DMU’s Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies program has great reason to celebrate, as do we all on their behalf.
This week, the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) has granted Accreditation-Continued status to the program. “Accreditation-Continued” is an accreditation status granted when a currently accredited program is in compliance with the ARC-PA Standards.
Accreditation remains in effect until the program closes or withdraws from the accreditation process or until accreditation is withdrawn for failure to comply with the Standards. The approximate date for the next validation review of the program by the ARC-PA will be September 2025. The review date is contingent upon continued compliance with the Accreditation Standards and ARC-PA policy.
“I could not be more proud of the intense, creative, collaborative work everyone in this vital program delivered on a rather aggressive timeline,” said Jodi Cahalan, dean of the College of Health Sciences. “As our colleagues know, preparing for major accreditation visits and reviews adds tremendous stress to an already challenging environment. I commend each and every one of the members of the department for work that far exceeded the norm.”
The program has one standard for which a follow up report is due July 1, 2018. “They [ARC-PA] recognized the improvements the program has made to its self-study process, but want to see the results of the full implementation of this process including the results of critical analyses of all aspects of the program,” added Cahalan. “We know that milestone will be achieved and that DMU will continue to be an important national provider of Physician Assistants in many clinical settings.”
Accreditation is a process of review and assessment in which colleges, universities and other institutions of higher learning are evaluated. The standards for accreditation are set by peer review boards whose members include faculty from various accredited colleges and universities. The accreditation bodies help ensure academic programs deliver the curriculum and services that can best meet the needs of students, effectively preparing them for their chosen careers or areas of scholarly interest.
