PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTMASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAM

College of HealthProfessions750 East Adams StreetSyracuse, New York 13210

Physician Assistant Master’sDegree Program• Established at Central NewYork’s only medical university.• Great SUNY tuition.

Physician assistants:• Are highly qualified licensedhealth care professionals who practice medicine withphysician supervision.

• Complete a demanding academic and clinical curriculum.

• Are found in many settingsand disciplines.

• Examine, diagnose, and treatpatients. This includes: takingthe patient’s medical history,performing physical exams,ordering and interpretingdiagnostic tests, performingclinical procedures, and formulating plans for managing an illness.

For more information: Sandra Banas, MST RPA-CChair, Assistant ProfessorPhysician Assistant StudiesSUNY Upstate Medical University(315) 464-4570e-mail: admiss@upstate.eduwww.upstate.edu/chp/pa

Apply on line atwww.upstate.edu/chp/pa

SUNY Upstate Medical University Physician Assistant Master’s Degree Program

www.upstate.edu/chp/pa

• Primary care, including familypractice, pediatrics, and internal medicine

• Hospitals

• Emergency rooms

• Urgent care centers

• Nursing homes

• Medical subspecialties, such as cardiology, gastroenter-ology, endocrinology

• Surgical subspecialties, such as orthopedics, ENT, urology,plastic surgery

PA employment opportunities include:

WWW.UPSTATE.EDU/CHP/PA • SYRACUSE, NY

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Students in the PA program spendtheir first 15 months on campus, inSyracuse.The remaining 12 monthsare spent at clinical sites inCentral New Yorkcommunities.

PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTMASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAM

SUNY Upstate Medical University College of HealthProfessions

State University of New York

Physician Assistant ProgramDIDACTIC CURRICULUMYEAR I - Fall (starts June) CreditsSession I - 8 weeks Human Anatomy 9

Professional Issues I 1Population Medicine 1

Session II - 2 wks EKG Interpretation 1

Session III – 15 wks General Medicine I 5 Human Physiology I 3 Clinical Pharmacology I 4 Physical Diagnosis 2 Diagnostic Studies for Health 2 Care Providers

Interviewing & Documentation 2

SEMESTER BREAK – 2 WEEKS

YEAR I - Spring (starts January)Session I – 16 wks General Medicine II 5

Behavioral Science 3 Clinical Pharmacology II 4 Research Design & Evidence - Based Medicine 2

Human Physiology II 3 Advanced Physical Diagnosis 2

BREAK – 1 WEEK

Session II- 4 wks Pediatrics 2 Professional Issues II 1 Infection Control 1 Master’s Clinical Research I 1

YEAR II - Fall (starts June)Session I – 8 wks General Medicine III 3

Clinical Procedures 2 Clinical Decision Making 1

CLINICAL EXPERIENCEYEAR II - Fall (continued; starts August)Session II – 16 wks 17(4 rotations) + Master’s Clinical Research II

YEAR II - Spring (starts January)Session I – 20 wks 21(5 rotations) + 1 wk vacation + Master’s ClinicalResearch III

YEAR III (June - August)8 wks 8(2 rotations) + 1 wk competencies + Master’s Project Presentation

106

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTSPA admission requirements include:• Baccalaureate degree, including

General Biology I & II Anatomy & Physiology I & II (or a semester of each)General Chemistry I & IIOrganic Chemistry or BiochemistryMicrobiologyGeneticsStatisticsEnglish (2 courses, including composition)Behavioral or Social Science (2 courses)Medical TerminologyAll science courses, with the exception of genetics, require a lab.*Note: One biology and one chemistry course must be taken withinfive years of matriculation in the program.

• Suggested GPA of 3.0 or greater.• GRE scores ranked in the 50th percentile or greater.• 1,000 hours of paid or volunteer health care related experience.For a complete list of requirements, call (315) 464-4570, e-mailadmiss@upstate.edu or visit www.upstate.edu/chp/pa

• Shadowing of a PA is strongly recommended• Application Deadline: December 1

CLINICAL ROTATIONSA full year of the PA program is devoted to hands-on

experience in supervised patient care settings. These clinicalrotations will primarily be in rural or medically underserved

communities throughout UpstateNew York—including the regionssurrounding cities like Watertownand Binghamton, NY. Studentswill be responsible for acquiringtheir own housing and coveringtheir living expenses. Students canselect a desired region for theirrotations, and SUNY Upstate willattempt to place them withpreceptors in the area.

SUNY Upstate Medical University is located in Syracuse,the center of New York state. Built around the mission of excellence in education, research and patient care,SUNY Upstate employs 8,000 people at its colleges andhospitals and maintains a large network of volunteer faculty in practice settings across the state.

The physician assistant profession is one of the fastest growing inthe United States. To gain a state license and then practice, a PA mustgraduate from an accredited physician assistant program and pass thenational certification exam. The certification exam, developed by theNational Commission on Certification, is usually taken by students with-in the first few weeks of graduation.

The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for thePhysician Assistant (ARC-PA) has granted Accreditation - Continued tothe State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical UniversityPhysician Assistant Program sponsored by the State University of NewYork. Continued accreditation is an accreditation status granted when acurrently accredited program is in compliance with the ARC-PAStandards.

Continued Accreditation remains in effect until the program closesor withdraws from the accreditation process or until accreditation iswithdrawn for failure to comply with the Standards. The approximatedate for the next comprehensive review of the program by the ARC-PAwill be Spring 2016.

PROGRAM OVERVIEWThe PA master’s program is full-time, starts

in the summer, and is 27 months long.The first 15 months focus on classroom

training with a strong emphasis on basic sciences,pharmacology, clinical medicine, interviewingskills, physical diagnosis, diagnostic studies, professionalism and ethics, and research methods.

The remaining 12 months are spent in month-long rotations at supervised practice sites.In addition to these 11 clinical rotations, studentsmust complete a Master’s Project Seminar on arelevant medical topic of the student’s choosing.

PA students at SUNY Upstate study and train at the onlyacademic medical center in Central New York, one of only 134 in the country.

Our students have access to a renovated and expanded HumanAnatomy Lab and Health Sciences Library. They also practicetheir diagnostic skills at our Clinical Skills Center, one of onlyseveral such centers in the country. And during their clinicalrotations, which include a wide range of specialties, ourstudents work with experienced preceptors.

Physician Assistants practice medicine with physiciansupervision in many settings and in various medical andsurgical disciplines. The profession is one of the fastest growingcareers in the country and includes people with backgrounds innursing, emergency medicine, the military, sports medicine,exercise physiology and many others.

Although physician assistants can be found in all areas ofmedicine and surgery, our PA program focuses on primary carein medically underserved and rural areas of Upstate New York.

We are seeking candidates who will assist us in fulfilling ourmission, which involves serving these communities. Althoughout-of-state applicants are considered, preference will be givento residents of New York State.

Because we are part of the State University of New York, our graduate tuition rate for state residents is only $12,860 per year.(2015-16)

Our program has a June start date only. Deadline forapplications is December 1 of the year preceding matriculation.

Apply online at www.upstate.edu/chp/pa. To learn more about the PA program,

call (315) 464-4570 or e-mailadmiss@upstate.edu.

Sandra Banas, MST RPA-C Chair, Assistant Professor Physician Assistant Studies College of Health ProfessionsSUNY Upstate Medical University

“The personal attention I received from everyonewas incredible, and the work ethic required tosucceed at Upstate helped to prepare me for life asa working PA.”

-Chris Bertino, MS (Class of 2011) Cardiology PhysicianAssistant, Bassett Healthcare, Cooperstown