Master of Physician Assistant Studies
Become a Physician Assistant. Impact Healthcare. Improve Patient Care.Residential | Full-Time | 28 Months
SEMESTERS OF CLINICAL ROTATIONS
CLINICAL SETTINGS
CONSECUTIVE SEMESTERS
PROJECTED ANNUAL ENROLLMENTS
Highlights
Clinical Simulation Practice
Patient care is foundational to our program, so we offer hands-on experience long before you even start clinical rotations. Our didactic-phase students engage in weekly, team-based simulated patient cases starting in the second semester. By the time they’re working with real patients during clinical rotations, our students are ready to hit the ground running.
Innovative Curriculum
Our commitment to evidence-based practice empowers students to adapt within an evolving world of medicine. Our constantly updated curriculum keeps our students on the cutting edge of best practice, while preparing them for success on their certification exams.
Clinically-Practicing Faculty
Our PA faculty aren’t just scholars—they’re practicing clinicians. You’ll learn from Physician Assistants who draw on real-life experiences that help deepen your understanding of the field.
Avenue to Earn Your Doctor of Medical Science
Your educational path doesn’t have to end with an MPAS, because RMU offers a Doctor of Medical Science (DMSc) to further elevate your expertise. This clinical doctorate, designed for working PAs, equips students to lead teams, educate, and specialize their practice. We can even transfer a select number of credits from your MPAS program, so getting your DMSc has never been more convenient.
International Service-Learning Opportunities
RMUoHP students are privileged to have the opportunity to participate in a service-learning course that culminates with an international expedition. Every summer, teams of faculty, administrators, and students have the opportunity to travel to developing countries, where we provide humanitarian aid and experience evolving healthcare systems. Recent expeditions to destinations like Mexico and Malawi have helped us forge a unique professional perspective.
MISSION & VISION
In harmony with the mission of Rocky Mountain University of Health Profession (RMU), the Physician Assistant (PA) Program has established the following mission and vision:
The mission of the RMU PA Program is to educate students to become competent physician assistants who value and provide comprehensive, evidence-based, patient-centered care and are committed to lifelong-learning, professional excellence, and collaborative practice.
The vision of the RMU PA Program is to:
-foster a culture of growth mindedness, unity of purpose, collegiality, and perpetual desire for self-directed learning,
-deliver a richly balanced, application-based curriculum centered on critical principles of health, wellness, and disease,
-graduate self-reflective professionals with adept clinical reasoning skills and keen sensitivity to unique patient needs,
-and empower students to become digitally literate clinicians proficient in applying information technologies and collaborative networking skills to improve patient care.
MPAS Program Curriculum
We designed our curriculum to prepare the next generation of knowledgeable healthcare providers. You’ll gain the experience and expertise to positively impact patients and the PA profession as a whole.
Clinical Medicine Courses
With more than 15 clinical medicine courses, we provide a broad education for future clinicians. These courses include women’s health, surgery, emergency medicine, cardiology, behavioral health, infectious disease, endocrinology, pediatrics, and much more. Find how these courses of study can make you the most competitive professional possible.
Supervised Clinical Practice Experience (SCPE)
Three semesters of SCPEs transform knowledge into practice. Experts in the field lend supervision and guidance to students engaging in surgery, emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, women’s health, behavioral health, and an elective.
Interprofessional Practice
Students have the opportunity to work with interprofessional teams from programs across the university that foster a multidisciplinary approach to patient care. This means you’ll integrate your practice with other healthcare providers—like PTs and SLPs—to meet complex challenges with comprehensive solutions.
Evidence-Based Practice
Our students become competent consumers of current research which can transfer to a patient care setting. We teach a simplified approach to research interpretation that equips you with the tools to analyze the latest scholarship. This evidence-based strategy ensures that our graduates remain at the forefront of best practice throughout their careers.
IMPORTANT DATES
Summer 2023
Application Deadline: October 1, 2022
Semester Start: May 8, 2023
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
- Submitted CASPA application
- Bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited institution prior to matriculation into the program
- Minimum 3.20 cumulative GPA with a minimum 3.00 Science GPA
- Completion of prerequisite courses
- GRE scores:
- Aggregate Verbal and Quantitative (V+Q) Reasoning ≥ 290 (see full Admission Requirements)
- Analytical Writing: ≥ 3.5
- At least 250 direct patient contact hours
- Minimum of 3 references (at least one from a physician assistant, MD, DO, or NP is strongly recommended)
- Experience shadowing a physician assistant (highly recommended)
- Minimum of 300 hours of community service or involvement is strongly recommended
Vaccination Requirements: Admitted students of the MPAS program will receive vaccination forms regarding required vaccinations. Not all vaccinations or proof of immunity are required at the beginning of the program, but many are. The University allows for vaccination exemptions and more information about the University’s position on vaccination as well as information regarding exemption can be reviewed at https://rm.edu/vaccination-statement/
The MPAS program requires the following vaccinations and testing (these are subject to change depending on public health concerns):
- Hepatitis B (vaccination and titer required)
- MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination or titers)
- Varicella (vaccination or titer)
- Tdap (booster for tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis)
- Meningococcal
- COVID-19
- Annual Influenza
- Tuberculosis testing (PPD or Quantiferon)
Faculty and Staff
Tyler Sommer
MPAS, PA-C
Program Director, Master of Physician Assistant Studies
Lauren Stanford
DMSc, PA-C
Director of Didactic Education
Amber Collins
M.Ed
Director of Clinical Education
Tye Jensen
MPAS, PA-C
Eric Smart
MD
Medical Director
Jon Baird
DMSc, PA-C, ATC
Faculty, Master of Physician Assistant Studies
Alan Bybee
MPA, PA-C
Part-Time Faculty, Master of Physician Assistant Studies
Bradley Doll
MPAS, PA-C
Faculty, Master of Physician Assistant Studies
Viet Le
MPAS, PA-C
Part-Time Faculty, Master of Physician Assistant Studies
Bryan Nelson
DMSc, PA-C
Faculty, Master of Physician Assistant Studies
Cecile Pryor
MPH
Faculty, Master of Physician Assistant Studies, Admissions Manager
Marie Pittman
DMSc, PA-C
Part-Time Faculty, Master of Physician Assistant Studies
Jennifer Orchard
MPA, JD
Assistant Director of Clinical Education
Maren Mather
Clinical Recruitment and Retention Coordinator
Sarah Lee
Clinical Coordinator II
Rachel Ayers
Program Operations Coordinator
Franci Warner
PROGRAM ACCREDITATION
The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA) has granted Accreditation-Continued status to the Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions Physician Assistant Program sponsored by Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. 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 March 2029. The review date is contingent upon continued compliance with the Accreditation Standards and ARC-PA policy.
The program’s accreditation history can be viewed on the ARC-PA WEBSITE at http://www.arc-pa.org/accreditation-history-rocky-mountain-university-of-health-professions/
Graduates of programs accredited by the ARC-PA or its predecessors are eligible to take the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE). Certification is required to be eligible for licensure to practice as a Physician Assistant. PA program graduates are deemed as having graduated from an accredited program if their PA educational program was accredited at the time of their matriculation.
UNIVERSITY ACCREDITATION
Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (8060 165th Avenue NE Ste 100, Redmond, WA 98052-3981), an institutional accrediting body recognized by the Secretary of the US Department of Education.