Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jun 1;33(2):78-86.
doi: 10.1097/JPA.0000000000000421.

Initial Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Physician Assistant Education

Virginia Valentin  1   2   3   4   5 , Shahpar Najmabadi  1   2   3   4   5 , Mary Warner  1   2   3   4   5 , Ryan White  1   2   3   4   5 , Richard Dehn  1   2   3   4   5
Affiliations

Initial Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Physician Assistant Education

Virginia Valentin et al. J Physician Assist Educ. .

Abstract

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted United States (US) health professions educational programs. Physician assistant (PA) programs were forced to respond to rapidly changing circumstances early in the pandemic. This study describes the impact that the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic had on PA programs in the United States.

Methods: This cross-sectional study is based on data from the COVID-19 Rapid Response Report 1, conducted by the Physician Assistant Education Association in April 2020. The survey sample included 254 US PA program directors with a response rate of 64.2%. Our outcome measures included temporary changes to PA program operations and clinical training, and current and upcoming budget and tuition changes, as well as the impact of the pandemic on faculty and staff employment. We used descriptive statistics to summarize these outcomes, stratified by 4 categories characterizing features of PA programs, including geographical location, academic housing, funding model, and academic health center status.

Results: The COVID-19 pandemic impact on programs varied geographically. A majority of programs reported making numerous temporary changes to their operations. Most programs moved both didactic and clinical education to an online format. Clinical training was temporarily suspended at almost all programs.

Conclusions: PA programs continued training despite the pandemic. The long-term impact of the pandemic may be the instability of the PA education workforce.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

    1. As Covid-19 pummels budgets, colleges are resorting to layoffs and furloughs. Here's the latest. The Chronicle of Higher Education. 2020. https://www.chronicle.com/article/were-tracking-employees-laid-off-or-fu... . Accessed September 18, 2020.
    1. Here come the furloughs. Inside Higher Ed. 2020. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/04/10/colleges-announce-furloug... . Accessed September 18, 2020.
    1. Physician Assistant Education Association. By the Numbers: Program Report 34: Data from the 2018 Program Survey . Washington, DC: PAEA; 2019. https://paeaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/program-report-34-2019... . Accessed October 14, 2020.
    1. Neary S, Van Rhee J, Roman C. The effect of the Coronavirus pandemic on physician assistant educators. J Physician Assist Educ. 2020;31(3):121-125.
    1. Association of American Medical Colleges. Guidance on medical students' participation in direct in-person patient contact activities. 2020. https://www.aamc.org/system/files/2020-04/meded-April-14-Guidance-on-Med... . Accessed October 14, 2020.