Physician Assistant Studies

The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) has granted Accreditation-Continued status to the University of North Texas Health Science Center Physician Assistant Program sponsored by the University of North Texas Health Science Center. Accreditation-Continued is an accreditation status granted when a currently accredited program is in compliance with the ARC-PA Standards.

Accreditation remains in effect until the program closes or withdraws from accreditation process or until accreditation is withdrawn for failure to comply with the Standards.  The approximate date for the next validation review of the program by the ARC-PA will be September, 2024.  The review date is contingent upon continued compliance with the Accreditation Standards and ARC-PA policy. The UNTHSC program's Accreditation Actions History can be accessed on the ARC-PA website. 

Forty-eight states and The District of Columbia Physician Assistant and/or Medical Licensure Boards recognize the Masters of Physician Assistant Studies Degree from an Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) accredited physician assistant program as fulfilling the academic requirements for PA  licensure. Minnesota and North Dakota do not require the degree, but do require passage of the PA National Certification Examination (PANCE) produced by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA).  Applicants must graduate from an ARC-PA approved PA program to be eligible to take the PANCE. The ARC-PA, maintains national accreditation standards for physician assistant programs. The UNTHSC PA program is ARC-PA accredited and program graduates are eligible to take the PA National Certification Examination after successfully completing the program.

The mission of the Program is to create solutions for a healthier community by preparing graduates with knowledge and skills needed for physician assistant practice, emphasizing primary care medicine and meeting the healthcare needs of underserved populations.

Goal 1: Graduates will have acceptable mean scores on the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE)

INDICATOR:  UNTHSC mean scores for first-time test takers on the PANCE content areas will be at or above the national mean.  This criterion was chosen because the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) requires programs to display their PANCE pass rates along with the national average pass rate on the PA program website. The ARC-PA sees the national average as a relevant benchmark and the faculty members agree.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND RESULTS:

Goal 2:  Graduates will report acceptable percent employment rates in Physician Assistant practice

INDICATOR:  Percentage for graduates’ employment in PA practice ≥ 85%.  This criterion was chosen based on employment rates of earlier classes and agreement among the faculty that 85% should be employed within the first year of graduation and employment rates show the marketability of our trained PAs.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND RESULTS:

Goal 3: Graduating students will have acceptable mean scores on the PAEA end-of-rotation exams

INDICATOR: Mean score for each exam for first-time test takers on end-of-rotation exams ≥ 80 (100-pt scale). The Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) has End of Rotation™ exams that cover the 7 core supervised clinical practice experiences of physician assistant education, which were created by PA educators and exam experts specifically for use by PA programs. The criterion of a mean of 80 on tests was chosen by PA faculty because the mean scores for all students from all programs (as reported on the ER Exam website) tend to be lower (around 73 to 76) and we want our students to exceed that.  In addition, research has shown that scores on the End-of-Rotation exams are significantly correlated to scores on the PANCE licensing exam so this is a good indicator of areas of student strengths and weaknesses for the PANCE.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND RESULTS:

Goal 4: Preceptors will report acceptable mean scores for students in the clinical phase in the areas of knowledge, skills, communication, and professionalism. 

INDICATOR:  Mean scores for preceptor ratings of students on each item ≥ 3.5 (4-point scale).  This criterion was chosen because they represent key areas of the PAS published Expected Graduate Competencies. The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc (ARC-PA), requires preceptors to rate students in clinical experiences and these measures were chosen by the faculty to represent student readiness for rotations. In addition, these scores combine to make up 50% of students’ course grade for each rotation and allow clinical faculty to assess student strengths and weaknesses by rotation.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND RESULTS:

Goal 5: Graduating students will report acceptable mean scores for the program (Items are “quality of education,” “preparation for work as PA,” and “recommend program”)

INDICATOR:  Mean score for graduating student ratings for each program item ≥ 3.5 (4-point scale).  This average rating would indicate that most students rated the program either good (3) or excellent (4) in the questions regarding value of education. Faculty members chose a mean of 3.5 that would designate between “good” and “excellent” on the four-point scale as an appropriate benchmark to indicate value.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND RESULTS:

For student achievements, click here. 

*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.