A candidate for admission to the PA Program must have the use
of certain sensory and motor functions to permit them to carry out
the activities described in the sections that follow. Graduation
from the program signifies that the individual is prepared for
entry into clinical practice or into postgraduate training
programs.
Therefore, it follows that graduates must have the knowledge and
skills needed to function in a broad variety of clinical situations
and to render a wide spectrum of diagnostic and therapeutic care.
The candidate and student must be able consistently, quickly, and
accurately to integrate all information received by whatever
sense(s) are employed. Also, they must have the intellectual
ability to learn, integrate, analyze, and synthesize data.
A candidate for the PA Program ordinarily must have the
following abilities and skills as explained below: observation;
communication; motor; intellectual, conceptual, integrative, and
quantitative; and behavioral and social. Where technological
assistance is available in the program, it may permit for
disabilities in certain areas. Under all circumstances, a candidate
should be able to perform the following tasks in a reasonably
independent manner:
- Observation: Candidates and students ordinarily
must have sufficient vision to be able to observe demonstrations,
experiments, and laboratory exercises. They must be able to observe
a patient accurately at a distance and close at hand.
- Communication: Candidates and students ordinarily
must be able to communicate with patients and colleagues. They
should be able to hear, but if technological compensation is
available, it may permit for some handicaps in this area.
Candidates and students must be able to read, write, and speak
English.
- Motor: Candidates and students ordinarily should
have sufficient motor function such that they are able to execute
movements reasonably required to provide general care and emergency
treatment to patients. Examples of emergency treatment reasonably
required of physician assistants is cardiopulmonary resuscitation,
administration of intravenous medication, the application of
pressure to stop bleeding, the opening of obstructed airways, the
suturing of simple wounds, and the performance of simple
obstetrical maneuvers. These actions require coordination of both
gross and fine muscular movements, equilibrium, and functional use
of the senses of touch and vision.
- Intellectual, Conceptual, Integrative, and Quantitative
Abilities: These abilities include measurement,
calculation, reasoning, analysis, and synthesis. Problem solving,
the critical intellectual skill demanded of a physician assistant,
requires all of these intellectual abilities. In addition,
candidates and students should be able to comprehend
three-dimensional relationships and understand the spatial
relationships of structures.
- Behavioral and Social Abilities: Candidates and
students must possess the emotional health required for full
utilization of the intellectual abilities, the exercise of good
judgment, the prompt completion of all responsibilities attendant
to the assessment and care of patients, and the development of
mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with patients.
Candidates and students must be able to tolerate physically taxing
workloads, adapt to changing environments, display flexibility, and
learn to function in the face of uncertainties inherent in the
clinical problems of many patients. Compassion, integrity, concern
for others, interpersonal skills, interest, and motivation are all
personal qualities to be assessed during the admissions and
educational processes.
The PA Department is committed to providing reasonable
accommodations to students with an identifiable disability as
defined by the Americans with Disability Act. In doing so, however,
the PA Department must maintain the integrity of its curriculum and
preserve those elements deemed essential to educating candidates to
become effective physician assistants.
Students in the program must be of sufficient health to meet the
criteria of our clinical affiliates.
The PA Department reserves the right to reassess the student's
ability to meet the technical standards at any time during the
student's training and to act accordingly.