PA Program Mission, Values & Goals
Explore the mission, values, goals and successes of the Master of Physician Assistant Studies at Stephens College.
Mission
The Stephens College Physician Assistant program is dedicated to transforming students into excellent clinicians who practice with compassion. The program emphasizes leadership within the profession while working in an inter-professional team.
Values
Integrity, Perseverance, Communication, Empathy, High Standards
Program Highlights
- Breadth of choices for clinical rotations in a variety of settings
- Small class sizes allowing for individual attention
- Modern newly built lab and classroom facilities
- Knowledgeable faculty with extensive experience in the field
- Commitment to mentorship and advising
Goals of the Program
1: Recruit applicants who will successfully complete the physician assistant curriculum.
Success in achieving goal:
The outcomes used to measure success in this goal include: undergraduate cumulative GPA, pre-requisite GPA, average direct patient care hours, gender and minority representation.
The Stephens College Master of Physician Assistant Studies program regards the diversity of a cohort as an important factor in serving the mission and goals of our program. Stephens defines diversity broadly, to include but not to be limited to early educational environment, socioeconomic status, culture, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and life and work experiences.
Stephens College is committed to admitting diverse applicants. Success for this goal is met by the following benchmarks: Greater than 10% of the cohort will be underrepresented minority students and greater than 20% of entering classes will be represented by the male gender.
Demographics for the last four cohorts (2022-2025) were represented by 23%, 20%, 27%, and 3% minority students respectively. Each cohort was represented by 23%, 34%, 13%, and 13% male gender respectively.
Stephens College strives to promote excellence in education through a carefully considered application process. Success for this goal is met by the following benchmarks: undergraduate cumulative GPA greater than 3.25, a pre-requisite GPA greater than 3.25 and an average of greater than 2000 direct patient care hours per cohort.
The average undergraduate cumulative GPA for the last four cohorts (2022-2025) were 3.59, 3.54, 3.51, and 3.67 respectively. The average pre-requisite GPA was 3.55, 3.49, 3.44, and 3.65 respectively. The average number of direct patient care hours were 3942, 3714, 3310, and 6786 hours respectively.
2: Educate students with the knowledge and skills necessary for entry-level clinical practice as a physician assistant.
Success in this goal will be demonstrated by assessing students in the following benchmarks:
- Summative OSCE passing with a score of greater than 80%.
- Summative exam passing with a score of greater than 80%.
- Preceptor Evaluation of Students results for the following survey items:
- a. Medical knowledge greater than 3.5/5.0 scale
- b. Clinical procedures greater than 3.5/5.0 scale
- c. Eliciting a patient history greater than 3.5/5.0 scale
- d. Performing a physical exam greater than 3.5/5.0 scale.
Success in achieving goal:
The 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, cohorts passed the Summative exam and summative OSCE with greater than 80% score on their first attempt. Both cohorts received a 3.5 or greater on a 5.0 scale for medical knowledge, clinical procedures, eliciting a patient history and performing a physical exam.
3: Prepare students to deliver team-based collaborative primary care.
Stephens College is committed to providing interdisciplinary educational experiences to students. Students participate in and present at Interdisciplinary Grand Rounds at Stephens College and at the University of Missouri. Participants include first- and second-year physician assistant students, physician assistants in fellowships, practicing physician assistants, physical therapy students, nursing students, occupational therapy students, athletic training students and physicians.
Success in achieving goal:
Success in this goal is demonstrated through Preceptor Evaluation of Student Preparedness for interdisciplinary education with a score of greater than 3.5/5.0, Graduate evaluation of student preparedness for interdisciplinary education with a score of greater than 3.5/5.0 scale and Faculty Evaluation of Curriculum of student preparedness for interdisciplinary education.
4: Emphasize professionalism within the curriculum and model professional behavior.
Success in achieving goal:
This goal will be assessed by measuring the following benchmarks. The preceptor evaluation of student professionalism with a score greater than 3.5/5.0 scale. Graduate evaluation in the following areas: program fosters professionalism and the faculty model professionalism with a score greater than 3.5/5.0 scale. The faculty evaluation in the following area of the program fosters professionalism with a score greater than 3.5/5.0 scale.
5: Achieve PANCE pass rates consistently above national average.
This goal will be measured annually with the NCCPA provided data on program first-time pass rate as compared to the national average.
Success in achieving goal:
Graduating cohorts of 2021 and 2022 had a 100% and a 93% first attempt PANCE pass rate. The graduating cohort of 2023 had a 90 % first attempt PANCE pass rate. The graduating cohort of 2022 had a 100% first time PANCE pass rate. The National first-time pass rate in 2022 was 89%. National results for 2023 will be available in 2024. The five-year first-time pass rate for the program in 2024 was 96%.
Contact Us
Physician Assistant Studies
(573) 441-5107 Ext. 5107
physicianassistant@stephens.eduSampson Hall 106