Mission Statement

Mission Statement

The South University Physician Assistant (MS) program exists to educate a diverse student population as 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 Master of Science in Physician Assistant (PA) degree program strives to provide educational experiences where faculty, staff, clinical instructors, students, and other health care providers work together in an atmosphere of mutual respect, cooperation, and commitment. The program's focus is on the continuous operation of a quality PA educational program and is designed to prepare graduates to seek employment in clinical leadership roles in an evolving health care system. The program encourages lifelong learning skills with proficiency in critical thinking, creative problem solving, and information literacy.

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 health care team;
• To prepare professional health care 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 health care management skills and knowledge commensurate with the expanding need for healthcare services;
• To provide students with a variety of clinical educational settings which include 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 and 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; and 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

Instructing 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