Professional Title Change

On May 24, 2021, the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) House of Delegates passed a resolution affirming “physician associate” as the official title of the PA profession.1 This title change will take time to fully implement as it involves other national PA organizations: Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA), National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA), and Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA); PA programs, AAPA Constituent Organizations, as well as state and federal governments, regulators, and employers.

The purpose of the title change is to allow PAs to hold a professional title that ensures clarity about the work that they provide within the healthcare system. It does not impact a PA’s scope of practice. PAs will continue to use physician assistant as their official legal title in the professional capacity until jurisdiction governing licensure and practice has formally adopted the new title. This process may take several years but is underway. Therefore, Alvernia University has adopted the title “Physician Associate Program” as a reflection of the status of the profession. For more information about the Physician Assistant title change investigation and final report to the AAPA House of Delegates, please refer to the AAPA website.

Program Admissions

On May 24, 2021, the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) House of Delegates passed a resolution affirming “physician associate” as the official title of the PA profession. This title change will take time to fully implement as it involves other national PA organizations: Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA), National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA), and Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA); PA programs, AAPA Constituent Organizations, as well as state and federal governments, regulators, and employers.

The purpose of the title change is to allow PAs to hold a professional title that ensures clarity about the work that they provide within the healthcare system. It does not impact a PA’s scope of practice. PAs will continue to use physician assistant as their official legal title in the professional capacity until jurisdiction governing licensure and practice has formally adopted the new title. This process may take several years but is underway. Therefore, Alvernia University has adopted the title “Physician Associate Program” as a reflection of the status of the profession. For more information about the Physician Assistant title change investigation and final report to the AAPA House of Delegates, please refer to the AAPA website.

Technical Standards for Admission

The technical standards for the Alvernia University Physician Associate Program have been established to ensure that candidates have the ability to demonstrate academic mastery, competence when performing clinical skills, and the ability to communicate clinical information. Those standards can be read here.

Application Instructions

• Complete your application.
• Submit your transcripts.
• Complete your financial aid paperwork.

Financing Your Education

There are options to assist in financing your education and making the tuition affordable. Visit our financial aid page for a detailed overview of the process, including a link to complete the FAFSA application, as well as more information about the tuition payment plan and the tuition deferment program we offer. Alvernia’s Title IV code for the FAFSA is 003233. The Office of Student Financial Services is available to help with any questions you may have. Call 610-796-8201 or email sfs@alvernia.edu.

Mission Statement

Guided by our Franciscan foundation, the Alvernia University Physician Associate Program is committed to working collaboratively with the community and students to foster and support their development as Physician Associates who practice with moral courage and will provide sensitive, compassionate, ethical, professional, proficient, and person-centered care.
 

Solicitation of Clinical Sites & Preceptor Policy (A3.03) 

A3.03 The program must define, publish, and make readily available and consistently apply a policy for prospective and enrolled students that they must not be required to provide or solicit clinical sites or preceptors.

Clinical rotation placement for each student is the responsibility of the PA program, and the program makes all decisions regarding student clinical placement. The Alvernia University PA program recruits, develops, maintains, and determines student placements for all supervised clinical practice experiences (SCPEs/rotations). Coordinating SCPEs/rotations by the program’s faculty involves identifying, contacting, and evaluating clinical sites and preceptors for suitability and student safety as a required (core) or elective rotation experience. Additionally, the program orients clinical preceptors to the goals, expectations, and outcomes of the specific rotation.

Students may suggest or provide information regarding potential clinical sites or preceptors to the program’s faculty, but no student will be required to provide or solicit clinical sites or preceptors. Any clinical site or preceptor recommended to the program by a student must be reviewed, evaluated, and approved for educational suitability and student safety by the program.

Students that want to submit a suggestion for a potential clinical site or preceptor must complete a "Student SCPE Request Consideration” form. Completion of the form does not guarantee placement.
 

Experiential Learning Opportunities

• Utilization of the university’s state-of-the-art facilities, including Anatomage virtual dissection tables

• Standardized patients for assessment

• Participation in community service

• Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS)
 

Accreditation Statements

The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) has granted Accreditation-Provisional status to the Alvernia University Physician Assistant Program sponsored by Alvernia University. Accreditation-Provisional is an accreditation status granted when the plans and resource allocation, if fully implemented as planned, of a proposed program that has not yet enrolled students appear to demonstrate the program’s ability to meet the ARC-PA Standards or when a program holding Accreditation-Provisional status appears to demonstrate continued progress in complying with the Standards as it prepares for the graduation of the first class (cohort) of students. Accreditation-Provisional does not ensure any subsequent accreditation status. It is limited to no more than five years from matriculation of the first class. The program’s accreditation history can be viewed on the ARC-PA website.
 

Alvernia is an accredited institution and a member of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). MSCHE is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
 

Get To Know Your Faculty

For more information about Alvernia’s Master of Medical Science in Physician Associate Studies Bio-PA (3+2) accelerated track, contact the Admissions Office at 610-796-8269 or admissions@alvernia.edu. Or reach out directly to the program at 610-685-3253 or physicianassociate@alvernia.edu.