|
CAREER INITIATIVE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY: LIFELONG LEARNING
THE VALUE OF A DISTANCE LEARNING PROGRAM FOR THE WORKING PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT
Employment opportunities for physician assistants have expanded in recent years. The demand for PAs with advanced knowledge in clinical medicine, as well as administration, management, leadership, education, and scholarly activity is evident. As a result, an increasing number of physician assistants are augmenting their proficiency in these areas.
The most recent iteration of the ARC-PA (Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistants) Standards (March 2010) states that: “PA programs are expected to incorporate this higher level of academic rigor into their programs and award an appropriate masters degree”. Furthermore, the PAEA (Physician Assistant Education Association) adopted a position in November 2009 that: “…endorses the master’s degree as the entry-level and terminal degree of the profession”.. These statements are reflective of what both leaders in the profession and our colleagues in organized medicine see as the appropriate degree level for physician assistants.
Today, the vast majority of PAs graduate with a master’s degree and enhanced skills that respond to identified challenges of the health care marketplace. A distance learning program will insure that working PAs who have not yet earned their master’s degree can do so in an affordable, high quality program that adds value to their existing knowledge and skills.
What questions and concerns do post-professional PAs have when they embark on a distance learning program or take a course that requires technical skills beyond the traditional ‘brick and mortar’ classroom? To find out we asked the experts enrolled in our distance learning program. Their answers may surprise you, but the bottom line is that they found this career enhancing experience to be an accomplishment that they could be proud of, mostly because it added value with respect to their capacity to care for their patients.
If you click on any of the links below, you can hear students at various stages of their master’s degree training discuss the challenges and rewards of post-professional education in the 21st century. And by the way their responses are provided to you using some of the same types of technology that students experience while in the program.
Here are some of the questions they addressed:
-
What is the life of a post-professional student like?
-
How has your career changed in terms of your ability to provide quality patient care?
-
What professional aspirations or goals have been fulfilled, created, and/or inspired by your experience in the Post Professional Masters Program?
-
How is a Distance Learning course/curriculum different from the 'brick and mortar' courses?
DL #1 Current new student: https://meeting.sinc.stonybrook.edu/p66641288/
DL #2 Almost finished: https://meeting.sinc.stonybrook.edu/p15834275
DL #4 Alumnus of the program: https://meeting.sinc.stonybrook.edu/p76565615
Click HERE for information about the Stony Brook State University of New York PA Post-Professional Masters Program.
RECOMMEND THIS ARTICLE
You must be logged in
to recommend articles
| 
