Curriculum
Academic Year Curriculum
The following description reflects the Master of Physician Assistant Studies academic curriculum in the entry level program for those interested in becoming a physician assistant. The academic phase emphasizes:
Clinical Year Curriculum
All students participate in clinical training activities in a variety of settings at program-provided sites. Students are not required to supply their own sites or preceptors. In keeping with the mission of the program, a majority of the clinical opportunities are located outside of metropolitan Portland, many in rural and urban medically underserved sites throughout Oregon, Southwest Washington and Eastern Idaho.
Sakai
OHSU adopted Sakai in 2007 as the preferred university course management system. Sakai is an online course management system similar to Blackboard, WebCT and eCollege. Most academic year and clinical year courses have a complementary Sakai course where the syllabus, grading information, course resources and websites, assignments, handouts, and other course materials are posted. A few courses are entirely online and have no classroom component.
The following description reflects the Master of Physician Assistant Studies academic curriculum in the entry level program for those interested in becoming a physician assistant. The academic phase emphasizes:
- a strong foundation in basic science education
- comprehensive exposure to primary care and specialty areas of medicine
- introduction to patient care through weekly experiences with community physician and physician assistant mentors
- hands-on experience performing histories, physical exams, and developing assessments and management plans during mentoring activities
- development of clinical thinking processes through faculty facilitated weekly small group activities utilizing problem-based learning
- the use of medical informatics and evidence-based medicine to make better clinical decisions
- methods to improve patient interactions and provide more effective medical care
- formalized evaluations of clinical competencies and skills throughout the year
Clinical Year Curriculum
All students participate in clinical training activities in a variety of settings at program-provided sites. Students are not required to supply their own sites or preceptors. In keeping with the mission of the program, a majority of the clinical opportunities are located outside of metropolitan Portland, many in rural and urban medically underserved sites throughout Oregon, Southwest Washington and Eastern Idaho.
Sakai
OHSU adopted Sakai in 2007 as the preferred university course management system. Sakai is an online course management system similar to Blackboard, WebCT and eCollege. Most academic year and clinical year courses have a complementary Sakai course where the syllabus, grading information, course resources and websites, assignments, handouts, and other course materials are posted. A few courses are entirely online and have no classroom component.