under the OAKS
PAs are an integral part of the modern healthcare team.
Physician Assistant Program Joins the SAU ‘Team’ Board of Trustee member Daniel Broderick ’82, MD, said his message to future students in the new St. Ambrose Master of Physician Assistant degree program will be a hearty “Welcome to the team.” 30 students in June 2014 and graduating that Quite literally, he stressed. cohort in December 2016. “The modern healthcare team really is The program will debut at a time when a team,” he said. “It’s not just physicians a growing shortage of doctors, particularly and nurses. PAs are integral members.” general practitioners in rural settings such So, he said, are physical therapists. as Iowa, is expected to collide with a larger And occupational therapists. And speechdemand for healthcare from the aging language pathologists. And nursing baby boomer generation. administrators. It is a void that physician assistants Each of the above already are among can fill quite ably, and in Iowa, only St. Ambrose’s health science offerings, the University of Iowa and Des Moines which are sure to be strengthened by the University currently offer MPA degrees. MPA program that was announced to the There will be no shortage of quality public on May 8. applicants for the SAU program. DMU “This new graduate program is had 659 applicants for 50 spots in 2010, an excellent addition to an already and applicant pools generally far exceed exceptional set of offerings in the health openings nationwide. sciences field at St. Ambrose,” said Students seeking entry into the first Sister Joan Lescinski, CSJ, president of St. Ambrose cohort will need at least St. Ambrose University. 500 hours of healthcare experience. Sandra Cassady, PhD, dean of the The 27-month program will begin with College of Health and Human Services, classroom and laboratory work, followed has been laying the foundation for the by 12 months of clinical rotations under program since June 2010. the supervision of a nationwide network Cassady and newly hired program of physicians and healthcare specialists. Director Clare Kennedy, MPAS, PA-C, will With more than 525 students enrolled spend the next year hiring faculty and in existing SAU health science programs, staff members, developing the program’s Broderick is excited that the physician curriculum, and setting up clinical assistant candidates will get a healthy rotation sites around the country. exposure to the team approach that is The program has applied for becoming an integral part of modern provisional accreditation from the patient care. Accreditation Review Commission on “Certainly, a lot of people currently Education for the Physician Assistant in medicine were not trained with that (ARC-PA). Pending completion of this model,” said the certified neuroradiologist, initial accreditation process, St. Ambrose who currently practices in Florida. “If you anticipates matriculating its first class of
Clare Kennedy, MPAS, PA-C Director, Master of Physician Assistant Program
can have trainees understand that holistic approach, that’s really going to be very critical.” Cassady said St. Ambrose healthcare students already work and learn within that team-oriented framework, sharing occasional classes and patient cases. “One of the things we are very excited about is to be able to build on the interprofessional educational experiences we have,” she said. “All of these individuals are team members who help take care of patients together. The more our students can learn about each other’s fields, the better healthcare providers they will be.” —Craig DeVrieze Read more about the St. Ambrose University MPA program at sau.edu/scene
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