Technical Standards
Technical Standards of Medical Education at Trevecca Nazarene University Physician Assistant Program: Admission and Retention Requirements
Physician Assistant education is a broad-based process requiring the acquisition of general knowledge in all fields of medicine and basic skills requisite for the practice of medicine regardless of specialty. The education of a PA also requires the development of judgment through patient care experiences that prepare individuals for appropriate decision-making in clinical practice.
It is the intent and practice of the Trevecca Nazarene University Physician Assistant Program to select applicants who have the ability to become highly competent PAs. As an accredited program by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA), Trevecca adheres to the “Standards” promulgated by the ARC-PA. Within these guidelines, Trevecca’s PA Program has the freedom and ultimate responsibility for the selection of students, the design, implementation, and evaluation of curriculum, evaluation of students, and determination of who should be awarded a degree. Admission and retention decisions are based not only on satisfactory academic achievement but also on non-academic factors, which serve to ensure that the candidate can complete the essential functions of the academic program required for graduation.
The PA Program has the responsibility to the public to assure that its graduates are fully competent PAs capable of fulfilling the Hippocratic duty “to benefit and do no harm.” Thus, it is important that persons admitted to the PA Program possess the intelligence, integrity, compassion, humanitarian concern, and physical and emotional capacity necessary to practice medicine.
As a private Christian university affiliated with the Church of the Nazarene, Trevecca is open to any qualified student without regard of race, color, sex, age, creed, national or ethnic origin, or physical disability. Trevecca Nazarene University complies with all statutory and regulatory nondiscrimination requirements applicable to this institution in the administration of its educational policies and programs, scholarships and loan programs, equal opportunity employment practices, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
Technical standards, as distinguished from academic standards, refer to those physical, cognitive, and behavioral abilities required for satisfactory completion of all aspects of the PA curriculum. These standards ensure the development of professional attributes required of all students at graduation. The essential abilities required by the curriculum are in the following areas: motor, sensory, communication, intellectual (conceptual, integrative, and qualitative abilities for problem solving and diagnosis), and the behavioral and social aspects of the performance of a PA.
The PA Program curriculum requires information acquisition. The student will be required to master relevant content in basic science and clinical courses at a level deemed appropriate by the faculty. These skills may be described as the ability to comprehend, memorize, analyze, and synthesize material. The student will be required to discern and comprehend dimensional and spatial relationships of structures and demonstrate reasoning and decision-making skills appropriate to the practice of medicine.
The student will be required to take medical histories, perform physical exams and assess the health status of organ systems. The student will also be required to accurately assess laboratory and diagnostic studies.
The student will be required to communicate effectively with patients and family, physicians and other members of the health care team. The communication skills require students to assess all information, including the recognition and assessment of non-verbal responses and immediate assessment of information provided to allow for appropriate, well-focused follow-up inquiry. The student will be required to respond with empathetic listening to establish rapport with patients in a way that promotes openness on issues of concern and sensitivity to potential cultural differences.
The student will be required to process and communicate information on the patient’s status with accuracy in a timely manner to the physician and other members of the health care team. The student will be required to present this information in a succinct yet comprehensive manner, and in settings in which time available is limited. Written or dictated patient assessments, prescriptions, etc., must be complete and accurate. Appropriate communication may also rely on the student making a correct judgment in seeking consultation in a timely manner.
The student will be required to understand the basis and content of medical ethics. The student will be required to possess attributes that include compassion, empathy, altruism, integrity, responsibility, and tolerance. The student will be required to have emotional stability to function effectively under stress and to adapt to an environment that may change rapidly without warning and/or in unpredictable ways.
These technical standards of medical education identify the Trevecca University PA Program requirements for admission and retention of applicants and students, respectively.