Morehouse School of Medicine Physician Assistant Program

Mission and Program Goals

Mission

The mission of the Morehouse School of Medicine Physician Assistant Program is to lead the creation and advancement of health equity by empowering and educating the next generation of physician assistants to achieve academic, personal, and professional success and become committed life-long learners who will provide compassionate, high quality, patient-centered care to meet the primary health care needs of the urban and rural underserved populations in Georgia and the nation. 

Values

The Values of the Morehouse School of Medicine Physician Assistant Program are:

  • Integrity
  • Wisdom
  • Knowledge
  • Excellence
  • Innovation
  • Service
  • Compassion
  • Leadership
  • Professionalism

Due to the developing nature of our program and insufficient longevity of data collection, our program is still in the refinement process for measuring goal achievement. We are committed to continually improving our data sources and analyses to measure effectiveness in attaining our program-specific goals.

Goals

The goals and achievements of the Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) Physician Assistant (PA) Program are listed below:

  1.  Foster an environment that ensures our education, research, and service initiatives address the primary healthcare needs of the underserved rural and urban communities across Georgia.  

     This goal contains three main actions supported by the data below:

  • Education
    • Graduates of the MSM PA Program rated their confidence in MSM PA competencies across nine domains as an average of 4.17 out of 5. The nine domains include patient care, knowledge of practice, practice-based learning improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, systems-based practice, interprofessional collaboration, personal and professional development, and social accountability in medicine. (Benchmark >3.5 on a 5.0-point Likert scale for student perception of all competency domains on End of Program survey. Meeting benchmark for 2021 and 2022 cohorts)
    • Faculty rate the curriculum for both didactic and clinical years as above average in preparing students to enter practice in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, emergency medicine, behavioral medicine, and women's health. (Benchmark: >3.5 on a 5.0-point Likert scale for questions about the effectiveness of didactic and clinical phases in providing students the knowledge and skills necessary for entry-level practice in varying fields of medicine on the Faculty and Staff Curriculum Survey. Meeting benchmark for 2021 and 2022 cohorts.)
    • 100% of students achieve greater than or equal to 70% on all core end-of-rotation exams (Benchmark: All students must achieve 70% to pass clerkship. Meeting benchmark for 2021 and 2022 cohorts)
  • Research
    • Student Capstone projects are completed in groups with a planned focus on one of the following: family health, pediatrics, women's health, or rural health. Past topics include:
      • Assessing the effects of social media as a tool for teaching and implementing healthy lifestyles and behaviors in children combating obesity
      • Talking Dirty to Prevent STIs: Identifying Poor Communication and Condom Negotiating Strategies as a Risk Factor for STI Transmission in the African American Community
    • Students have yet to present their capstone projects. (Benchmark: 50% of students would be selected to participate in the annual MSM Research Symposium. Not meeting the benchmark for 2021 and 2022 cohorts.)
  • Service
    • 48% of matriculated students chose Georgia as their state of residence
      • 72% of matriculated students identify Georgia or a state bordering Georgia as state of residence (No benchmark has been established)
    • 91% of respondents to a graduate survey indicated they were employed in Georgia (No benchmark has been established)
    • 34% of respondents are working in primary care (Internal medicine or Family Practice) (Benchmark: 20% of graduates in primary care (PC) settings. Meeting benchmark for 2021 cohort).
    • 58% of respondents to a graduate survey are working or have worked in a Medically Underserved Area (MUA) (Benchmark: 30% in Medically Underserved Area (MUA). Meeting benchmark for 2021 cohort.)
    • 33% of respondents to a graduate survey are working or have worked in a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) (Benchmark: 30% in Healthcare Provider Shortage Area (HPSA). Meeting benchmark for 2021 cohort.)
