Snyder Jennifer A, Skala Taylor
Jennifer A. Snyder, PhD, PA-C, is a professor and the chair of the Department of Physician Assistant Studies at Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana. Taylor Skala, MPAS-2, is a student in the Physician Assistant Studies Program at Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana.
J Physician Assist Educ. 2018 Dec;29(4):211-219. doi: 10.1097/JPA.0000000000000225.
The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) is responsible for accrediting the current 236 entry-level physician assistant (PA) programs in the United States. This study analyzes citations levied against PA programs by the ARC-PA and how those citations relate to the commission's ultimate accreditation decisions; in addition, this study compares PA program characteristics and assesses those characteristics as they relate to recent accreditation outcomes.
This study used citations for specific violations of ARC-PA Standards to analyze the ARC-PA's accreditation decisions from September 2015 through September 2017. The institutional characteristics of programs that received an accreditation-probation decision were compared with those that received an accreditation-continued or accreditation-provisional decision. Where possible, outcome decisions were benchmarked using national data obtained from publications distributed by the Physician Assistant Education Association.
On average, programs that were placed on accreditation-probation during the time frame of this study had received their initial accreditation 16 years before being placed on probation. Altogether, 393 citations were levied against those programs (range: 2-60 citations; median: 13.5 citations). Physician assistant programs that were awarded provisional or continued accreditation were cited for slightly different Standards violations than PA programs that were placed on probation. The average 5-year pass rate for students taking the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination for the first time was not very different for students from PA programs that were placed on probation and all other programs.
Faculty members, institutions, and entities that support PA program development can use this information to compare PA programs. The results of this study can help PA programs identify areas of frequent noncompliance with the ARC-PA's Standards; provide context that PA programs can use to assess their performance against other programs in the accreditation process; and help PA programs identify areas in need of priority attention nationwide.
医师助理教育认证评审委员会（ARC-PA）负责对美国目前的236个入门级医师助理（PA）项目进行认证。本研究分析了ARC-PA对PA项目的处罚引用以及这些引用与委员会最终认证决定的关系；此外，本研究还比较了PA项目的特点，并评估了这些特点与近期认证结果的关系。
本研究使用针对ARC-PA标准的特定违规行为的引用，分析了2015年9月至2017年9月期间ARC-PA的认证决定。将收到认证缓期决定的项目的机构特征与收到认证继续或临时认证决定的项目进行比较。在可能的情况下，使用从医师助理教育协会分发的出版物中获得的全国数据对结果决定进行基准测试。
在本研究期间被置于认证缓期的项目，平均在被置于缓期前16年获得了初始认证。这些项目总共收到了393条引用（范围：2-60条引用；中位数：13.5条引用）。获得临时或继续认证的医师助理项目与被置于认证缓期的PA项目因不同的标准违规行为而被引用。首次参加医师助理国家认证考试的学生的平均5年通过率，对于来自被置于认证缓期的PA项目的学生和所有其他项目的学生来说，并没有太大差异。
支持PA项目发展的教师、机构和实体可以利用这些信息来比较PA项目。本研究的结果可以帮助PA项目识别经常不符合ARC-PA标准的领域；提供PA项目在认证过程中可用于评估其与其他项目相比的表现的背景信息；并帮助PA项目识别全国范围内需要优先关注的领域。
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