Program Curriculum

Accreditation

The USC Primary Care Physician Assistant (USC PA) Program is part of the Department of Family Medicine in the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC). The PA Program is fully accredited by the Accreditation Review Committee on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA), and the guidelines established by the Physician Assistant Committee (PAC) of the Medical Board of California. Graduates of the Program receive a Master of Physician Assistant Practice (MPAP) degree from the Keck School of Medicine.

The Program's current accreditation runs through March 2011.

Academic and Clinical Training

The Keck School of Medicine, USC Primary Care PA Program is a full-time educational/professional training program. Students are required to participate in all scheduled Program activities as well as comply with all PA Program policies, including requirements of professional behavior. Instructors include PA, MD, DO, PhD, and PharmD-educated faculty from the Schools of Medicine and Pharmacy, Allied Health divisions, and clinicians in practice throughout the Los Angeles region. While most classes are held during the day, there are some curriculum activities in the evening. Clinical assignments include both day and evening shifts, as well as call schedules. Written examinations and performance evaluations are scheduled regularly throughout the length of the curriculum. Students must pass each component of the curriculum in order to make satisfactory academic progress in the Program. Tutorial services are available for students who experience academic difficulty. Students must meet all health requirements and maintain current health records.

General areas of study include basic sciences (anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, genetics, pharmacology); cross-cultural communication; health behavior; clinical skills including patient interviewing, history-taking, written documentation, and all components of physical assessment; laboratory and radiological principles; nutrition; principles of primary care, including prevention and patient education; medical Spanish; interpretation of medical literature; professional development; specialty seminars in research, education and medical administration.  Additionally, students participate in clinical training in the areas of family medicine, pediatrics, women’s health, general surgery, general orthopedics/occupational medicine, medicine (internal medicine, geriatrics), psychiatry, long-term care, and emergency medicine. The curriculum consists of 33-months of didactic and clinical training.  The educational process consists of 4 semesters of didactic (classroom-based) instruction and 48 weeks of on-site clinical education.

The USC PA Program curriculum emphasizes primary care. Learning takes place in a variety of clinical settings, with training emphasis on geographic areas and populations where health care needs are greatest. For the past 34 years, the Program has maintained its Program Mission to recruit and train an excellent and diverse student body to provide outstanding medical care, with a commitment to medically-underserved populations in the southern California region.

Clinical education takes place at dozens of clinical sites throughout the greater Los Angeles region, including Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center, Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (formerly San Bernardino County Medical Center), Ventura County Medical Center, a range of private offices and managed care settings, community-based clinics, VA facilities and specialty settings. Clinical training sites and clinical preceptors are established and maintained by PA Program faculty.  Based upon the academic performance of each student, the PA Program Clinical Coordinators assign students to the appropriate clinical rotations. While geographic location of a clinical education is one of several criteria used to assign students, the Program exercises the right to assign PA Program students within a sixty (60) mile radius of the Health Sciences Alhambra Campus.

Schedule

* Examples of clinical rotations: Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Women’s Health, General Surgery, Orthopedics, Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine

• Note: PA Program students must take and pass all PA Program courses in sequence to make satisfactory academic progress. There is neither an advanced standing option nor any part-time track available.
• Students who have made satisfactory academic progress at the end of Semester # 2 (Spring, 2010) will have no course work during their first summer (Summer, 2010). Beginning with Semester #4 (Spring, 2011), all students complete 48 continuous weeks of clinical assignments continuing through the summer (Summer, 2011) until the end of fall, 2011 (Semester #5).
• Students who have demonstrated academic progress by successfully completing all of their coursework will be eligible to complete all PA Program requirements at the end of Semester #6 and graduate in May, 2012.

DESCRIPTION OF  CURRICULUM COMPONENTS (SEE MPAP CHART ABOVE)

Behavioral Sciences: Growth and Development/Sexuality; Death and Dying; Introduction to the PA Profession; Introduction to Research; Cultural Competency; Medical Spanish; Health Promotion; Ethics; Service Learning Activities.

Topics in Medicine: Endocrinology; Hematology; Psychiatry; Infectious Diseases; HIV; Urology/Nephrology; Pharmacology; Ophthalmology; Ears, Nose and Throat; Pulmonary; Cardiology; Gastroenterology/Hepatology; Neurology; Orthopedics; Dermatology; Women's Health; Pediatrics; Geriatrics; Surgery; Rheumatology; Emergency Medicine; Pathology/Pathophysiology

Clinical Skills: Interviewing; Presentation; Documentation; Introduction to Clinical Skills; BCLS/ACLS; PALS; Physical Assessment; Technical Skills (Suturing, Casting, Breast/Pelvic exams)

Basic Medical Sciences (in didactic years): Anatomy; Pathology; Physiology; Pathophysiology

Clinical Assignments: (See above chart)

Advanced Topics Seminars: Research (Literature Review, Institutional Research Boards, Methodology); Education (Academic and Clinical PA Education, Syllabi, Learning Styles, Evaluation); Health Care Administration (Health Care Structure; Financing; Budgeting; Billing Codes; Personal/Professional Development)

Clinical Skills IV: PA Board Review Seminar, Clinical Rotations; Clinical Practice Preparation; Mock Interview