Location:

Pocatello, United States

Program Type:

Full Degree

Degree Level:

Master

Specialty:

Physician Assistant

Program Overview

Program Description:

About the Program The Physician Assistant (PA) Program at Idaho State University awards the Master's of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) degree and a PA certificate upon successful completion of its 24 month graduate curriculum. A class of 60 students is enrolled each fall semester with 30 seats located at the Pocatello campus and 30 seats located at the Meridian campus. In 1995, the ISU PA program matriculated the first class of 19 students and graduated this class in 1997. Graduates received a Bachelor's of Science in Physician Assistant Studies degree. In 2004, the program graduated its first Master's level class, awarding the first ISU Master's of Physician Assistant Studies degree to 29 graduates. The program expanded to the Boise area in 2007 and in 2009, moved to the ISU-Meridian Health Science Center and matriculates 60 students per year. The curriculum offered in Meridian is exactly the same as the curriculum offered in Pocatello. Lectures given in Pocatello are delivered through video conferencing to Meridian and lectures given in Meridian are delivered through video conferencing to Pocatello. Application to the program is through the Central Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA). The program maintains continued accreditation by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc., (ARC-PA). Graduates of the program are eligible to take the Physician Assistant National Certification Examination (PANCE) which is administered by the National Commission for Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). Over the past five years 202 out of 214 students or 94% of ISU's PA Program graduates have passed the NCCPA examination on their first attempt. Four out of the past five years, ISU's first time pass rate has exceeded the national first time pass rate. The first-time pass rate was 100% for the Class of 2007, 79% for the Class of 2008, 96% for the Class of 2009, 96% for the Class of 2010 and 97% for the Class of 2011.

Additional Program Information

Accreditation:

Idaho State University is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.