PA Program Mission, Goals, and Outcomes
Mission
To prepare future PAs as socially responsible members of interprofessional teams, empowered to promote health, provide competent and compassionate patient-centered care, and advocate for the well-being of diverse communities.
Outcomes: Program Goals
The FDU PA Program has identified specific program goals or ends towards which its efforts are directed. These goals and the benchmarks utilized for determining their outcome are noted in the table below.
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Goal 1 Prepare PAs who exhibit competency in medical knowledge consistent with entry level clinical practice |
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Benchmarks |
Outcome Data Class of 2024 |
Outcome Data Class of 2025 |
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PANCE pass rate: Benchmark: FDU PA PANCE first-time pass rate meets or exceeds national first-time pass rate |
86% FDU vs 92% National first-time pass rates |
85% FDU ***National first-time pass rate for 2025 not available until January 2026 |
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*End of Curriculum Exam: Benchmark: 95% first-time pass rate *2024 and 2025 cohorts: 1400 pass score *2026 cohort: 1440 pass score |
100% (36/36) |
100% (40/40) |
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End of Program Survey item: “How confident are you in your ability to implement patient-centered practice knowledge?” Benchmark: Mean ≥4 [Scale 1=Not at all confident, 2=Not very confident, 3=Neutral, 4=Confident, 5=Very confident] |
4.3 |
4.0 |
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Goal 2 Deliver a curriculum that prepares students to provide quality patient care |
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Benchmarks |
Outcome Data Class of 2024 |
Outcome Data Class of 2025 |
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Preceptor evaluations: Verification of Clinical Practice Skills1 Benchmark: Grand mean ≥ 4 across core (excluding elective) SCPEs [Scale 1=Unsatisfactory, 2=Needs attention, 3=Weak, 4=Good, 5=Outstanding] |
4.6 |
4.7 |
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Summative OSCE: Benchmark: 95% first-time pass rate |
97% |
95% |
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End of Program Survey (EOPS) item: “How well did your didactic instruction in the following topic areas prepare you for clinical rotations – Patient communication skills/History taking/Physical examinations/Patient assessment?” [Scale 1=Not at all well, 2=Somewhat well, 3=Very well, 4=Extremely well] Benchmark: Mean ≥3 |
3.4 |
3.1 |
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Goal 3 Cultivate PA students’ abilities to care for diverse patient populations across care levels through clinical rotations |
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Benchmarks |
Outcome Data Class of 2024 |
Outcome Data Class of 2025 |
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End of Program Survey (EOPS) item: “Evaluate instruction (both quality and amount) received in the following areas – Culturally appropriate care for diverse populations” Benchmark: Mean range 1.7 – 2.3 [Scale 1 = Insufficient, 2 = Appropriate, 3 = Excessive] |
2.2 |
1.8 |
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End of Program Survey item: “How confident are you in your ability to implement cultural humility?” Benchmark: Mean ≥ 4 [Scale 1=Not at all confident, 2=Not very confident, 3=Neutral, 4=Confident, 5=Very confident] |
4.6 |
4.3 |
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Preceptor Evaluation of Interpersonal Skills and Professionalism2 Benchmark: Grand Mean ≥ 4 across core (excluding elective) SCPEs [Scale 1=Unsatisfactory, 2=Needs attention, 3=Weak, 4=Good, 5=Outstanding] |
4.8 |
4.9 |
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Goal 4 Develop PA students into functional members of interprofessional healthcare teams |
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Benchmarks (Programmatic support for the FDU-PA Student Society (FDUPASS)) |
Outcome Data Class of 2024 |
Outcome Data Class of 2025 |
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Student Evaluation of Clinical Rotation & Site item: “The clinical site offers interprofessional collaborate work with other health professions (Standard B2.04)” Benchmark: Grand mean ≥ 4 across core (excluding elective) SCPEs [Scale 1=Unsatisfactory, 2=Needs remediation, 3=Weak, 4=Good, 5=Outstanding] |
4.6 |
4.5 |
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End of Program Survey item: Agreement with statement – “The learning experience(s) with students from different health professions helped me gain a better understanding of the roles of other professions in patient care” Benchmark: Mean ≥ 4 [Scale 1=Strongly disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Neither agree nor disagree, 4=Agree, 5=Strongly agree] |
3.4 |
3.9 |
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End of Program Survey item: “How confident are you in your ability to implement – Interprofessional collaborative practice and leadership?” Benchmark: Mean ≥ 4 [Scale 1=Not at all confident, 2=Not very confident, 3=Neutral, 4=Confident, 5=Very confident] |
4.6 |
4.1 |
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Preceptor Evaluation of Interpersonal Skills and Professionalism item: “Communicating collaboratively with other members of patient-centered teams” Benchmark: Grand Mean ≥ 4 across core (excluding elective) SCPEs [Scale 1=Unsatisfactory, 2=Needs attention, 3=Weak, 4=Good, 5=Outstanding] |
4.8 |
4.8 |
- Goal 2 results for the measure Preceptor evaluations: Verification of Clinical Practice Skills are computed from various evaluation criteria across CORE (excluding electives) SCPEs for each student.
- Goal 3 results for the measure Preceptor Evaluation of Interpersonal Skills and Professionalism are computed from various evaluation criteria across CORE (excluding electives) SCPEs for each student.
Outcomes: PANCE
PANCE Pass Rates for the FDU PA Program
Students who graduate from an accredited program are eligible to sit for the national certification examination administered by the National Commission on the Certification of Physician Assistants (PANCE).
Attrition
- Attrition Rate: Number of students who attrite from cohort divided by entering class size
- Graduation Rate: Number of cohort graduates divided by entering class size
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Class of 2024 |
Class of 2025 |
Class of 2026 |
Class of 2027 |
Class of 2028 |
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Maximum Class Size (as approved by ARC-PA) |
40 |
40 |
40 |
40 |
40 |
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Entering Class Size |
40 |
40 |
40 |
40 |
Pending |
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Graduates |
37 |
39 |
Pending |
Pending |
Pending |
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Attrition Rate |
7.5% |
5% |
% |
% |
% |
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Graduation Rate |
92.5% |
95% |
% |
% |
% |