The MPAS program measures the success of meeting the program's goals through evaluations made by our graduates and their employers.
Goal 1: Maintain an accredited program that ensures graduates are practice-ready.
The St. Catherine University Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) program assesses this goal through (1) its accreditation status with the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) and (2) an 18-month employer survey of recent graduates. Since the program’s inception in 2012, the program has maintained its accreditation status. Most recently in 2015, it received the maximum accreditation available for an additional 10 years.
ARC-PA Accreditation
| YEAR | YEARS ACCREDITED |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 3 (initial accreditation) |
| 2015 | 10 |
| 2025 | future accreditation visit |
Employer Surveys Conducted at 18 Months Post-graduation
A second way we assess graduates readiness to practice is through an employer survey 18 months after students have graduated. Employers are asked to compare the St. Kate’s graduate’s qualities and skills to that of their expectations for a new PA graduate in relation to medical knowledge, clinical proficiency, behavioral skills and overall abilities. Below we report the “Overall rating” for graduates within the past 5 years. Employers used a 5-point scale from 1=Unable to Assess to 5=Very Good.
| COHORT YEAR | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Response Rate* | 33% (N=5) | 85% (N=20) | 89% (N=23) |
| Employer Overall Mean Rating—St. Kate's Grad | 4.8 | 4.5 | 4.7 |
| Employer Overall Mean Rating—New Grad | 4.4 | 3.9 | 4.1 |
*Based on number of graduates who provided an employer email contact.
Goal 2: Deliver an innovative integrated curriculum that emphasizes clinical reasoning, team based care and scholarly practice.
The St. Catherine University Master of Physician Assistant Studies program delivers an integrated curriculum that intentionally combines foundational and clinical science components with skills training. The core curriculum is taught through body systems, populations, a social determinants of health perspective and practice settings. The components of the didactic foundation are classroom learning, research, community engagement activities, and an integrated clinical experience. Classroom sessions combine lectures, problem-based learning, skills training, and group exercises. More than 50% of the curriculum is delivered in a non-lecture format. All students participate in research projects and a 4-week intensive community clinical quality improvement project after their clinical rotations are completed. Since 2015, one to two student teams have presented research posters at national conferences and/or published their work in peer reviewed journals.