Response to A3-14b 2016 Report on Achievement of Program Goals The mission of Florida International University Master in Physician Assistant Studies is to prepare a diverse workforce of master s-level primary care physician assistants to collaboratively practice with physicians and other members of the health care team. The vision of Florida International University Master in Physician Assistant Studies is to be the leader in Florida s education and training of diverse physician assistants to improve health care in South Florida. Our conduct, ideals, and ethics are: Integrity Diversity Competence Compassion Scholarship In May 2016, the Program Director initiated a review of the Programs goals. The purpose of this review was to ensure the goals are concordant with the mission of the PA program, as well as that of Florida International University. During the Fall 2016 Advisory Board meet, representatives from the College of Medicine, community leaders, and community practitioners, voted to retain the current goals; these goals are as follows: 1. Provide Florida students greater access to physician assistant education. 2. Train students to serve South Florida s diverse population through a patient - centered curriculum that emphasizes medical and cultural competence. 3. Prepare students for lifelong learning in medicine with a level of didactic and clinical competence that provides successful entrance into the profession. To meet these Program mission and goals, the program uses a variety of educational methods and assessments to monitor its progress. 1 P age
Achievement of Program Goals 1. Provide Florida students greater access to physician assistant education. The Program has determined to measure success of achieving this goal by evaluating the demographics of each admitted class. With the completion of selection of the inaugural class the following demographic information was obtained: a. 45 students were selected with an average age of 24.5, an average science grade point average of 3.29, and an average overall grade point average of 3.38. b. Gender : 37 Females and 8 males Gender 15.56% Male Female 84.44% 2 P age
c. The ethnic breakdown of this class demonstrates the vast diversity of our student population. As noted in the graph below the Hispanic population is the largest but that is reflective of our overall population demographics of South Florida. Ethnicity 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Asian Black Hispanic White None d. When reviewing our student s permanent residence when applying to the Program, we noted that Over 90% of our students are from the State of Florida. With the vast majority of those residing in South Florida. Residence 90.00% 80.00% 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% 82.20% 8.88% 2.22% 2.22% 1 2.22% 2.22% South Florida Central Florida New Jersey Rhode Island Virginia Kentucky 3 P age
e. In reviewing our 2016 entering class educational background it was noted that the majority had bachelor s degrees with no or minimal health care background (see graph below). In fact less than about 20% of this cohort worked in the health care field prior to entrance. Degree Background 50 40 Students 30 20 10 0 BA/BS Degree: MA/MS Ph-D Degree: Degree: Series1 41 3 1 In reviewing these demographical statistics it is evident that the Program is fulfilling its first goal of providing Florida students greater access to physician assistant education. 2. Train students to serve South Florida s diverse population through a patientcentered curriculum that emphasizes medical and cultural competence. This Program goal will be measured by student performance on objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs), preceptor student evaluation reports, and graduate and employer surveys. We currently have our first class entering the clinical phase of the training as of January 2017, the data collected thus far is reported below. With no Program graduates, data cannot be reported for the graduate or employer surveys. 4 P age
Preceptor Student Evaluation Report: The program is also tracking and reporting after each rotation, preceptor evaluation of student competencies and readiness for clinical practice. Since the Program just started this phase of training January 2017, the data is limited. At the end of rotation number 1, students were judged to be performing well (>3.5 out of 4 point Likert scale) in most areas of assessment (chart below). From this early sampling the opportunities for improvement presented included 1) ability to formulate treatment plan, 2) readiness for full time clinical practice and 3) development of differential and final diagnosis. 3. Prepare students for lifelong learning in medicine with a level of didactic and clinical competence that provides successful entrance into the profession. The Programs achievement of this goal will be measured by tracking student pass rates on board and licensure examinations, as well as employer and graduate surveys. We currently have no students in these phases of the program; therefore, no data can be collected or reported at this time. 5 P age