Students in Des Moines University’s Physician Assistant (PA) Program complete an academically rigorous 25-month curriculum. After graduation from the program, they must pass the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE) to become a certified physician assistant (PA-C). The PA Class of 2019 achieved a first-time PANCE pass rate of 100 percent, demonstrating they were well-prepared.
This is the second consecutive year that DMU’s PA program graduates achieved a perfect pass rate. The program’s first-time average pass rate for 2015-2019 is 99 percent. While the 2019 national average first-time pass rate of all PA program graduates will not be released until January 2020, that national rate for 2014-2018 was 95 percent.
“That’s an extraordinary accomplishment by our graduates,” says Holland Taylor, M.S.P.A.S., PA-C, interim chair of the Physician Assistant Department and herself a 2007 DMU PA graduate. “It speaks volumes about the quality of the students we attract, our curriculum and faculty, and the great mentorship of our program preceptors.”
Physician assistants are key members of health care teams in hospitals, multispecialty clinics, long-term care residences and other settings. DMU’s PA students enjoy a collaborative, supportive environment, close interaction with faculty and other students, state-of-the-art laboratories, and didactic and clinical experiences that equip them to work in primary care and medical specialties with well-honed clinical skills, professionalism and the ability to establish and maintain positive relationships with their patients and colleagues.
For more information about DMU’s physician program, visit its website.