    • An increasing percentage of MSM PA students are volunteering with the HEAL Clinic, initially with 21% of the Class of 2021 volunteering, on average 12 hours per participating student to 46% of the Class of 2023 volunteering, on average 15 hours per volunteer. (No benchmark has been established.) 
    • All students completed the Medicine & Society Course series with an average grade of 95.7%. This course series includes service initiatives as well as the elements of the capstone project. (Benchmark: All students must pass with a grade of 70% or greater.  Meeting benchmark for 2021, 2022, and 2023 cohorts). 
  1.  Engage learners in opportunities to explore transformational models of care for vulnerable populations that advance health equity. 
  • 100% of students complete a capstone research project focusing on family health, pediatrics, women’s health or rural health. (Benchmark: All students must complete a capstone. Meeting benchmark for 2021 and 2022 cohorts.)
  • 100% of students participate in community service, including
    • PAs in the Park
    • Grady Senior Services Outreach (Benchmark: 100% of students must successfully complete the Medicine & Society course series and obtain a passing grade (>70%) in all courses. This series includes a Community-Oriented Primary Care Project. Meeting benchmark for 2021 and 2022 cohorts).
  • All students complete Medicine & Society Course Series, which includes the Community-Oriented Primary Care Project.
    • The Community-Oriented Primary Care (COPC) Project is a culminating community engagement group assignment designed to demonstrate the application of steps and principles of community-oriented primary care (COPC). The students will conduct community health needs assessment projects that teach social determinants of health and generate evidence-based health promotion intervention in response to health-related issues that inform clinical practice. (Benchmark: 100% of students must complete Medicine & Society course series and obtain a passing grade (>70%) in all courses. This series includes a Community-Oriented Primary Care Project. Meeting benchmark for 2021 and 2022 cohorts).
  • Students who have completed the program rated achievement in Domain 9: Social Accountability in the Practice of Medicine as 4.23. (Benchmark >3.5 on a 5.0-point Likert scale for student perception of all competency domains on End of Program survey. Meeting benchmark for 2021 and 2022 cohorts)
  1.  Recruit, educate, retain, and graduate learners from underrepresented groups in the medical profession to increase the diversity of the Physician Assistant workforce.
  • Recruit and Retain
    • 71% of matriculated students to the MSM PA program identified as Black or African American.
      • Nationally, PA programs report 2.7% of students identify as Black or African American1
    • 3% of matriculated students to the MSM PA program identified as Hispanic or Latino.
      • Nationally, PA programs report 4.8% of students identify as Hispanic, Latino or Spanish in orgin1
    • 6% of matriculated students identified as more than one race.
      • Nationally, PA programs report 3.2% of students identify as Multiracial1(Benchmark: The program will achieve greater than the national average for recruitment and matriculation of students from underrepresented groups in the medical profession. Meeting benchmark for students identifying as Black or African American, as well as students identifying as more than one race. Not meeting benchmark for students identifying as Hispanic or Latino for matriculated program for 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 cohorts).
  • The average cohort attrition rate for the MSM PA program is 5.5% (Benchmark: The program will have a student attrition rate of <5%. Not meeting benchmark for 2021 and 2022 cohorts).
  • Educate and Graduate
    • 84% PANCE pass rate for MSM PA Program Class of 2021
    • 90% PANCE pass rate for MSM PA Program Class of 2022 (Benchmark: All-time PANCE pass rate of 95% or higher for all graduates. Not meeting benchmark for 2021 and 2022 cohorts).
    • 100% of employers who responded reported that 2021 MSM graduates were at or above expectations in the following areas: (Benchmark: All new graduate PA-C employees from the program will achieve at or above employer expectations from Employer Survey. Meeting benchmark for 2021)
      • history taking skills
      • physical exam skills
      • ability to make a differential diagnosis
      • appropriate knowledge of pharmacology
      • appropriate use of medications
      • appropriate use of referrals
      • appropriate use of prevention strategies
      • effective counseling and/or education of patients and their family
