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Mission, Goals, and Outcomes

MISSION STATEMENT

The Lincoln Memorial University-School of Medical Sciences Physician Assistant Program’s Mission is to educate future Physician Assistants to provide quality healthcare with an emphasis in primary care to the medically underserved of Appalachia and beyond.

 

PROGRAM GOALS

  •   Critical Thinking

    Promote early and ongoing clinical decision-making skills throughout various learning experiences demonstrated in student performance in the clinical year.

    Measured through: Preceptor ratings of students on clinical rotations.

    Benchmark is set at 95%
    Class of 2021: 95.4%
    Class of 2022: 90.03%
    Class of 2023: 93.81%
    Class of 2024: (P)

  •   Professionalism

    Create an atmosphere where integrity is valued and professionalism is expected and modeled by students during the clinical year.

    Measured through: Preceptor ratings of students on rotations. 

    Benchmark is set at 95%
    Class of 2021: 98%
    Class of 2022: 96.74%
    Class of 2023: 98.48%
    Class of 2024: (P)

     

  •   Diversity of Student Population

    Recruit, select, and matriculate a population of students with a diverse set of experiences, exposures, and ideas to promote an environment of knowledge sharing and drive innovation.

    Measured through: Matriculation data demonstrating that LMU-Harrogate PA student matriculants represent a diverse population.

    Benchmark is set at 50%  (combination of URM, over age 30, first-generation, living in an HPSA or MUA).
    Class of 2021: 46%
    Class of 2022: 48%
    Class of 2023: 37%
    Class of 2024: 53%
    Class of 2025: 57%

     

  •   Sensitivity and respect

    Create and promote an atmosphere of early and ongoing respect for patients, regardless of their disability, gender, race, culture, age, socioeconomic, sexual orientation, and physical or mental abilities, and special health care needs throughout various learning experiences demonstrated in student performance in the clinical year.

    Measured through: Preceptor Evaluation of Student data on standardized rubrics rate students as well prepared to work with diverse populations, including disability, gender, race, culture, age, socioeconomic, sexual orientation, and physical or mental abilities and special health care needs populations.

    Benchmark is set at 90%
    Class of 2021: 98%
    Class of 2022: 97.35%
    Class of 2023: 98.4%
    Class of 2024: (P)

     

PANCE

Program Benchmark-Achieve a 90% five-year average for the first-time takers of the PANCE. Click the link below to view the report.

Five Year First Time Taker Summary Report

Exam Performance Summary Report

  

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Renewed “Accreditation –continued” status by the ARC-PA with the next on-site review in 2025.

For the Class of 2021, 71% are from southern Appalachia. The Class of 2022 has 60% from southern Appalachia.

Forty-seven percent of the 2018 and 2019 graduates work in Appalachia, with 20% of the Class of 2019 working in health shortage areas.

  •   Student Attrition and Graduation rate
    attrition-rates
  •   Learning Outcomes/Competencies

    Upon completion of the LMU PA program in Harrogate, graduates will have proven competency in areas of medical knowledge, interpersonal communication skills, clinical reasoning and problem-solving abilities, clinical and technical skills, and professional behaviors required for entry into PA practice:

    Medical Knowledge:
    a. Demonstrate the ability to access, evaluate, and assimilate current medical research
    b. Compose a medical research paper utilizing accepted standards for medical writing
    c. Identify normal and abnormal findings on patient history and physical examination
    d. Identify medical conditions based on etiologies, risk factors, pathology, and epidemiology
    e. Manage medical, psychiatric, and surgical conditions using pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic modes of treatment

     

    Clinical Reasoning and Problem-Solving:
    a. Provide appropriate counseling regarding specific medical conditions
    b. Recommend appropriate preventive screening and preventative care measures
    c. Develop a complete patient-centered treatment plan based upon the patients’ medical conditions
    d. Recommend appropriate pharmaceutical management for patients’ medical conditions
    e. Correctly select and interpret laboratory tests and diagnostic study findings
    f. Integrate clinical findings with diagnostic study data to formulate differential diagnoses

     

    Clinical and Technical Skills:
    a. Obtain the appropriate elements of focused and comprehensive patient histories
    b. Obtain the appropriate elements of and properly perform physical examinations
    c. Properly perform specific minor medical and surgical procedures


