MC Hosts Physician Assistant Open House

Students interested in Mississippi College's new physician assistant program are invited to an open house July 8.

Physician assistant faculty will attend the session on the Clinton campus to inform prospective candidates about the master's program and its admission requirements. The 90-minute event begins at 2 p.m. in Anderson Hall in the B.C. Rogers Student Center.

MC's program is the first and only one in the state. Physician assistants are health professionals who practice medicine as members of a team with their supervising physicians.

The university expects to welcome 25 to 30 graduate students in the inaugural class. Students will attend year-round for 30 months and earn a master's in medicine. The new MC program is viewed as one way to provide relief for the state's enormous healthcare needs.

During their visit to campus, student candidates will also get the latest information on plans to locate the PA program on the third floor of the Baptist Healthplex starting in the fall.

Faculty in attendance will include: Dr. Bob Philpot, the PA program director; medical director Dr. Robert Cutrer; Dr. Karen Verell, director of admissions; Tristen Harris, director of clinical studies; and Rebecca Loveless, director of pre-clinical studies.

Similar events are planned for August and October on the Clinton campus.

Mississippi College will start accepting PA applications by January 2011. The first classes begin in May 2011 with the first graduation scheduled in December 2013, Verell says.

The program at the Baptist-affiliated school will partner with the University of Mississippi Medical Center and federal clinics, among others.

Starting salaries for PA graduates are in the neighborhood of $85,000. There are more than 73,000 physician assistants practicing today in all 50 states, reports the American Academy of Physician Assistants.

The site visit for MC’s provisional accreditation for the physician assistant program is in November 2010. MC expects to receive its provisional accreditation in March 2011.

For more information, contact Karen Verrell at verell@mc.edu.