History of the GW PA Program
The George Washington University Hospital began to employ a number of ex-military corpsmen with independent duty experience in 1969. They worked in the emergency room, under the direction of a physician. They sutured minor injuries, helped apply and remove casts, administered medications, drew blood, started intravenous fluids, took electrocardiograms, and performed simple lab tests. This experience was inordinately successful. A systems analysis in 1970 revealed that these ex-military corpsmen were accepted by house staff and faculty alike, who were impressed with their judgment and capability. The program was then expanded. The corpsmen were hired into the clinic where they performed functions similar to those established in the emergency room.
The GW Physician Assistant Program, established in September 1972, was built on this successful experience and was among the first in the nation in an academic medical center. This new educational program was conceived to be a partial solution to the health manpower shortage of primary care physicians. It was anticipated that these new health care practitioners would provide physicians with technically skilled personnel who could perform a number of tasks previously assumed to be the exclusive province of the physician. It was decided that the physician assistant should be "trained in parallel with the student of medicine."
In 1986 GW launched a joint Physician Assistant/Master of Public Health Degree (PA/MPH), option for students interested in the clinical application of preventive medicine to be taught in an integrated and simultaneous fashion. There were few precedents at GW for a joint undergraduate and graduate program and that there were no other PA/MPH programs in the nation. Now, all students earn a Master of Science in Health Sciences (MSHS) degree or a joint Master of Science in Health Sciences and Master of Public Health Degree (MSHS and MPH). The GW Physician Assistant Program is now a part of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences and has graduated more than 1,500 physician assistants. It has had continuous national accreditation since its inception.
About the PA Profession
Health care has become one of the top concerns of the United States as well as one of the world's largest and fastest-growing industries. Explosive growth in technology and research has brought greater complexity and expectations in health care delivery, resulting in soaring costs. With this complexity comes the need for skills to understand, evaluate, and manage new information. Patients' high expectations increase the demands for choice and quality in the delivery of services and technology.
Physician Assistants are highly qualified health professionals who are prepared to provide health care services under physician supervision. PAs gather and evaluate medical data and participate in the process of clinical decision making, diagnosis, and therapeutic management. In a primary care setting, PAs are often the initial contact for the patient, taking the history, performing the physical examination, and ordering appropriate tests. As a knowledgeable and skilled member of the health care team, the PA improves patients' access to health care and enhances physicians' effectiveness.
About the GW PA Program
The GW Physician Assistant Program focuses on preparing health professionals who will extend and complement the capabilities of physicians in the delivery of health care. Our faculty believes it is essential for all PA graduates to be well-rounded clinicians, prepared for a variety of medial careers.
We offer two graduate level programs: the traditional 2 year program leading to a Master of Science in Health Sciences degree (MSHS) and the 3 year joint program leading to both an MSHS and a Master of Public Health degree (MPH). Applicants to the joint PA/MPH program must meet admission requirements for both the MSHS and MPH programs.
It is important that GW PA students demonstrate the capacity to recognize the unique role of the PA and the scope of the professional responsibility inherent to the role. Every PA student should show proficiency in a common body of basic science knowledge and master the principles, knowledge, skills, and procedures of seven major medical disciplines: internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, emergency medicine, psychiatry, and primary care (ambulatory) medicine. Every candidate should meet basic technical standards by having the capacity to observe and communicate; sufficient motor ability to perform physical examinations, basic laboratory, diagnostic, and therapeutic procedures; emotional stability to exercise good judgment and work effectively in stressful situations; and the intellectual ability to integrate and synthesize data, solve problems, and formulate treatment plans.
