Thank You for the Gift! No abstract available

Physician Assistant Students' Perceptions of Cultural Competence in Providing Care to Diverse Populations Purpose To determine physician assistant (PA) students' perceived levels of preparedness to treat patients from culturally diverse backgrounds. Methods An online survey with quantitative and qualitative components was distributed to students at 8 PA programs in different geographic locations of the United States. The survey used a modified version of the previously validated Self-Assessment of Perceived Level of Cultural Competence Questionnaire and evaluated PA students' knowledge, skills, encounters, attitudes, awareness, and abilities regarding cultural competence, as well as students' evaluation of these components of their education. Descriptive statistics were generated using SPSS software, and qualitative findings were analyzed for common themes. Results PA students rated their attitudes, awareness, and abilities about cultural competence as significantly greater than their cultural knowledge, skills, and encounters. Second-year students and racial minority students reported higher personal ratings for levels of cultural competence. Most PA students reported being well prepared (39%) or moderately prepared (46%), compared to those who did not feel at all prepared (15%). Students indicated that specific classes focusing on cultural topics, discussions about cultural issues, and clinical experiences were the most useful for promoting cross-cultural education. Conclusion While PA students perceive cultural competence to be important, they appear to be deficient in the areas of cultural knowledge, skills, and encounters. Integrating cultural competence courses, cultural discussions, and clinical rotations involving diverse patient populations should be encouraged throughout PA training as they may strengthen students' preparedness to provide cross-cultural care.

Strength in Differences? The Importance of Diversity to Students When Choosing a Physician Assistant Program Purpose Physician assistant (PA) programs are the linchpin of endeavors to increase the diversity of the PA profession. Key to this role is understanding whether students from various backgrounds value certain program attributes differently. The current study investigated whether PA students' demographic characteristics were associated with their likelihood of having considered program diversity, and the importance they placed on program diversity when selecting a program to attend. Methods In 2017, 3882 recently matriculated PA students provided key demographic information (ie, gender, race, and ethnicity) and indicated whether they had considered student body and faculty diversity when choosing PA programs to attend. Those who had considered a factor then reported how important it was to them for their program to have that attribute. The current study investigated whether students' demographic characteristics were associated with their likelihood of considering PA program diversity and their subsequent ratings of the importance of program diversity. Results Female, Asian, and underrepresented racial and ethnic minority students, compared with male and non-Hispanic white students, were significantly more likely to consider program diversity when choosing PA programs to attend and rated program diversity as being more important. Conclusions Program diversity is a greater concern for female and racial and ethnic minority students when selecting PA programs to attend. Less diverse programs could potentially increase their appeal to minority students by highlighting opportunities to connect with communities of color outside of the PA program and by prioritizing the recruitment of minority faculty.

Student-Led Mobile Health Clinic: Patients Served and Learning Experience Purpose Community medicine curriculum prepares physician assistant (PA) students to provide services to vulnerable and underserved populations. This article describes a service-learning model that uses a mobile health clinic (MHC) experience as part of the community medicine rotation. It provides an overview of the clinic's operation, patient documentation and characteristics, and student learning experiences. Methods Students collected demographic information on patients who visited the MHC during January through December 2017. The students summarized patient demographics and reflected on their experiences in a report. Results Two main outcomes are discussed: characteristics of the MHC patients and student observations about their experiences. In 2017, 113 students rotated through the MHC and recorded 813 patient encounters. The largest proportions of patients reported living on the street or in a shelter (71%) and were older than 56 years (40%), males (74%), Caucasian (43%), single (65%), nonveterans (77%), and high school graduates (41%). The top 5 reasons for visits were preventive care, cognitive/functional impairment, cardiometabolic disorders, skin issues, and respiratory illness. The MHC experience and process of recording and analyzing demographic data contributed to students' data management and analytical skills. The students identified problems of recordkeeping and their implications for patient care, gained a greater understanding of medical needs and complexities of treating the homeless, and provided suggestions for improving quality and efficiency of care. Conclusions The MHC service-learning model provides diverse, meaningful experiences for students. Our findings benefit PA programs aiming to expand and strengthen their community medicine curriculum.

