10 days until a break

Elon PA students are well into Module II, and by the time May 25 rolls around (aka the beginning of a much deserved break), they will have completed coursework in Cardiovascular, Gastrointestinal, and Nutrition. When they return in early June, they’ll complete the second half of Module II – courses in Neurology and Musculoskeletal. Throughout the entire curriculum, they are enrolled in Continued Learning and Competency Development courses.

The faculty strategically scheduled the break for the end of May so that students had the option to attend AAPA’s Annual Physician Assistant Conference in Washington DC. Many of our students are student members of AAPA. Some will attend the conference, while others plan to visit family and friends, or take advantage of the beautiful weather this time of year. Whatever they plan to do, they will be out of the classroom and will return recharged and ready to go!

Off to a great start!

The 2^nd floor halls of the Francis Center are now full of life, students, and an awful lot of medical knowledge. The 38 students who enrolled in Elon’s PA program this past January represent 10 different states and have health care hours averaging about 2,500 each. Their health care experience varies, such as EMT, athletic training, eye clinics, dentist offices, counseling/mental health, CNA/nursing and more.

In about 5 months’ time, Elon’s charter PA class has already completed the first module of coursework, ranging from introductory courses to HEENT, infectious disease, endocrinology, hematology, and pulmonary. (See the full course schedule). Module 2 opened with Cardiovascular on April 17.

Because Elon’s curriculum is systems-based, students spend time not only in a lecture setting, but also in small group rooms, the anatomy lab, fresh tissue lab, and clinical skills lab on a regular basis. They also spend a fair amount of time in the computer lab taking exams just about every week. Although the program keeps them very busy, they usually have a smile on their faces and always make the time to chat with prospective students when we walk by on a facility tour. (I’m sure Dr. Ragan’s homemade cookies help keep folks motivated.) What a great group to pave the way for Elon’s PA program!

‘Tis the season- for travel

It’s hard to believe we’re already in October– where does the time go? This time of year is perfect not only for pumpkin lattes and apple cider, but also for visiting some local colleges   & universities. Check out our schedule and see if we’ll be near you soon:

NC State Graduate Fair, Thursday 10/11 from 5:30pm-7:30pm (McKimmon Center)
UNC-Chapel Hill Graduate Fair, Tuesday 10/23 from 1pm-4pm (Great Hall)
Wofford Graduate School Fair, Tuesday 10/23 from 11am-2pm (Great Oaks Hall)
Elon Graduate Fair, Wednesday 10/23 from 11am-2pm (Moseley)
Furman Graduate Fair, Wednesday 10/23 from 12pm-3pm (Hartness Pavilion)
North Carolina A&T Graduate Fair, Wednesday 11/7 (TBD)

We hope to see you soon!

New faculty are here!

We have been counting down the days for this week to arrive- and it’s finally here! We welcomed four new faculty members to the program:  Cindy Bennett, Tracey Brownback, Alexis Moore, and Melissa Murfin. Together, they bring additional expertise anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, pharmacotherapeutics, and the use of patient simulation and standardized patients.

The 8 principal faculty (including the new members) have a combined 35 years of full-time PA education teaching experience and 60+ years of full-time clinical experience representing all four primary care disciplines and additional clinical subspecialty experience.

They are going through orientation and already starting to prepare for the arrival of the charter class, enrolling January 2013. It’s great to have the full team here – now we continue the countdown for students to enroll.

Is it January yet??

I can’t tell you how ready the Elon PA program faculty and staff are to have the first class enroll! Every time I go by the Francis Center (which is almost daily), at least one faculty or staff member says how quiet it is up on the second floor and how they look forward to the hustle and bustle (and excitement!) students will bring. For them, January is a long way away.

However, over the next couple of months, there will be some new faces around Elon’s School of Health Sciences. The PA program will welcome 2 new staff members and 4 additional full-time faculty members to round out the full program staff. One staff member will serve as the Program Assistant, providing support to the clinical aspect of the program. The other new staff member will serve as the Client and Simulated Patient Coordinator, splitting her time between the PA and DPT programs. Keep an eye on the faculty & staff page – we will add their pictures & information when they start!

For now, it looks like we will have to make do with quiet hallways!

GRE Score Select Option

Beginning July 2, 2012, GRE test-takers will be able to choose which GRE scores to send to institutions. (Read more about this new ScoreSelect option on the GRE website.) What does this mean for you? If you take the exam and feel that the results don’t represent your best abilities, you don’t have to report those scores.

Additionally beginning July 2, test-takers will no longer be required to wait 60 days before taking the test again. Candidates can take the test again after only a 30 day period, but no more than 5 times within any continuous 12-month period.

Finally, keep an eye on the GRE website next month for new study materials to prepare for the revised GRE. Best of luck to those of you preparing for the GRE!

Accreditation Update

Earlier this month, the Elon PA program hosted the ARC-PA (Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc.) site visit team for our initial provisional accreditation visit. Per the ARC-PA website, Provisional Accreditation is an accreditation status granted by the ARC-PA for a limited, defined period of time (3 years) to a new PA program that has demonstrated its preparedness to initiate a program in accordance with the Accreditation Standards for Physician Assistant Education. The goals of the site visit are:

• to study the PA program in relation to its compliance with the Standards.
• to make on-site observations and verify, validate, and clarify the information and data provided by the program to the ARC-PA.
• to incorporate the team’s findings and conclusions into a written report and to transmit the report to the ARC-PA. The report of the site visit team is compiled on the basis of its observations of the program, interviews with those involved in the site visit, information supplied to the site visit team by the program director and other officials, and information supplied by the ARC-PA.

The team spent 2 days at Elon meeting with various stakeholders for the program- the program director, PA faculty and staff, members of the feasibility study committee, admissions office, and senior administrative staff for the university. The team reviewed all aspects of the program, including the feasibility study, program objectives, curriculum, clinical rotations, and more.

In true Elon fashion, we were well-prepared for the site visit. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Elon PA accreditation application was submitted early and we hosted a mock site visitor in March for additional preparation.

So what happens now? The PA program will receive a follow up report from ARC-PA with a summary of the findings, and will then have the opportunity to clarify any of the findings if necessary. ARC-PA will vote on Elon’s provisional accreditation status at their upcoming meeting in September 2012.

Until then, the program continues laying the foundation for our incoming class, and the new admissions cycle has opened. There’s never a dull moment at Elon!

 

**Elon University is developing its physician assistant studies curriculum and scheduled for review for provisional accreditation by the ARC-PA during their September 2012 meeting. Students will not be enrolled until ARC-PA provisional accreditation is secured.**