the graduation requirements and have passed the NCCPA PANCE exam are eligible to apply for licensure in all 50 states.

At its June 2023 meeting, the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA) placed the Arcadia University Physician Assistant Studies Program sponsored by Arcadia University on Accreditation-Probation status until its next review in June 2025.

Probation accreditation is a temporary accreditation status initially of not less than two years. However, that period may be extended by the ARC-PA for up to an additional two years if the ARC-PA finds that the program is making substantial progress toward meeting all applicable standards but requires additional time to come into full compliance. Probation accreditation status is granted, at the sole discretion of the ARC-PA, when a program holding an accreditation status of Accreditation – Provisional or Accreditation – Continued does not, in the judgment of the ARC-PA, meet the Standards or when the capability of the program to provide an acceptable educational experience for its students is threatened.

Once placed on probation, a program that fails to comply with accreditation requirements in a timely manner, as specified by the ARC-PA, may be scheduled for a focused site visit and is subject to having its accreditation withdrawn.

Specific questions regarding the Program and its plans should be directed to the Program Director and/or the appropriate institutional official(s).

The program’s accreditation history can be viewed on the ARC-PA website at https://www.arc-pa.org/accreditation-history-arcadia-university/.

(A3.12d) The first three semesters of the program consist of didactic and laboratory coursework in the basic and clinical sciences, including a 12-week anatomy course with a prosected cadaver experience. First-year, didactic phase, students are introduced into clinical settings as part of the Medical Interview and Counseling course in the summer semester and these encounters continue into the clinical year. At the conclusion of the didactic phase, students complete their core competency examinations, receive training in clinical procedures and participate in standardized patient simulation experiences. During the clinical phase, in addition to coursework, students participate in supervised clinical experiences, standardized patient simulation experiences and return to campus periodically for exams and professional development days.

This is a 24-month program. At the discretion of the program director, students in the clinical phase may take up to a three-month leave of absence only. All degree requirements must be completed within 30 months from the start of the program or at the discretion of the program.

(A3.12d) The clinical phase consists of core and elective rotations. There are seven required rotations:  Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Behavioral Medicine, Internal Medicine, Women’s Health, Pediatrics, and Surgery. In addition, there are three clinical electives. Prospective and enrolled students are not required to solicit clinical sites or preceptors. A3.03 standard The program must define, publish, make readily available and consistently apply a policy for prospective and enrolled students that they must not be required to provide or solicit clinical sites or preceptors. Students are still allowed to suggest clinical sites or preceptors, as long as the program evaluates and approves those suggestions for educational suitability. All clinical preceptors and sites must meet the requirements of the program. Each student’s clinical year schedule is at the discretion of the program. Changes to rotation schedules are not made at student’s request. Faculty members perform site visits while the students attend their supervised clinical practical experiences. Every 12 weeks, the students return to campus for exams and professional development experiences.