Within Physician Assistant

Curriculum

Physician Assistant Program

D'Youville's Physician Assistant Department is innovative in that it meets the needs of traditional freshman, and transfer students with varied medical training and educational backgrounds. The program offers a 4 1/2 year BS/MS curriculum.

BS/MS Curriculum

This track is appropriate for:

Traditional freshman students;
Applicants with an Associates Degree;
Applicants with a BS/BA or Masters degree in a field outside of the sciences;
Applicants who must complete some of the professional phase pre-requisites.

The PA curriculum is sequential and progressive. Students must successfully complete all components of the first and second year curriculum (pre-professional) before matriculating into the third year (didactic phase) of the program. If a student fails to meet the standards for even one course in the pre-professional phase of the curriculum, she/he will not be allowed to progress to the didactic phase.

Similarly, students must successfully complete all didactic (third year) courses before being accepted into the clinical/graduate phase of the program. If a student fails to meet the standards for even one course in the didactic phase of the curriculum, she/he will not be allowed to progress to the clinical phase.

You'll graduate six months faster than at other programs, because during your clinical rotation phase you'll also be taking graduate courses. Our curriculum combines the clinical cycle with the graduate coursework, so that students take graduate courses during evenings, online, as independent study, and during scheduled breaks during the clinical phase. The advantage of this innovative curricular combination is that our students graduate earlier, and do not have to take time away from clinical experience.

Course of Study for 4 1/2-year BS/MS

Pre-Professional Phase

First Year (35 Credits)

Fall
English Communication 1
Human Anatomy & Physiology 1 w/Lab
General Chemistry 1 w/Lab
Computers & Computing
Developmental Psychology

Spring
English Communication 2
Human Anatomy & Physiology 2 w/Lab
General Chemistry 2 w/Lab
Introduction to Applied Statistics
Sociology

First Year Summer (9 Credits)

3 Humanities

Second Year (36 Credits)

Fall
Organic Chemistry I w/Lab
Microbiology w/Lab
Ethics or Religion & Social Responsibility
Medical Terminology
Choice of PSC/ECO course
History

Spring
Biochemistry
Human Gross Anatomy and Lab
Challenges of Death
Bioethics Seminar
Pathophysiology

Second Year Summer (9 Credits)

3 Electives

Professional Phase

Third Year (29 Credits)

Fall
Clinical Medicine 1
Clinical Laboratory Medicine 1
Behavioral Medicine
Physical Diagnosis 1
Pharmacology 1

Spring
Clinical Medicine 2
Clinical Laboratory Medicine 2
Physical Diagnosis 2
Pharmacology 2 Clinical Skills

Clinical Phase

Entry to this phase of the curriculum requires successful completion of all required courses in the didactic (3rd year) phase.

Clinical Rotations (27 Credits)

The clinical rotations in the fourth year of the program will consist of rotations in the following disciplines:

Internal Medicine, 4 weeks
Family Medicine, 4 weeks
General Surgery, 4 weeks
General Pediatrics, 6 weeks
Obstetrics & Gynecology, 4 weeks
Psychiatry, 4 weeks
Emergency Medicine, 4 weeks
Orthopedics, 4 weeks
Geriatrics, 2 weeks

Graduate Courses (30 Credits)

Professional Issues, Clinical Elective I, Clinical Elective II, Primary Care, Graduate Seminar I, Graduate Seminar II, Applied Research Methods, Applied Project Seminar I, Applied Project Seminar II, Choice of two of the following: Neuroanatomy, Advanced Medical Microbiology, Alternative Medicine, Medical Epidemiology

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