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Goals
1. Recruit and admit diverse qualified graduate students committed to the PA profession.
Benchmark: 50% of the matriculating class will be of a diverse background and ethnicity.
| Cohort Class | Goal Attainment |
| Class of 2017 | Met: >50% (60% disadvantaged backgrounds; 88% diverse race/ethnicity) |
| Class of 2018 | Met: >50% (53% disadvantaged backgrounds; 90% diverse race/ethnicity) |
| Class of 2019 | Met: >50% (59% disadvantaged backgrounds; 86% diverse race/ethnicity) |
| Class of 2020 | Met: >50% (78% diverse race/ethnicity) |
| Class of 2021 | Met: >50% (57% disadvantaged backgrounds; 81% diverse race/ethnicity) |
| Class of 2022 | Met: >50% (56% disadvantaged backgrounds; 85% diverse race/ethnicity) |
| Class of 2023 | Met: >50% (54% disadvantaged backgrounds; 83% diverse race/ethnicity) |
| Class of 2024 | Met: >50% (62% disadvantaged backgrounds; 73% diverse race/ethnicity) |
| Class of 2025 | Met: >50% (73% disadvantaged backgrounds; 87% diverse race/ethnicity) |
| Class of 2026 | Met: >50% (65% disadvantaged backgrounds; 83% diverse race/ethnicity) |
*Diverse background is determined based on race/ethnicity (non-White/Caucasian) and/or disadvantaged backgrounds (economic and/or educational).
2. Provide student clinical education opportunities in diverse settings and medically underserved areas/populations.
Benchmark: 50% of clinical rotations will occur in diverse settings and medically underserved areas/populations as demonstrated by clinical rotation assignments.
| Cohort Class | Goal Attainment |
| Class of 2017 | Met: 99.7% |
| Class of 2018 | Met: 97% |
| Class of 2019 | Met: 96% |
| Class of 2020 | Met: 90% |
| Class of 2021 | Met: 96% |
| Class of 2022 | Met: 92% |
| Class of 2023 | Met: 85% |
| Class of 2024 | Met: 67% |
| Class of 2025 | In Progress |
3. Number of graduates who ultimately passed the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE).
Benchmark: >85% of graduates ultimately pass the PANCE.
Benchmark: >85% of graduates ultimately pass the PANCE.
| Cohort Class | Goal Attainment |
| Class of 2017 | Met: 100% |
| Class of 2018 | Met: 96% |
| Class of 2019 | Met: 98% |
| Class of 2020 | Met: 95% |
| Class of 2021 | Met: 98% |
| Class of 2022 | Met: 96% |
| Class of 2023 | Met: 94% |
| Class of 2024 | In Progress |
Program Competencies
UTRGV Physician Assistant graduates are required to demonstrate successful mastery of the following seven (7) program competencies before graduation and entry into clinical practice. These program competencies include the effective and appropriate application of medical knowledge, interpersonal, clinical and technical skills, professional behaviors, clinical reasoning and problem-solving abilities required for PA practice within each of the following seven program competencies:
- Successfully obtain a comprehensive patient medical history.
- Perform a focused and comprehensive physical exam on patients across the lifespan (infant, child, adolescent, adult, and elderly).
- Order and correctly interpret laboratory, radiologic and other diagnostic studies.
- Demonstrate higher order critical thinking and medical decision-making skills to develop a comprehensive list of differential diagnoses.
- Formulate a management/treatment plan that incorporates evidence-based medicine and current recommendation guidelines for acute, chronic, and preventive patient encounters.
- Provide patient education on the following topics:
- Illness and disease
- Treatment options
- Health promotion and disease prevention
- Lifestyle risk factors
- Demonstrate the following interpersonal skills and professional behaviors necessary for effective communication with peers, faculty, and patients: professional responsibility, competence, maturity, and integrity.
Building Blocks
The program competencies were developed following the Physician Assistant Education Association Core Competencies for New Physician Assistant Graduates (2018) (Core Competencies for New PA Graduates). Listed below are the building blocks utilized to guide students throughout the didactic and clinical phases of the curriculum to ensure successful mastery of the required program competencies.
