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Physician Assistant Program

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Physician Assistant Program

PA Students

The OU-TU School of Community Medicine Physician Assistant Program is proud to offer an outstanding and unique educational experience for future physician assistants who are committed to primary care and the underserved in Oklahoma. The program provides one of the strongest primary care PA programs in the country. 

During the first semester of our 30-month program, students will collaborate in an interdisciplinary environment with other students and faculty at the week-long Summer Institute. The Summer Institute focuses on underserved care and available resources throughout the Tulsa community. PA students also attend the Bedlam evening clinic throughout their first year. This student-run free clinic provides much needed care to uninsured patients from northeast Oklahoma. These distinct opportunities further supplement the curriculum covered in Concepts of Community Medicine, Professional Issues in Medicine and Health, and the Underserved module in Clinical Medicine.

During the second year, students attend Student Academy which is comprised of monthly interdisciplinary seminars over chronic disease management with emphasis on evidence-based treatment algorithms and hands-on clinical skill development. Students then integrate this learning into their twice-monthly longitudinal clinic experience at OU Physicians Family Medicine Clinic. This Physician Assistant Longitudinal (PAL) student clinic allows students to manage their own panel of patients, providing a continuous care experience for chronic disease management.

Thank you for your interest in the OU-TU School of Community Medicine Physician Assistant program. We invite you to learn more about the unique aspects of our program on this website.  Like us on Facebook: OU-Tulsa Physician Assistant Program. 

Mission & Goals

The mission of the Physician Assistant Program at the University of Oklahoma, School of Community Medicine, Tulsa, is to train physician assistants to provide quality health care to the citizens of Oklahoma with an emphasis on serving diverse and underserved communities.

Program Goals

The goals of the OU-TU School of Community Medicine PA program are:

1. To provide a quality education that enables students to become competent, caring healthcare providers. We seek to educate our students in the basic medical sciences as well as the clinical and behavioral sciences in order to prepare them for the practice of medicine both today and in the future. While training physician assistants to go into areas of primary care medicine will be our fundamental focus, we are also cognizant that PAs are increasingly serving patients in both the surgical and specialty areas of medicine.

How are we doing? The program has graduated 306 physician assistants into the workforce from our thirteen classes in 2010-2022.  All program graduates have passed the PANCE, with a first-time pass rate for the classes of 2018-2022 at 98%.  Over 40% of the graduates are in a primary care setting.

Graduation rate: 97%                                                            Goal: 95% or greater

First-Time Taker Pass Rate (most recent cohort): 100%       Goal: 100%

2. To expose students to the practice of primary care medicine in a variety of underserved locations in Oklahoma during their didactic and clinical training. The OU-TU School of Community Medicine PA program desires that a significant portion of their graduates will choose to work in these communities following graduation.

How are we doing?
Our curriculum supports our mission and goals by educating students about Oklahoma health statistics and community resources in Tulsa during the first-year Concepts of Community Medicine course and at the Summer Institute. In addition, students attend the 
Bedlam-Evening Clinic throughout the length of the program. During the clinical phase, PA students care for their own panel of uninsured patients twice monthly in the Physician Assistant Longitudinal (PAL) Clinic at OU Physicians Family Medicine Clinic. Clinical rotations during the second year include 22 weeks of primary care exposure, a four-week underserved medicine rotation, and a two week Community Impact experience, which includes exposure to various agencies such as the Tulsa Day Center and The Little Light House

Our graduates have taken positions with the underserved that include rural medicine, federally qualified health centers, Indian health, and Oklahoma correctional facilities. Eighty percent of the graduates are practicing clinically in the state of Oklahoma.  In addition, over 40% of the graduates are in a primary care setting and 24% work in an underserved setting.

Graduates employed in Oklahoma: 80%                                    Goal: 75% or greater

Graduates employed in primary care: 42%                                Goal: 40% or greater

Graduates employed in underserved setting: 24%                     Goal: 20% or greater

3. To encourage the students, graduates, and faculty to participate in service and leadership roles within the University, the profession, and the broader community. With the strong support of the college and university administration, the OU-TU School of Community Medicine PA program is committed to fostering the growth and development of each individual student and faculty member to their greatest potential.

How are we doing?
OU-TU School of Community Medicine PA students engage in a variety of service and leadership roles within OU-Tulsa and the community as part of the SAAAPA Student Society, the SCM Student Executive Council, and the OU-Tulsa Student Government. PA program faculty and graduates fulfill service and leadership roles at the state and local level, including committee membership on the PA Advisory Committee of the Oklahoma Medical Board, board positions in the Oklahoma Academy of Physician Assistants, and clinical leadership within the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Several graduates from the inaugural class have served as faculty for the program and many more graduates donate their time as guest lecturers and preceptors.

Student Society leadership roles filled: 100%                            Goal: 100% 

Diversity Statement

The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine holds diversity as a value at the very core of its educational, research, service and health care missions. The College recognizes that diversity embraces race, ethnicity, gender, religion, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation and disability. Learn more about diversity, equity, and inclusion at The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.

In upholding this value of diversity, the PA Program is committed to the following goals:

1. Increase equity and inclusion by attracting and retaining students, faculty, and staff from diverse backgrounds, and by ensuring success in an environment where all have the opportunity to thrive.

2. Enhance learning development through diversity in the formal and informal curricula. 

Accreditation

The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) has granted Accreditation-Continued status to the University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine Physician Assistant Program sponsored by the University of Oklahoma. Accreditation-Continued is an accreditation status granted when a currently accredited program is in compliance with the ARC-PA Standards.

Accreditation remains in effect until the program closes or withdraws from the accreditation process or until accreditation is withdrawn for failure to comply with the Standards. The approximate date for the next validation review of the program by the ARC-PA will be March 2024. The review date is contingent upon continued compliance with the Accreditation Standards and ARC-PA policy. The program’s accreditation history can be viewed on the ARC-PA website here.

The University of Oklahoma is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission/A Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (HLC/NCA), 30 North LaSalle St., Suite 2400, Chicago, IL 60602; 312/263-0456.

Graduate Performance on Certification Exam

Congratulations to our past graduates on their oustanding performance on their certification exam. Past pass rates may be found here.

OU-TU School of Community Medicine Information Sessions

The OU-TU School of Community Medicine hosts information sessions several times a year for students interested in pursuing a MD or PA degree. Each two-hour session consists of a presentation about the OU-TU School of Community Medicine, the details about each program and the necessary prerequisites. After the presentation, a question and answer session with current medical and physician assistant student occurs. 

Itinerary

4pm - 5pm:

  • Information about the OU-TU School of Community Medicine
  • PA Program Detail and Prerequisites
  • MD Program Detail and Prerequisites

5pm - 6pm:

  • Introduction of current MD and PA Students
  • Q & A with current MD and PA Students

Information Session Registration

Information Sessions are conducted every month from 4:00pm-6:00pm in the OU-Tulsa Learning Center on the Schusterman Center campus at 41st and Yale.

For upcoming dates and to RSVP, please click on the link below.

Follow this link to register.