Mission

The Physician Assistant Program at South University exists to educate a diverse student population as mid-level providers of high-quality, cost-efficient health care who will make a positive difference while practicing the art and science of medicine with physician direction.

VISION STATEMENT
The South University Physician Assistant Program strives to provide educational experiences where faculty, staff, clinical instructors, students, and other healthcare providers work together in an atmosphere of mutual respect, cooperation, and commitment. The Physician Assistant Program focus is on the continuous operation of a quality physician assistant educational program which will prepare graduates to participate in clinical leadership roles in an emerging healthcare system reform. The program encourages lifelong learning skills with proficiency in critical thinking and creative problem solving using research skills gained through innovative approaches.

EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
Physician assistants are health professionals licensed to practice medicine with physician supervision. Physician assistants are qualified by graduation from an accredited physician assistant educational program and/or certification by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants Inc. Within the physician/physician assistant relationship, physician assistants exercise autonomy in medical decision-making and provide a broad range of diagnostic and therapeutic services. The variety of roles varies across markets, regions, and care delivery organizations, however, physician assistant education, frequently termed a “condensed version of medical school” is generally the same regardless of degree level.

The Clinical Role of Physician Assistants Act, which presents one of the most concise explanations providing for the utilization of the PA, is reflective of the Physician Assistant Program’s educational philosophy. The Physician Assistant Program, which offers two degree levels, believes that as managed care creates new mechanisms for the delivery of health services, it will inevitably alter the role and function of health professionals. South University believes that it must continue to emphasize the centrality of primary care, teach the skills associated with providing population based care, emphasize the need for accountability at all levels, teach students how to gather and use information to assure value, emphasize the interdependence among health and human service professions, and teach students about the linkages between healthcare delivery and finance.

PROGRAM GOALS
The PA curriculum is closely related to the purpose and goals of the institution as well as to the degree. The program promotes critical thinking and lifelong learning through varied academic and clinical experiences to provide students with the expertise and work ethic required to achieve personal and professional fulfillment.

Throughout the evolution of the South University Physician Assistant Program its goals have remained constant:

• to recruit, select, and educate a highly qualified diverse student population and provide fair and equitable admission criteria;
• maintain a primary care oriented didactic and clinical educational program which graduates competent physician assistants who reflect the highest standards of legal, ethical and moral conduct;
• to incorporate innovative approaches to interdisciplinary didactic and clinical education which prepare physician assistants to be integrated into the healthcare team;
• to prepare professional healthcare providers within the physician assistant profession who will possess depth of knowledge, clinical reasoning, skill, and an investigative attitude toward research, education and leadership; to provide physician assistant practitioners with multidisciplinary healthcare management skills and knowledge commensurate with the expanding need for healthcare services;
• to provide students with a variety of clinical educational settings, which includes hospitals, nursing home/long-term care facilities, rehabilitation facilities, outpatient clinics, private practices, and acute care facilities;
• to prepare physician assistant students to communicate effectively and promote self-directed learning, and to encourage physician assistant students to recognize their own strengths, limitations and to interpret for others the scope and function of a physician assistant.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES /FUNCTIONS AND TASKS
By completion of the program, each student must be able to demonstrate unequivocally that he/she has an appropriate level of competence in evaluation, monitoring, diagnostics, therapeutics, counseling and referral.

EVALUATION:
Initially approaching a patient of any age group in any setting to elicit a detailed and accurate history, perform an appropriate physical examination, delineate problems, and record and present data.

MONITORING:
Assisting the physician in conducting rounds in acute and long term inpatient care settings, developing and implementing patient management plans, recording progress notes and assisting in the provision of continuity of care in office-based and other ambulatory care settings.

DIAGNOSTICS:
Performing and/or interpreting at least to the point of recognizing deviations from the norm, common laboratory, radiologic, cardiographic, and other routine diagnostic procedures used to identify pathophysiologic processes.

THERAPEUTICS:
Performing routine procedures such as injections, immunizations, suturing and wound care, managing simple conditions produced by infection or trauma, assisting in the management of more complex illness and injury, which may include assisting surgeons in the conduct of operations and taking initiative in performing evaluation and therapeutic procedures in response to life-threatening situations.

COUNSELING:
Instruction and counseling patients regarding compliance with prescribed therapeutic regimens, normal growth and development, family planning, emotional problems of daily living and health maintenance.

REFERRAL:
Facilitating the referral of patients to the community’s health and social service agencies when appropriate.

To provide these services in a compassionate, competent, and efficient manner as members of the “health care team,” students in the Physician Assistant Program will achieve the following performance functions and tasks by the time of graduation. The functions and tasks associated with those functions are:

• History Taking
• Physical Examination
• Diagnostic Skills
• Differential Diagnosis
• Therapeutic Skills
• Emergency Skills
• Communication
• Professionalism
• Referral Skills