Program Goals
Physician Assistant Education Department Goal Achievements
Medical Knowledge Goal: Physician Assistant Graduates must demonstrate medical knowledge by successful passage of the Summative Evaluation.
Benchmark (2024): ≥ 90% of the cohort will pass all the Summative evaluations: PAEA EOC, Summative OSCE, and Summative Technical Skills assessment on their first attempt.
| Criteria | 2024 Cohort | ||
| ≥ 90% of the cohort will pass all the Summative evaluations on their first attempt | End of Curriculum Exam (EOC) | Summative OSCE | Summative Technical Skills Assessment |
| 88.43% | 100% | 100% | |
Benchmark (2024)
Prepare PA students for the successful passage of the PANCE:
Benchmark (2024): PANCE Performance for first-time test takers be at or above the 90% percentile.
| Criteria | Cohort 2020 | Nat’l Ave. | Cohort 2021 | Nat’l Ave | Cohort 2022 | Nat’l Ave | Cohort 2023 | Nat’l Ave | Cohort 2024 | Nat’l Ave |
| PANCE Performance of 1st time test takers | 91% | 95% | 92% | 93% | 79% | 92% | 80% | 92% | 93% | 92% |
Student Graduation Survey: Graduates assessed the PA Didactic Courses as foundational experiences for student Clinical preparation.
Benchmark (2023): 90% of graduates surveyed should either agree or strongly agree that the PA courses provided foundational knowledge for clinical experiences.
The Physician Assistant Education program did not meet all its benchmarks in medical knowledge for the cohorts in 2024.
Interpersonal and Communication Skills: Demonstrate appropriate usage of interpersonal and communication skills with patients.
Benchmark (2024): ≥ 90% of the cohort will achieve 4/5 on the Interpersonal and Communication Skills rubric during the Summative OSCE.
| Criteria | 2024 Cohort |
| ≥ 90% of the cohort will achieve 4/5 on the Interpersonal and Communication Skills rubric during the Summative OSCE. | 100% |
Benchmark (2023):
Interpersonal communication skills: The cohort to average a minimum of 3.5/5 in interpersonal skills (communication) from the summative exam.
Communication Graduate Survey: How confident is the graduate in demonstrating interpersonal and communication skills. The cohort to average a minimum of 3.5/5.
| Criteria | 2020 cohort | 2021 cohort | 2022 cohort | 2023 cohort |
| Summative exam average Likert Score for communication and interpersonal skills. | 4.08 | 4.54 | 4.75 average | 4.8 average |
| Graduate Survey average percent confident in interpersonal and communication skills | 3.80 | 4.03 | 4.16 | 4.17 |
The Physician Assistant program has met its benchmarks for the 2024 cohort.
Clinical and Technical Skills: To show adequate knowledge in clinical and technical stills, ≥ 90% of the cohort will pass the Summative OSCE & the Summative Technical Skills assessment on their first attempt
Benchmark (2024): ≥ 90% of the cohort will pass the Summative OSCE & the Summative Technical Skills assessment on their first attempt.
| Criteria | 2024 Cohort | |
| ≥ 90% of the cohort will pass the Summative OSCE & the Summative Technical Skills assessment on their first attempt | Summative OSCE | Summative Technical Skills Assessment |
| 100% | 100% | |
Benchmark (2023):
All Students should earn passing grades in the Supervised Clinical Practice Experience (SCPE).
Benchmark: Less than 10% of the students in a cohort will earn rotation grades of C or Less.
Benchmark: Less than 10% of the students in a cohort will earn a grade of C or less in Senior Seminar III.
| Criteria | 2020 cohort | 2021 cohort | 2022 cohort | 2023 cohort |
| Percentage of students earning grades of C or less in rotations | 8.4% | 4.4% | 7.4% | 3.3% |
| Percentage of cohort students earning grade of C or less in Senior Seminar III | 13.8% | 24.2% | 50.5% | 18.7% |
The Physician Assistant program has met its benchmark for the 2024 cohort.
Professional Behavior Goals: Physician Assistant cohorts must demonstrate professionalism with patients.
Benchmark (2024): ≥ 90% of the cohort will achieve 4/5 on the Professional Behavior rubric during the Summative OSCE.
| Criteria | 2024 Cohort |
| ≥ 90% of the cohort will achieve 4/5 on the Professional Behavior rubric during the Summative OSCE. | 100% |
Benchmark (2023):
Benchmark: The cohort of students must average a professionalism Likert score of 3.5/5.0 during a mock examination.
Benchmark: The cohort of students must average a professionalism Likert score of 3.5 / 5.0 in their preceptor rotation evaluations.
| Criteria | 2020 cohort | 2021 cohort | 2022 cohort | 2023 cohort |
| Summative Exam – averaged mock examination cohort scores for professionalism | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.9 |
| Preceptor Evaluations: Averaged professional ratings of a cohort of students. | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.9 |
The Physician Assistant program has met its benchmark for the 2024 cohort.
Clinical Reasoning and Problem-solving Skills: Physician Assistant cohorts must demonstrate critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Benchmark (2024): ≥ 90% of the cohort will pass the PAEA EOC and the Summative OSCE on their first attempt.
| Criteria | 2024 Cohort | |
| ≥ 90% of the cohort will pass the PAEA EOC and the Summative OSCE on their first attempt. | End of Curriculum Exam (EOC) | Summative Technical Skills Assessment |
| 88.43% | 100% | |
Benchmark (2023):
Students must demonstrate critical thinking when deriving a diagnosis in their summative OSCE/POP.
Benchmark: The cohort of students must average a Likert score of 3.5/5.0 during a mock examination where a five represents the appropriate diagnoses, a three represents a possible differential diagnosis, and a one represents an incorrect diagnosis.
Graduate Survey: The graduate assesses the extent to which critical thinking skills learned in the program assist in decision-making in their daily practice.
Benchmark: The cohort of graduates must average a Likert score of 3.5 / 5.0 in this assessment of critical thinking.
| Criteria | 2020 cohort | 2021 cohort | 2022 cohort | 2023 cohort |
| Summative POP – averaged mock examination deriving a correct diagnosis | – | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.9 |
| Graduate surveys: Averaged professional ratings of a cohort of students. | 3.51 | 4.06 | 3.89 | 3.97 |
The Physician Assistant Education program did not meet all its benchmarks in medical knowledge for the 2024 cohort.
From the Physician Assistant Alumni:
- 1 became a California Academy of Physician Assistants (CAPA) President
- 2 became California elected CAPA Student Representative Board Member
- 3 became CAPA elected Board members
- 1 became a Florida State PA Academy President
- 1 became a member of the California Physician Assistant Committee
From the Physician Assistant Faculty:
- 2 became CAPA presidents
- 1 became CAPA vice president
- 4 became CAPA board members
- 5 became involved in various AAPA committees or subcommittees
- 8 have presented CME lectures or workshops at AAPA, CAPA or PAEA
(2003-present)
(1990-2003)
