Jennifer A. Snyder, PhD, PA-C, is a professor in the Department of Physician Assistant Studies, College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences at Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Brenda Quincy, PhD, MPH, PA-C, is a professor in the Department of Physician Assistant Studies, College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences at Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana.
J Physician Assist Educ. 2020 Mar;31(1):8-14. doi: 10.1097/JPA.0000000000000286.
The purpose of this study was to provide a descriptive analysis of the goals of the accredited physician assistant (PA) programs across the country in order to obtain a baseline understanding of their themes.
Initial review of the goals resulted in the identification of recurring themes. The goals were evaluated relative to meeting the requirements specified in Standard A3.14 of the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, including listing the goal with the defined benchmark expected and the program's progress in reaching the goal. Accreditation status was compared.
Of the 238 accredited PA programs at the time of the study, 157 (66%) had Accreditation-Continued status, 56 (24%) were Accreditation-Provisional, and 25 (11%) had Accreditation-Probation status. The median number of 5 goals per program did not vary dependent on accreditation status. Only 43 of 238 PA programs (18%) provided goals with required benchmarks and supporting outcomes on their webpages. Almost all programs included at least one goal (and often more than one) with the theme of student acquisition of knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to be a PA. Other commonly included themes in programmatic goals included the "capacity" of students to graduate from the PA program and become employed, valuing diversity and cultural differences, a comprehensive and strong curriculum, as well as alumni who are self-directed, lifelong learners.
Program goals should be reviewed to ensure they include benchmarks that define success and report progress or outcomes in achieving those goals. Thematic analysis provides a powerful summary that then can be used to make conclusions across a large set of program data.
本研究的目的是对全美认证医师助理（PA）项目的目标进行描述性分析，以便对其主题有一个基本的了解。
对目标进行初步审查后，确定了反复出现的主题。根据认证审查委员会对医师助理教育的标准 A3.14 的要求，评估了目标，包括列出具有预期基准的目标和该项目在实现目标方面的进展。对认证状态进行了比较。
在研究时，238 个认可的 PA 项目中有 157 个（66%）具有持续认可状态，56 个（24%）具有临时认可状态，25 个（11%）具有试用期认可状态。每个项目 5 个目标的中位数与认证状态无关。在 238 个 PA 项目中，只有 43 个（18%）在其网页上提供了具有所需基准和支持结果的目标。几乎所有项目都至少包含一个主题为学生获得成为 PA 所需的知识、技能和态度的目标，而其他常见的项目目标主题包括学生从 PA 项目毕业并获得就业的“能力”、重视多样性和文化差异、全面而强大的课程以及自我指导、终身学习的校友。
应审查项目目标，以确保其包括定义成功的基准，并报告在实现这些目标方面的进展或结果。主题分析提供了一个强大的总结，然后可以用来对大量项目数据进行结论。
