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About the Program
Discover the mission, vision and goals of the physician assistant program.
318 Everett L. Marshall Building
Ypsilanti, Michigan 48197
734.487.0090
The EMU PA program is a 24-month, full-time, year-round graduate professional program leading to a master's of science in physician assistant studies. The EMU PA faculty and staff, with input from the PA Advisory Board, developed and continues to review/assess the following mission, vision and goals to serve as the basis for the program.
The Eastern Michigan University physician assistant program mission is to identify, train and support a diverse population of graduate students to become highly respected ambassadors of the profession and extraordinary health care providers with a strong foundation in primary care medicine and interdisciplinary practice.
Our physician assistant program is dedicated to teaching students the science and art of medicine. Our clinically-focused curriculum will promote critical thinking and patient-centered problem solving. We are committed to producing graduates who will master the skills required to competently and compassionately practice preventive and diagnostic medicine, and foster the interpersonal and collaborative attributes necessary to become exemplary medical providers.
The Eastern Michigan University physician assistant program embraces and supports the Competencies for the Physician Assistant Profession [PDF] as developed jointly by the National Commission on Accreditation of Physician Assistants, the Accreditation Review Commission for Education of the Physician Assistant, the Physician Assistant Education Association and the American Academy of Physician Assistants. The competency areas serve as headings throughout our PA Program course syllabi; however, we recognize that graduates of the program may not fully possess all of the competencies immediately upon graduation.
The EMU PA program has set forth additional goals aligning with the program mission and vision, along with those of our school, college and university. The goals and the methods used to evaluate our ability to meet them, are as follows:
Program faculty provide a wealth of relevant clinical practice experience across a variety of clinical specialty areas.
Program graduates demonstrate high levels of medical knowledge and effectively apply that knowledge to patient care.
Program graduates demonstrate diversity in practice and discipline.
Program graduates provide healthcare to patients in Michigan.
Below are data from EMU PA students' Physician Assistant National Certifying Exams (PANCE) and attrition.
To become a certified physician assistant (PA-C), one must pass the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE), a computer-based, multiple-choice test comprising questions that assess basic medical and surgical knowledge. The PANCE is provided by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants and is the only certifying organization for PAs in the United States.
To be eligible for the PANCE, one must graduate from a program accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant. PA program graduates will be deemed to have graduated from an accredited program if their PA educational program was accredited at the time of their matriculation.
The Eastern Michigan University PA Program has graduated five cohorts, with a combined first-time PANCE pass rate of 98%.
View the PANCE results [PDF].
Class of 2020 | Class of 2019 | Class of 2018 | |
---|---|---|---|
Maximum Entering Class Size (as approved by ARC-PA) | 30 | 30 | 30 |
Entering class size | 30 | 30 | 30 |
Graduates | 30 | 30 | 25 |
* Attrition rate | 0 | 0 | 0.17 |
** Graduation rate | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.83 |
* 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.
Below are highlights from the CASPA applications of each cohort of EMU PA students.
Discover the mission, vision and goals of the physician assistant program.