Mission

The mission of Brenau’s Department of Physician Assistant Studies is to produce extraordinary physician assistants prepared to collaboratively practice with integrity and compassion in a variety of clinical and cultural settings.

Incorporating the values of liberal arts education throughout their education, our graduates prepare for their careers and professional lives through the college’s four pillars: evidence-based and reflective practice, contemporary scientific inquiry, clinical proficiency, and humanitarian altruism.

Vision

The Department of Physician Assistant Studies, in line with the mission of the Ivester College of Health Sciences, is thoughtful, intentional and strategic as it prepares its graduates to live extraordinary lives. The department will provide an inclusive learning environment and seek to recruit a diverse student body, providing opportunities for each student’s individual development as well as the advancement of physician assistant practice and the profession. Our culture will engender excellence, scholarship, altruism, integrity, collaboration and a sense of purpose in each of our students.

Goals

  1. To provide an inclusive environment that promotes the recruitment, retention and graduation of highly qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds.
  2. To deliver a student-centered, innovative curriculum that facilitates the successful achievement of established learning outcomes and expected competencies for entry into PA practice.
  3. To educate Physician Assistant students in a generalist model who will be prepared to practice in a variety of health care settings and disciplines with a solid foundation in behavioral/mental health and clinical experience in rural/medically underserved communities.
  4. To develop the students’ ability to conduct and effectively communicate a systematic evaluation of clinical research to improve clinical decision making and patient outcomes.
  5. Promote opportunities for faculty and students to engage in active and on-going professional, scholarly, and community service activities.

Physician Assistant Studies CORE Competencies

NCCPA PANCE Pass Rates and Attrition

The program’s NCCPA PANCE pass rates will be posted here when available after graduation of the first cohort in May 2023.

The table below is published to provide prospective students with information regarding attrition in the Brenau University Department of PA Studies. Our first cohort of 33 students matriculated in January 2021 and will graduate in May 2023; our second cohort of 33 students matriculated in January 2022 and will graduate in May 2024. This table will be updated as each cohort matriculates and/or graduates.

Graduated Classes
Class of 2023 Class of 2024 Class of 2025
Maximum entering class size (as approved by ARC-PA) 33 33 33
Entering class size 33 33 33
Graduates 31 # #
*Attrition rate 6% # #
**Graduation rate 94% # #
*Attrition rate calculation: Number of students who attritted from cohort divided by the entering class.
**Graduation rate: Number of cohort graduates divided by the entering class size.

Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination Exam Performance Summary Report

Class Class Graduation Year Group Number of Candidates who took PANCE Number of Exam Attempts Number of Exams Passed Program Exam Pass Rate National Exam Pass Rate for the Class Graduation Year % of Candidates Who Ultimately Passed PANCE
Class of 2023 2023 All Takers 31 36 31 86% 89% 100%
First Time Takers 31 31 27 87% 92% 100%

Program Outcomes

Program GoalMeasures of SuccessOutcomes
1. To provide an inclusive environment that promotes the recruitment, retention and graduation of highly qualified candidates from diverse backgroundsAdmissions data for each cohortGraduation data for each cohortMid and/or End of didactic year survey dataEnd of program survey dataSee outcome information below
Remainder of outcome data to be published upon availability
2. To deliver a student-centered, innovative curriculum that facilitates the successful achievement of established learning outcomes and expected competencies for entry into PA practiceMid and/or End of didactic year survey dataPACKRAT dataNCCPA PANCE pass rate dataGraduate survey dataEnd of program survey dataEmployer survey dataTo be published upon availability
3. To educate Physician Assistants in a generalist model who are prepared to practice in a variety of health care settings and disciplines with a solid foundation in behavioral and mental health and clinical experience in rural/medically underserved communitiesPACKRAT dataNCCPA PANCE pass rate dataGraduate survey dataEnd of program survey dataEmployer survey dataTo be published upon availability
4. To develop the students’ ability to conduct and effectively communicate a systematic evaluation of clinical research to improve clinical decision making and patient outcomesCapstone course outcomes for each studentGraduate capstone project dataGraduate survey dataEnd of program survey dataEmployer survey dataTo be published upon availability
5. Promote opportunities for faculty and students to engage in active and ongoing professional, scholarly, and community service activitiesData regarding faculty participation in national and state organizationsData regarding student participation in national and state organizationsData regarding faculty and student participation in community service activitiesData regarding ongoing faculty professional developmentData regarding ongoing faculty and student scholarly activitiesTo be published upon availability

Program Goal #1

The only data available at the present time is the admissions profiles of the two admitted classes and mid and end of didactic survey results.

As outlined on the admissions and tuition page, we are successful at admitting a diverse student body, as we are comparable or show better diversity than the averages reported by the PAEA Student Report 4. We are attempting to increase our hispanic matriculants to better represent the demographics of the county where the university is located.

Demographic measurePAEA average percentage of matriculated studentsBrenau DPAS average percentage of matriculated studentsHall County Georgia average demographics*
Gender
Male23.9%31%50%
Female76%69%50%
Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic82.9%90%70.2%
Race
White69.8%77%86%
Black / African American4.9%14%8.5%
Asian10.5%9%2.5%

* From https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/hallcountygeorgia