Program Overview

Introduction to the Physician Assistant Studies Program

The University of California San Diego School of Medicine Atkinson Physician Assistant Education Program is a master's degree program that aims to educate learners from diverse backgrounds to address the healthcare needs of California. The program is committed to building and sustaining a diverse academic community of faculty, staff, and learners.

Program Overview

The program is housed within the UC San Diego School of Medicine and is closely tied to the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and UC San Diego Health. The program admits a new cohort of students every year in June and attracts a broad array of applicants from areas in the southern half of the state that currently lack adequate healthcare providers.

Program Goals

The program goals align with its mission and support a learning environment that emphasizes learner success, diversity, and service to Californians. The rigorous curriculum provides learners with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for competent clinical practice with a focus on primary care.

Admission Requirements

To be eligible for admission, applicants must satisfy both the minimum and prerequisite course work requirements by the stated application deadlines. Admission is highly competitive, and meeting some or all these requirements does not guarantee admission.

Minimum Requirements

• CASPA application with official transcripts submitted by August 1; verified by September 1
• Secondary application submitted by August 1
• Evidence of US citizenship, permanent US residence, or current DACA recipient and/or undocumented
• Bachelor's degree (or higher) from regionally accredited US institution or equivalent prior to matriculation
• Completed prerequisite course work
• Minimum overall undergraduate GPA of ≥ 3.0 or overall graduate GPA of ≥ 3.0 (4.0 scale)
• Minimum undergraduate sciences GPA of ≥ 3.0 or graduate sciences GPA of ≥ 3.0 (4.0 scale)
• Minimum of 500 hours of healthcare experience (volunteer or paid)
• Three letters of recommendation

Prerequisite Course Work

• Completed at a regionally accredited US institution
• Completed with a grade by the August 1 deadline and verified by CASPA before September 1
• Letter or numerical grade on transcripts is required
• Grades of Pass (P) for course work will be accepted
• AP/CLEP and concurrent enrollment course work documented on the official transcript is accepted
• Community college and online/distance courses from regionally accredited institutions are accepted
• Prerequisite course work does not expire/time-out
  • Biological Sciences: twelve quarter credit hours/eight semester credit hours
  • Human Anatomy with Lab: four quarter credit hours/three semester credit hours
  • Human Physiology with Lab: four quarter credit hours/three semester credit hours
  • Microbiology with Lab: four quarter credit hours/three semester credit hours
  • Chemistry: four quarter credit hours/three semester credit hours
  • Organic Chemistry or Biochemistry: four quarter credit hours/three semester credit hours
  • Statistics: three quarter credit hours/two semester credit hours

Program of Study

The program of study is designed as a lockstep model, and learners who have been recommended for graduation to the Learner Progress Committee (LPC) by the principal faculty of the program may be awarded the master of advanced study in physician assistant studies (MAS-PAS) degree provided they meet all the following conditions.

Conditions for Graduation

1. Satisfactory completion of all didactic and capstone courses during the didactic phase of the curriculum earning eighty-eight quarter credits and achieving an overall cumulative ≥ 3.0 grade point average.
2. Satisfactory completion of the end-of-didactic summative practical assessment (EOC SP-OSCE) at the end of the didactic phase of the curriculum.
3. Satisfactory completion of all clinical and capstone courses during the clinical phase of the curriculum, earning forty-eight quarter credits and achieving an overall ≥ 3.0 cumulative grade point average.
4. Satisfactory completion of the End-of-Curriculum (EOR) examination administered in the last four months of the program of study.
5. Satisfactory completion of the end-of-curriculum summative practical assessment (EOC SP-OSCE) administered in the last four months of the program of study.
6. Satisfactory completion of the master's Capstone Project.
7. Satisfactory demonstration of the ethical, professional, behavioral, and personal characteristics requisite to practicing as a physician assistant.
8. Satisfactory completion of all didactic, clinical, and capstone courses earning 136 quarter credits and achieving an overall ≥ 3.0 cumulative grade point average.
9. Satisfactory demonstration of all program learning outcomes and graduate competencies.

Concentrations

The program offers three concentrations: Primary Care, Specialty Care, and Border and Rural Health. Learners choose from a wide range of primary care, specialty, and subspecialty practices throughout the UC San Diego Health system and in other affiliated clinical training sites.

Primary Care Concentration

• PAE 461: Primary Care Selective Rotation I
• PAE 462: Primary Care Selective Rotation II
• PAE 463: Primary Care Selective Rotation III
• PAE 489: Independent Study Rotation

Specialty Care Concentration

• PAE 471: Specialty Care Selective Rotation I
• PAE 472: Specialty Care Selective Rotation II
• PAE 473: Specialty Care Selective Rotation III
• PAE 489: Independent Study Rotation

Border and Rural Health Concentration

• PAE 481: Rural and Border Health Selective Rotation I
• PAE 482: Rural and Border Health Selective Rotation II
• PAE 483: Rural and Border Health Selective Rotation III
• PAE 489: Independent Study Rotation

Evaluation

The program conducts frequent, objective, and documented evaluations of student performance to monitor learner progress in meeting the program's learning outcomes and graduate competencies.

Normative Time to Complete the MAS-PAS Degree

The normative time from matriculation to degree completion for the MAS-PAS program of study is twenty-nine months. This includes fifteen months of didactic instruction followed by fourteen months of clinical instruction.

Exceptions to Normative Timeline

The program's Learner Progress Committee has established policies regarding remediation, reassessment, and deceleration to ensure learners complete the program of study within the prescribed timeline. If a learner decelerates, the maximum time from matriculation to the granting of the degree is forty-four months.

Advising

Academic advising is a collaborative relationship between a learner and an academic adviser. The program employs a longitudinal advising model that integrates a triple-aim approach to provide learners with supportive and timely interventions during their educational journey. Each incoming learner is assigned to one of the five longitudinal learning communities (LLCs) and maintains this affiliation over their entire physician assistant education career.