Physician Assistant Studies

Gather essential and accurate information about patients through history-taking, physical examination, and the use of laboratory data, imaging, and other methods.

Organize and prioritize responsibilities to provide patient care that is safe, effective and efficient.

Order and interpret laboratory data, imaging studies, and other tests within one's scope of practice.

Make individual decisions about plan of care based on patient information, current scientific evidence, and informed clinical judgment, utilizing shared-decision making.

Develop and implement patient management plans.

Counsel and educate patients and their families to empower them to participate in their care.

Perform medical, diagnostic, and surgical procedures considered essential for the area of practice.

Provide health care services and education aimed at anticipatory guidance, disease prevention, screening, and health maintenance.

Perform and prescribe all medical, diagnostic, and surgical procedures considered essential for the area of practice.

Provide transfer of care that ensures seamless transitions to a variety of settings.

Apply established and emerging scientific principles fundamental to health care for patients and populations.

Apply principles of epidemiology to the identification of health problems and disease prevention/health promotion efforts for patients and populations.

Conduct clinical care using an investigative and analytic approach.

Apply knowledge of etiologies, risk factors, and underlying pathologic processes to the practice environment.

Integrate knowledge of social-behavioral sciences and apply to patient care, with attention to patient values and preferences, including potential barriers to care.

Incorporate basic principles of culturally competent health care including recognition of health care disparities and meeting the health care needs of medically underserved populations, and the development of professional attributes (e.g., altruism, social accountability) to provide effective care in a multidimensionally diverse society.

Use effective and adaptive communication skills to elicit and provide information according to the context of the interaction.

Demonstrate insight and understanding about emotions and human responses to emotions that allow one to develop and manage interpersonal interactions.

Communicate effectively with patients, families, and the public, as appropriate, across a broad range of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds.

Document information regarding care for medical, legal, quality and financial purposes in a timely, accurate, and comprehensive manner.

Demonstrates positive attitudes, behavior and interpersonal skills toward the interdisciplinary team.

Communicate effectively with physicians, other health professionals and health-related agencies.

Demonstrate compassion, integrity, and respect for others.

Commit to ethical principles pertaining to provision or withholding of clinical care, confidentiality of patient information, informed consent, and business practices.

Understand and abide by legal and regulatory requirements, as well as the appropriate role and scope of practice of the physician assistant in their practice setting.

Demonstrate sensitivity and responsiveness to a diverse patient population, including but not limited to diversity in gender, age, culture, race, religion, disabilities, and sexual orientation.

Demonstrate accountability and responsiveness to the needs of patients, society, and the profession.

Demonstrate professional relationships with physician supervisors and other health care team members.

Internalizes and accepts full responsibility of the professional role in caring for a broad range of patients with all team members.

Extends professional role to see oneself as a professional contributing to something larger (e.g., a community, or the PA profession)

Locate, critically evaluate, integrate, and appropriately apply scientific evidence to patient care.

Systematically analyze practice using quality improvement methodologies in concert with other members of the health care delivery team with the goal of practice improvement.

Recognize and rectify through learning activities and formative feedback one's gaps in knowledge, skills, or attitudes.

Use information technology to manage information, support lifelong learning, and optimize patient care.

Facilitate the learning of students and other health care professionals.

Work effectively in different types of health care delivery settings relevant to one's clinical specialty and setting.

Incorporate considerations of cost effectiveness, risk-benefit analysis, and resource allocation in patient and/or population-based care.

Efficiently navigate and use payment systems and funding sources that provide coverage for patient care.

Advocate for quality, safe patient care and assist patients in dealing with system complexities.

Partner with supervising physicians, health care managers, and other health care providers to assess, coordinate, and improve the delivery and effectiveness of health care and patient outcomes.

Recognize and appropriately address system biases that contribute to health care disparities.

Participate in identifying system errors and implement potential systems solutions with the health care team.

Work and communicate effectively with physicians and other health care professionals to provide patient-centered care.

Participate in varied team roles to establish, develop, and continuously enhance interprofessional teams to provide patient- and population-centered care that is safe, timely, efficient, effective, and equitable.

Communicate with partner physician(s) and other health professionals in a responsive and responsible manner to support the maintenance of health and the treatment of disease in individual patients and populations.

Demonstrates positive attitudes, behavior and interpersonal skills toward the professional

Engage diverse healthcare professionals who complement one's own professional expertise, as well as associated resources, to develop strategies to meet specific patient care needs.

Engage in continuous professional and interprofessional development to enhance team performance.

Develop the ability to use self-awareness of knowledge, skills, and emotional limitations to engage in appropriate help-seeking behaviors.

Employ healthy coping mechanisms to respond to stress.

Manage conflict between personal and professional responsibilities.

Practice flexibility and adaptability to modify behavior for adjusting to change.

Recognize that ambiguity is part of providing health care and respond by using appropriate resources in dealing with uncertainty.

Demonstrate self-confidence that puts patients, families, and members of the health care team at ease.