      • critical thinking
      • Appropriate coding
      • Communication with colleagues
      • Knowledge of commercial insurance/Medicare/Medicaid regulations
      • Professionalism
  • Graduating students perceived the program to be achieving competency across all nine domains with an average rating of 4.16 (Benchmark >3.5 on a 5.0-point Likert scale for student perception of all competency domains on End of Program survey. Meeting benchmark for 2021 and 2022 cohorts)
  • Graduating students rated diversity of faculty, diversity of student body, and program mission consistent with personal values as reason they chose to attend the MSM PA program with an average rating of 4.25. (Benchmark >3.5 on a 5.0-point Likert scale on End of Program survey. Meeting benchmark for 2021 and 2022 cohorts)
  1.  Create a learning environment that promotes collaboration among interprofessional teams to ensure efficient, effective, and equitable patient-centered care.
  • Students in the Class of 2021 received an average competency rating of 3.4 out of 4 on preceptor evaluation questions related to interprofessional competencies across all rotations. (Benchmark: All graduating students achieving a 3 or “competent” (on a 4.0-point Dreyfus scale) level for interprofessional evaluation items on the Preceptor Evaluation of Students. Did not meet the benchmark for 2021 cohort. Meeting the benchmark for 2022 cohort).
  • 100% of MSM PA Program students participated in an Interprofessional Experience with University of Georgia physical therapy students
    • On a survey conducted after the session, students rated positive statements about learning, communication, and teamwork with an average of 4.91. (Benchmark: >3.5 on 5.0-point Likert scale for student rating of agreement about the efficacy of Interprofessional Experience (IPE). Meeting benchmark for 2021 and 2022 cohorts).
  • Students who have completed the program rated achievement in Domain 7: Interprofessional Collaboration as 4.02. (Benchmark >3.5 on a 5.0-point Likert scale for student perception of all competency domains on End of Program survey. Meeting benchmark for 2021 and 2022 cohorts)
  • Students who have completed the program rated agreement with statements about interprofessional experience helping them better understand healthcare roles as 4.12. (Benchmark >3.5 on a 5.0-point Likert scale on End of Program survey. Meeting benchmark for 2021 and 2022 cohorts)
  1.  Cultivate effective leadership skills that empower learners to identify and address priority local, regional, and global health concerns.
  • 100% of students complete leadership modules as part of the PALs Grant, which include topics such as transformative leadership and high-performing teams.
    • Students agreed the modules taught them something new about leadership in medical practice, teaching how to advocate for patients and increase understanding of health policy (Rated an average of 4.40 out of 5 in agreement) (Benchmark: >3.5 on 5.0-point Likert scale for student agreement about statements related to leadership module effectiveness as part of PALS Curriculum. Meeting benchmark for cohorts of 2022 and 2023 cohorts) 
  • 17% of students in the 2021 cohort who responded to the graduate survey noted they were currently or previously engaged in a leadership role. (No benchmark established).
  1.  Support faculty development and engagement in teaching, scholarship, and service.
  • 79% of respondents to a faculty and staff survey had attended PAEA Forum 2022. (No benchmark established).
  • 69% of faculty and staff noted they felt supported by the program for professional development through release time. (No benchmark established).
  • 62% of faculty and staff noted they felt supported by the program for professional development through funding. (No benchmark established).
  • Faculty rated agreement with the statement that new faculty mentorship is adequate at 3.47. (Benchmark: >3.5 on a 5.0-point Likert scale for faculty perception of institutional support on Faculty and Staff Curriculum Survey. Not meeting the benchmark for years 2020, 2021. Met benchmark for 2022.)
  • Faculty rated agreement with the statement that there is a good balance of teaching, service, and research at 2.8. (Benchmark: >3.5 on 5.0-point Likert scale for faculty perception of institutional support on Faculty and Staff Program Resources & Effectiveness Survey. Not meeting benchmark for 2022.)

1 Physician Assistant Education Association, By the Numbers: Program Report 35: Data from the 2019 Program Survey, Washington, DC: PAEA; 2020. doi: 10.17538/PR35.2020