May 08, 2024  
2022-2023 Springfield College Catalog 
    
2022-2023 Springfield College Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Physician Assistant Studies, M.S.


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Program Description


The mission of the Springfield College program is to educate students in spirit, mind, and body for leadership in clinical, community, and academic service to humanity, building upon the College’s foundations of humanics and academic excellence. The Springfield College physician assistant program 1 trains primary care physician assistants eligible for employment in a wide variety of medical settings and specialties.

This is a 27 month master-level program with students earning a Master of Science degree in Physician Assistant Studies upon successful completion of the program.

The professional program includes 15 months of didactic education and 12 months of clinical rotations. The didactic year includes courses in clinical medicine, pharmacology, applied clinical skills, history taking and physical assessment, human anatomy and physiology, mental health issues, foundations of research, advanced statistics, and seminar courses. Clinical education includes inpatient medicine, family medicine, psychiatry, pediatrics, obstetrics, and gynecology, surgery and emergency medicine.

Graduates of the program are eligible to sit for the National Commission of Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) Certification Examination and apply for state licensure.

1Accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission of Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA)

Program Highlights


Degree: Master of Science

Required Credits: 112

School: School of Health Sciences

Department: Physician Assistant Studies

Modality: On-Ground

Locations: Main Campus (Springfield)

Additional Information: https://springfield.edu/programs/graduate/physician-assistant-studies-masters-degree

Program Minimal Technical Standards


Technical standards define the attributes considered necessary for students to possess in order to complete their education and training, and subsequently enter clinical practice. These standards are prerequisites for entrance, continuation, and graduation from the Springfield College Physician Assistant Program. Students must possess aptitude, ability, and skills in five areas: 1) observation, 2) communication, 3) sensory and motor coordination and function, 4) conceptualization, integration, and quantitation, and 5) behavioral and social attributes. These functions are critically important and must be autonomously performed by the student. It should be understood that these are standards for minimum competence in the program. More information on technical standards is available from the Office of Admissions and can be found in the Physician Assistant Program Student Handbook.

Students are required to follow the procedures and adhere to the policies of the physician assistant program as outlined in the Physician Assistant Program Student Handbook

I. Degree Requirements (112 credits)


Both Master’s Entry Level students as well those from the Springfield College Health Science/Pre-Physician Assistant program must meet this complete list of degree requirements to obtain the Master of Science in Physician Assistant degree; however, the graduate record/transcript of student entering from the Health Science/Pre-Physician Assistant program will only reflect 98 credits because these students begin enrolling in their M.S. coursework in their 4th year of undergraduate study at Springfield College where the following coursework (14 credits) is applied to their undergraduate record/transcript: BIOL 376, PAST 501, PAST 502, PAST 515, and PAST 540.

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