    Interpersonal Communication Skills:
    a. Appropriately document-focused and comprehensive patient histories and physical examination findings
    b. Clearly communicate pertinent patient information in oral presentations and multiple types of note formats
    c. Clearly communicate patient treatment plans and preventative care recommendations
    d. Demonstrate appropriate body language and active listening skills during interactions


    Professionalism:

    a. Demonstrate sensitivity, respect, and responsiveness to patient diversity
    b. Demonstrate professionalism in interaction
     

    Procedures:
    Demonstrate knowledge of the following procedures on simulation devices and/or human subjects:

    a. Airway management
    b. Universal precautions as they pertain to patient care and OSHA requirements 
    c. Injection administration 
    d. Sterile technique 
    e. Identification of common surgical instruments
    f. Tympanic membrane foreign body removal, including cerumen
    g. Insertion of urinary and nasogastric catheters


    Demonstrate proficiency in performing the following procedures on simulation devices and/or human subjects:

    a. Surgical scrubbing, gowning, and gloving
    b. Venipuncture and intravenous catheterization
    c. Administration of local anesthesia
    d. Laceration repair
    e. Abscess incision and drainage
    f. Skin lesion biopsy
    g. Intra-articular injections
    h. Orthopedic splinting and/or bracing 

     

  •   Student Leadership

    * Dr. George Stanley Thompson PA Student Society members coordinate events to serve the community and promote the PA profession each year.

    * Each year, PA students organize the “Sundown Rundown 5K” (formerly “Light the Night”) running race to raise funds for Servolution, the local free medical clinic.

    * Each year, members of the PA Class participate in the interprofessional project “Healthcare Literacy and Interprofessional Telehealth Considerations” with students from the LMU Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Program, the LMU Nursing Program, the LMU PT Program, the LMU OT Program, the LMU Vet Program, and the South College Pharmacy Program. Faculty facilitators from PA, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, D.O., Nursing, and Salisbury University’s School of Social Work programs assist students in this project.

    * Each year, members of the PA Class participate in the LMU Opioid Symposium. The event is a panel discussion attended by students in PA, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, and Nursing programs. This was a panel discussion amongst healthcare providers, attorneys, and legislators on the dangers and risks of opioid abuse and best practices to prevent overprescribing scheduled medication. 

    * Approximately 75-85% of each PA Class participates in volunteer activities, including volunteering at Servolution, the local free medical clinic, and mission trips to a free medical clinic in southwestern Virginia (staffed by an LMU-SMS PA Program graduate) or international mission trips to Peru, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala.

    * Over 50% of students in the Didactic Phase attend the fall conference presented by the Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants each year.

    * Over 50% of students in the Didactic Phase attend the PA Day on the Hill in Nashville, TN, or Lexington, KY, each spring to promote the PA profession.

    * Each year, A Dr. George Stanley Thompson PA Student Society member serves in the Assembly of Representatives for the Student Academy of the AAPA.

     

  •   Technology
    * Continued use of Canvas Learning platform, Zoom, Lecturio, Access Medicine, and MediaSite (digital recording of lectures) for delivery and review of course content.

    * Continued use of B-Line (digital recording of simulated patient encounters) for formal debriefing and student self-reflection of simulated patient encounters.

    * Continued use of Clinical Exam Center and Simulation Lab in all semesters of the Didactic Phase for teaching, learning by observation, and formal and summative assessment.
  •   Multidisciplinary Education
    Delivery of the curriculum in various instructional methods to accommodate student learning needs through the use of:
    * Lectures
    * Faculty-led case study sessions
    * Facilitated study/review sessions
    * Mentorship and guidance from the Academic Remediation Specialist
    * Small group projects
    * Hands-on clinical skills labs with task trainers
    * Teaching using high fidelity manikin simulations
    * Student-led patient case presentations
    * Full gross anatomy prosection lab
    * OSCE sessions with written, oral and reflective components
  •   Experienced Faculty
    * The current full and part-time PA faculty have over 150 years of combined clinical experience and represent the fields of family medicine, internal medicine, hospital medicine, pediatrics, women’s health, urgent care, emergency medicine, occupational medicine, orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, gastroenterology, cardiac electrophysiology, ENT, endocrinology, and infectious disease.

    * An interprofessional team of basic medical science faculty provides instruction in PA courses as well as in the medical, nursing, and veterinarian programs.