Program Goals

After completion of the 28-month program, the PA will be able to perform tasks of health care management presently performed by the primary care physician, thereby allowing the physician greater freedom and time for more complicated medical problems. The PA will act in a professional manner, practice good interpersonal and communication skills, teach and counsel effectively, organize and integrate appropriate patient data, be sensitive to the effects of illness on the patient and family, and, at all times, demonstrate an awareness of situations that require reference to the supervising physician.

Goal 1

Recruit and retain qualified learners while completing medical education as a physician assistant.

Throughout the University of Iowa's Physician Assistant Program history, students have been heavily integrated into the Carver College of Medicine's medical education, taking the same courses and graded on the same scale as medical students. The success of this program is through attracting and recruiting highly qualified applicants that will be able to handle the rigor of this type of teaching format.

Each year, interviews with approximately 120 applicants are conducted for the 25 seats available. Our data, along with our graduation and PANCE pass rates, indicate that we recruit highly qualified applicants.

Class Enrolled Ratio of App/Enroll % Female Mean Age Cum GPA/Sem Hours Sci GPA/Sem Hours GREs Verb/Quant/Anal/Total Hours HCE Hours Res
2019-2020 27.7:1 60.0 23.0 3.78/141 3.75/81 158/159/4.5 3,332 976
2020-2021 27.4:1 64.0 26.0 3.76/151 3.71/87 158/158/4.6 3,468 2,491
2021-2022 31.0:1 52.0 25.0 3.79/134 3.75/77 158/158/4.4 3,004 938
2022-2023 26.6:1 56.0 27.0 3.79/153 3.79/87 159/159/4.6 4,388 342
2023-2024 26.8:1 68.0 24.0 3.85/127 3.80/71 156/157/4.6 2,438 453
5 Year Mean 27.9:1 60.0 25.0 3.79/141 3.76/81 158/158/4.5 3,326 1,040

 

The PA Program works very hard at helping those admitted to the program to be successful and graduate. An indicator of this is over the last five years greater than 99% of all enrolled students graduated from the program. This compares significantly better than the national average of 92.9% from the PAEA Program Report #34. This demonstrates that the program selects students that will perform well in this educational program.

Our program has an overall attrition rate of 1.1% for the three classes listed below.

 

*Attrition rate calculation: Number of students who attritted from cohort divided by the entering class size.

**Graduation rate: Number of cohort graduates divided by the entering class size.

Goal 2

Provide an academic program that allows graduates to attain the essential knowledge for entry level practice as a competent, collaborative clinician.

As noted in Goal #1, the University of Iowa PA Program has been heavily integrated within the Carver College of Medicine's medical education which provides essential knowledge and a strong emphasis on collaborative practice through its interprofessional education activities. This education provides the foundation for our students to successfully pass the End of Rotation examinations provided by the Physician Assistant Education Association, as demonstrated in the table below.

 

Goal 3

Educate graduates to practice in rural or underserved communities.

The University of Iowa PA program has a long history of educating PAs to practice in all settings within healthcare. One area of emphasis has been to provide care to those in underserved or rural locations. To achieve this goal, the program places 100% of students in an underserved or rural setting, with the desire that this will foster an interest in this type of healthcare practice. As demonstrated in the table below, the program achieves their goal through both the strength of their didactic training (modeled in goal #2), and through placement in these settings (noted below).

 

Goal 4

Develop faculty and staff members who participate in teaching, service, and scholarship.

The University of Iowa PA Program fosters a culture of leadership by example of its faculty and staff. This goal is achieved and noted in the lengthy accomplishments of its faculty and staff.

National Leadership Organizations
  • Vice Chair, Federal Advisory Committee on Training in Primary Care Medicine and Dentistry
  • IOM Committee Member
  • APAP President
  • PAEA President
  • Chair, ARC-PA Commission
  • Journal Physician Assistant Education Association, Editor
  • Chair, Governance Committee, PAEA
  • Chair, Clinical Education Committee, PAEA
  • Chair, Data and Research, PAEA
  • Conference Curriculum Committee, PAEA
  • Research Institute, PAEA
  • Leadership Development and Recruitment, PAEA
  • Finance Committee, PAEA
  • CASPA Liaison, PAEA
  • NCCPA Liaison, PAEA
  • Chair, Awards Committee, AAPA
  • JAAPA Department Editor, AAPA
  • Clinical and Health Affairs Commission, AAPA
  • Education Council, AAPA
  • Strategic Planning Committee, AAPA
  • House of Delegates Representative, AAPA
State Organizations
  • Iowa PA Society President
  • Board of Physician Assistant Examiners for the State of Iowa
  • Iowa PA Society Director at large
  • Chair, Iowa PA Society Fall CME meeting
  • Member, Iowa PA Society Fall CME meeting
Articles Published
  • 121 in National Publications
  • 66 in Book Chapters