Program Objectives

Physician Assistant

Objectives of Drew’s PA program

• Train professionals who will enhance the health of underserved individuals who reside in disadvantaged communities.
• Provide significant careers in health care professions to members of disadvantaged groups and underutilized health professionals.

Students who successfully complete the program will be able to:

• Analyze and integrate relevant basic medical sciences information in the formulation of differential diagnoses and the utilization and interpretation of appropriate diagnostic studies;
•  Utilize critical thinking, evidence-based information, and knowledge from the behavioral,
  social and medical sciences to support sound clinical decisions to evaluate and interpret the literature and to diagnose and manage health conditions;
• Identify, analyze and integrate relevant historical, physical, and laboratory data needed to provide individualized patient management in primary care medicine, inclusive of emergency medical conditions;
• Communicate effectively through verbal, nonverbal, written, and technological means with individuals, families, healthcare providers and other agencies;
• Communicate effectively through interviewing, obtaining the medical history and while conducting the physical examination;
•  Integrate relevant basic medical science information regarding pharmacology and pharmacotherapeutics when ordering medications ;
• Demonstrate proficiency in clinical skills and procedures;
• Identify, analyze and integrate relevant socioeconomic, cultural, psychosocial and legal data and knowledge of health care delivery systems and policy recognizing their impact on health care;
• Demonstrate ability to provide effective patient care in an ethical and responsible manner;
•  Develop and implement patient management plans in a safe, compassionate, and culturally sensitive manner that preserves human dignity;
• Collaborate with individuals, families, and healthcare team members in providing patient counseling, patient education and referrals;
• Demonstrate accountability in adhering to standards of professional practice within legal and ethical framework, inclusive of professional liability, prescriptive practice, credentialing and licensure requirements and current trends in the PA profession;