Mississippi College Launches State's First Physician Assistant Program
MC 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 degree in medicine. Physician assistants are health professionals who practice medicine as members of a team with their supervising physicians.
"Mississippi College's unveiling of the state's first physician assistant program is a well-timed step to address the region's health care challenges for years to come," President Lee Royce said. "The program adds further recognition to our already excellent reputation in premedical and nursing education."
Graduates of the MC program will take the Physician Assistant National Certification Examination prior to licensure. Physician assistants deliver a broad range of medical and surgical services to diverse populations in rural and urban settings. As part of their responsibilities, physician assistants conduct physical exams, diagnose and treat illnesses, order and interpret tests, counsel on preventative health care, assist in surgery and prescribe medications.
There's much work to do for Mississippi College as the Clinton-based university prepares for a site visit by accreditation officials in November 2010. MC leaders say they expect to receive provisional accreditation in the Spring of 2011.
Heading MC's new initiative will be Dr. Robert Philpot, who served as director of the Department of Physician Assistant Studies at South University in Georgia. He brings valuable experience as a physician assistant faculty member at the University of Florida.
Since making the move from Georgia, Philpot has worked hard to reach out to the medical leadership in Central Mississippi and is taking steps to bring new faculty aboard.
"I've been quite impressed by the overwhelming support from the medical community," Philpot said. He envisions a program that places graduates on physician-directed teams in medically underserved areas. Five additional physicians and physician assistants will be hired to serve on the full-time faculty on the Clinton campus.
Physician assistants can be a valuable part of the physician-directed medical team and have the potential to help meet the region's enormous health care needs, says Dr. Randy Easterling, president of the Mississippi Medical Association.
"A physician assistant program within our state will be more responsive to the needs and concerns of Mississippians and the medical community," adds Easterling, a Mississippi College graduate.
Physician assistants are trained in intensive education programs approved by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant. As Mississippi College's new venture gets started, there are similar programs across state lines. There are three physician assistant programs in Tennessee, two each in Alabama and Louisiana and one in Arkansas.
Studies show the quality of care given by physician assistants matches that of nurse practitioners and physicians in comparable situations, with high levels of patient satisfaction. Physicians assistants are accepted by both patients and physicians. Their performance in terms of quality of care, expanded access and cost effectiveness is remarkable.
Here's how physician assistant programs work: typically students enter with a bachelor's degree and prerequisites such as anatomy, physiology, microbiology and organic chemistry. They spend the first 12-15 months in classrooms and labs studying physiology, psychology, microbiology, internal medicine, pediatrics, emergency medicine, obstetrics and gynecology. Their second 12 to 15 months are spent in the field dealing with clinical rotations
At a time when America's jobless rate hovers around 10 percent, the worst in 26 years, physician assistant graduates shouldn't have trouble finding work. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the number of physician assistants will climb by 27 percent between 2006 and 2016.
The physician assistant profession was ranked as the fourth fastest growing in the nation by CNN.com and Forbes.com in 2007. Physician assistants are in big demand in all 50 states. Starting salaries nationwide are in the neighborhood of $85,000 annually.
For more information contact, Mississippi College's new physician assistant director Bob Philpot, Ph.D, PA-C at Philpot@mc.edu.
PHOTO: The American Academy of Physician Assistants supplied this photograph that trumpets the work of the profession. There are more than 73,000 physician assistants practicing today in all 50 states.
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