- Patient-Centered Practice Knowledge (PCPK)
- Society and Population Health (SPH)
- Health Literacy and Communication (HLC)
- Interprofessional Collaborative Practice and Leadership (ICPL)
- Professional and Legal Aspects of Health care (PLAHC)
- Healthcare Finance and Systems (HCFS)
1.1 Recognize normal and abnormal health (Medical Knowledge)
1.2 Discern among acute, chronic, and emerging diseases (Medical Knowledge)
1.3 Elicit and understand the stories of individual patients and apply the context of their lives (including environmental influences, cultural norms, socioeconomic factors, and beliefs) when determining healthy versus ill (Medical Knowledge; Clinical Reasoning and Problem-Solving Abilities)
1.4 Develop meaningful, therapeutic relationships with patients and their (Interpersonal Skills; Professional Behaviors)
1.5 Partner with patients to address issues of ongoing signs, symptoms, or health concerns that remain over time without clear diagnosis despite evaluation and treatment. (Medical Knowledge; Interpersonal Skills)
2.1 Recognize the cultural norms, needs, influences, and socioeconomic, environmental, and other population-level determinants affecting the health of the individual and community being served. (Medical Knowledge; Clinical Reasoning and Problem-Solving Abilities)
2.2 Recognize the potential impacts of the community, biology, and genetics on patients and incorporate them into decisions of care. (Medical Knowledge; Clinical Reasoning and Problem-Solving Abilities)
2.3 Demonstrate accountability and responsibility for removing barriers to (Professional Behaviors)
2.4 Understand the role of structural disparities in causing (Medical Knowledge; Clinical Reasoning and Problem-Solving Abilities)
2.5 Engage members of the health care team in the surveillance of community resources to sustain and improve health. (Professional Behaviors)
2.6 Engage the health care team in determining the adequacy of resources. (Professional Behaviors)
2.7 Reflect on personal and professional limitations in providing (Professional Behaviors)
2.8 Exercise cultural (Interpersonal Skills)
2.9 Elicit and hear the story of the individual and apply the context of the individual’s life (including environmental influences, culture, and disease) when determining healthy versus ill patients. (Clinical Reasoning and Problem-Solving Abilities)
2.10 Understand and apply the fundamental principles of (Medical Knowledge)
2.11 Recognize the value of the work of monitoring and reporting for quality (Professional Behaviors)
2.12 Use appropriate literature to make evidence-based decisions on patient (Medical Knowledge; Clinical Reasoning and Problem-Solving Abilities)
3.1 Establish meaningful, therapeutic relationships with patients and families that allow for a deeper connection and create space for exploration of the patients’ needs and goals to deliver culturally competent care. (Interpersonal Skills)
3.2 Interpret information so that patients can understand and make meaning out of the information conveyed to them. (Clinical and Technical Skills; Clinical Reasoning and Problem-Solving Abilities)
3.3 Recognize the need for and governing mandates that ensure patients have access to interpreters and appropriate resources when barriers to communication arise. (Professional Behaviors)
3.4 Demonstrate insight and understanding about emotions and human responses to emotions that allow one to develop and manage interpersonal interactions. (Interpersonal Skills)
3.5 Communicate effectively with patients, families, and the (Interpersonal Skills)
3.6 Provide effective, equitable, understandable, and respectful quality care and services that are responsive to diverse cultural health beliefs and practices, preferred languages, health literacy, and other communication (Interpersonal Skills; Clinical Reasoning and Problem-Solving Abilities)
3.7 Organize and communicate information with patients, families, community members, and health team members in a form that is understandable, avoiding discipline-specific terminology, when possible, and checking to ensure understanding. (Interpersonal Skills)
4.1 Articulate one’s role and responsibilities to patients, families, communities, and other professionals. (Interpersonal Skills)
4.2 Redirect the focus of the health care team to the needs of the (Interpersonal Skills)
4.3 Assure patients that they are being (Interpersonal Skills)
4.4 Ensure patients’ needs are the focus over self and (Interpersonal Skills)
4.5 Contribute to the creation, dissemination, application, and translation of new health care knowledge and practices. (Medical Knowledge; Clinical Reasoning and Problem-Solving Abilities)
4.6 Recognize when referrals are needed and make them to the appropriate health care (Medical Knowledge; Clinical Reasoning and Problem-Solving Abilities)
4.7 Coordinate (Medical Knowledge; Clinical and Technical Skills; Clinical Reasoning and Problem-Solving Abilities)
4.8 Develop relationships and effectively communicate with physicians, other health professionals, and health care teams. (Interpersonal Skills; Professional Behaviors)
4.9 Use the full scope of knowledge, skills, and abilities of available health professionals to provide care that is safe, timely, efficient, effective, and (Medical Knowledge; Clinical Reasoning and Problem-Solving Abilities; Clinical and Technical Skills)
4.10 Use unique and complementary abilities of all members of the team to optimize health and patient care. (Professional Behaviors)
4.11 Engage diverse professionals who complement one’s own professional expertise, as well as associated resources, to develop strategies to meet specific health and health care needs of patients and populations. (Professional Behaviors)
4.12 Describe how professionals in health and other fields can collaborate and integrate clinical care and public health interventions to optimize population health. (Professional Behaviors; Clinical Reasoning and Problem-Solving Abilities)
5.1 Articulate standard of care (Medical Knowledge; Clinical Reasoning and Problem-Solving Abilities)
5.2 Admit mistakes and (Interpersonal Skills; Professional Behaviors)
5.3 Participate in difficult conversations with patients and (Interpersonal Skills)
5.4 Recognize one’s limits and establish healthy boundaries to support healthy partnerships. (Interpersonal Skills)
5.5 Demonstrate respect for the dignity and privacy of patients while maintaining confidentiality in the delivery of team-based care. (Interpersonal Skills)
5.6 Demonstrate responsiveness to patient needs that supersedes self-interest. (Interpersonal Skills)
5.7 Demonstrate accountability to patients, society, and the (Interpersonal Skills; Professional Behaviors)
5.8 Exhibit an understanding of the regulatory (Professional Behaviors)
6.1 Recognize that health care is a (Professional Behavior)
6.2 Articulate individual providers’ value-add to the health care team in terms of cost. (Professional Behaviors)
6.3 Appreciate the value of the collaborative physician/PA (Professional Behaviors)