Program Overview

Introduction to the Physician Assistant Program

The CWRU PA Program is designed to train well-rounded generalist PAs built on the cornerstones of clinical mastery, professionalism, leadership, and community engagement. The goal is to challenge students to affect positive change through treating disease, promoting health, and understanding the social and behavioral context of illness.

Education

Students are immersed in a graduate-school atmosphere characterized by independent study and collegial interaction with faculty to educate physician assistants. The program prepares students to treat disease and disease states, promote health prevention and maintenance, and examine the social and behavioral context of illness. Experiential learning, community service, interprofessional learning, and clinical relevance inform learning processes.

Curriculum and Coursework

The program utilizes a hybrid blend of learning methodologies and styles. Organization and sequencing of coursework are both horizontally and vertically integrated, facilitating a connected flow of systems and conditions. This creates a curricular thread intended to enhance the development of critical thinking and problem-solving.

Didactic Coursework

The first 15 months of the program focus on didactic instruction, divided into four semesters.

Clinical Rotations

During the second year, students complete twelve, four-week clinical rotations. These rotations provide students with first-hand experience in a variety of specialties and clinical settings. There are ten required core discipline rotations and two clinical elective rotations during the clinical year. Core rotations include:

• Emergency Medicine
• Family Medicine
• Geriatrics
• Internal Medicine
• Obstetrics & Gynecology
• Pediatrics
• Behavioral and Mental Health
• Surgery

First Year Didactic Curriculum

The following courses are part of the first-year curriculum:

Summer Semester 1

• PAST/ANAT 410: Anatomy (6 credits)
• PAST 401: Foundations of Clinical Medicine-Principles of Interviewing (3 credits)
• PAST 403: Diagnostics Methods Clinical Lab (1 credit)
• PAST 404: Clinical Correlations (1 credit)
• PAST 411: Professional Issues for PAs IHistory & Roles of the PA Profession (1 credit)

Fall Semester 1

• PAST 477: Human Physiology (4 credits)
• PAST 402: Foundations of Clinical Medicine-Physical Diagnosis (4 credits)
• PAST 405: Medical Microbiology & Infectious Disease (2 credits)
• PAST 420: Pharmacology I (2 credits)
• PAST 430: Principles of Internal Medicine (7 credits)
• PAST 440: Pre-Clinical Clerkships (1 credit)

Spring Semester 1

• PAST 406: Ethics in Healthcare Delivery (1 credit)
• PAST 412: Professional Issues for Physician Assistants II (2 credits)
• PAST 421: Pharmacology II (3 credits)
• PAST 431: Principles of Clinical Medicine-Surgery & Emergency Medicine (4 credits)
• PAST 432: Principles of Clinical Medicine-OB/GYN (3 credits)
• PAST 433: Principles of Clinical Medicine-Pediatrics (3 credits)
• PAST 434: Principles of Clinical Medicine-Behavioral Medicine (2 credits)
• PAST 441: Pre-Clinical Clerkships II (1 credit)

Summer Semester 2

• PAST 407: Clinical Procedures (4 credits)
• PAST 413: Professional Issues for Physician Assistants III (2 credits)
• PAST 450: Culture and Health (2 credits)
• PAST 451: Introduction to Public Health (1 credit)
• PAST 452: Introduction to Evidence Based Medicine (2 credits)
• PAST 453: Medical Spanish Elective (1 credit)
• PAST 454: Research Methods Elective (1 credit)

Second Year Clinical Curriculum

The following clinical rotations are part of the second-year curriculum:

• PAST 500: Clinical Residency-Emergency Medicine (3 credits)
• PAST 501: Clinical Residency-Family Medicine (3 credits)
• PAST 502: Clinical Residency-Geriatrics (3 credits)
• PAST 503: Clinical Residency-Internal Medicine (3 credits)
• PAST 504: Clinical Residency-Obstetrics & Gynecology (3 credits)
• PAST 505: Clinical Residency-Pediatrics (3 credits)
• PAST 506: Clinical Residency-Behavioral and Mental Health (3 credits)
• PAST 507: Clinical Residency-Surgery (3 credits)
• PAST 508: Clinical Residency-Primary Care Elective (3 credits)
• PAST 509: Clinical Residency-Inpatient Medicine Elective (3 credits)
• PAST 510: Clinical Residency-Elective (3 credits)
• PAST 511: Clinical Residency-Elective (3 credits)
• PAST 600: Capstone Quality Improvement Project & Comprehensive Examination (3 credits)

The total credit hours for the program are 102.