Impact of Variations in PACKRAT Administration: A Retrospective Review The Physician Assistant Clinical Knowledge Rating and Assessment Tool (PACKRAT) was developed to be an objective, comprehensive self-assessment tool for students. When the PACKRAT exam was initially developed, its goal was to help students determine what level of knowledge they currently possessed and what they had to learn prior to graduation. The purpose of this study was to review PACKRAT test-taker scores over the past 5 years and analyze the variations in test administration. Deidentified PACKRAT scores, exam length in minutes, and proctored or unproctored status, along with time extensions were analyzed from 2013 to 2018. Descriptive statistics and frequency counts were used to summarize the data. An independent samples t-test was used to determine if there was a difference in test-taker scores between proctored and unproctored exams. The 83,271 student test-taker exam data were analyzed, and time ranged from 180 to 360 minutes with a mean of 226.5 minutes. When comparing test-taker scores between proctored and unproctored exams, the mean scores were 145.02 and 144.77, respectively, with no significant difference. The Physician Assistant Clinical Knowledge Rating and Assessment Tool can be confidently used and compared to national scores whether a program administers the exam proctored or without a proctor. The average time taken for exam completion is close to the recommended 225 minutes that is suggested by Physician Assistant Education Association PACKRAT exam developers.

Effect of Online Training Modules and Virtual Patients on First-Year Physician Assistant Students' Confidence Levels Purpose Pilot study assessing impact of virtual patients (VPs) and online modules on first-year physician assistant (PA) student confidence in documentation performance. Methods Five VP cases (head, eyes, ears, nose, and throat; musculoskeletal; abdominal; neurological; and comprehensive history and physical examination) and one module (cardiac sounds) were implemented to complement the core PA curriculum. Results A VP-based protocol significantly improved student confidence for taking a history, performing a physical examination, and undertaking clinical reasoning as well as providing overall documentation confidence. These 3 subscales explain nearly half (49%) of overall pretraining confidence, increasing to nearly two-thirds (63%) of overall posttraining confidence. Stepwise regression finds confidence in clinical reasoning to be the only unique predictor of overall pretraining confidence. In contrast, confidence in history taking and physical exams uniquely predicts overall posttraining confidence. Conclusions Virtual patient cases and online modules help improve overall and dimension-specific documentation confidence, with different dimensions driving overall confidence pre- and posttraining. Implications for job efficacy are discussed.

Preparedness for Clinical Practice and the Development of Professional Competencies Purpose To assess students' level of perceived preparedness for clinical competencies and simultaneously identify the effective curricular methods to develop these competencies. Methods Prior to graduation students reported their level of preparedness for clinical practice using a modified Preparation for Hospital Practice Questionnaire and rated the most effective teaching methods to improve the development of clinical and professional competencies. Results Students gave a high rating to group dynamics and teamwork, along with continuous professional development. They felt least prepared in pharmacotherapeutics and the handling of medical emergencies. Rated most effective were didactic lecturing instruction for the acquisition of medical knowledge, standardized patient encounters and simulations for the promotion of interpersonal skills, case groups for the integration of knowledge and critical thinking, and interprofessional events for the maintenance of professional accountability. Conclusion This survey approach may lead to an efficient and focused method for improving clinical and professional competencies and serve as an additional self-assessment tool to support curriculum development and reform.

Video Technology to BOOST Preceptor Recruitment: A Mixed Methods Study Purpose This study's aim was to examine the impact of a brief video presentation for changing clinician knowledge and attitude about precepting physician assistant (PA) students. Methods In this mixed methods study, we developed a 12-minute video and made presentations to potential preceptors. Change in knowledge and attitudes was assessed with a pre/post survey. We conducted focus groups (FGs) to elicit barriers and motivators for precepting PA students and assessed acceptability and impact of the video. Results Twenty-three preceptors participated in three 45-minute presentations. Participants showed significant knowledge increase in 7 of 10 survey questions. After the presentation, willingness to precept PA students was high. Major FG themes were: teaching is motivating, need clarity about PA students' needs, need support to teach, prefer video presentation to email, and similarities with medical student teaching is positive. Conclusions A brief in-person video presentation is acceptable and is associated with increased knowledge and comfort in precepting PA students.

Addressing the Needs of the LGBTQ+ Population in Physician Assistant Education No abstract available

A Longitudinal Curriculum for Teaching Evidence-Based Medicine to Physician Assistant Students Using Shapes and POEMs No abstract available