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Welcome to the Master of Medical Science in Physician Associate (PA) Studies Program at ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú University.

Offered at the beautiful Oxford campus, our program’s mission serves to build on a rich history. We are honored to be a part of ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú’s strong liberal arts education as one of the original eight “Public Ivy” schools, meaning that we offer only the highest quality educational opportunities -- where only the most ambitious students prepare for a lifetime of success.

We are equally honored to represent a profession with a proud and rich history. Physician associates have done so much to serve their communities by improving and expanding healthcare access as a creative solution to rising physician shortages.

Our mission in ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú’s Physician Associate Studies Program is to continue this legacy. Our graduates will be creating an environment that fosters compassionate, dynamic, well-rounded, and professional clinicians who have an interest in rural medicine, where these needs are most profound, while demonstrating a talent for clinical research. They will be best prepared to enrich the medical sciences and serve our communities.

The program is offered in our state-of-the-art , a vision of interprofessional and interdisciplinary collaborative partnerships. In addition to several lecture halls, the building boasts numerous key work spaces, including two large cadaver and anatomage centers, 18-bed physical skills lab, an open procedural trainer space, 12-bed standardized examination rooms, and a large 20-room simulation unit.

Our 27-month, 114-credit hour PA program is divided into a 15-month didactic experience, which is then followed by 12-months of four-week clinical rotations. The program will explore foundational medicinal concepts and professional growth through research.

The introductory semester ensures understanding of core sciences, before following a modular learning program built around organ systems, and then focused training and certifications within disciplines, including: basic life support, advanced cardiac life support, and pediatric advanced life-support.

Opportunities are presented throughout the program for students to prepare for clinical growth, in response to the developing literature and standards of care. The program nurtures a passion for research through a journal club, a rural public health poster assignment, student health review presentations, and mentor-supported manuscripts.

Clinical rotations ensure exposure to a variety of clinical practice styles, disciplines, patient populations and healthcare delivery systems. Such disciplines include: Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Behavioral Health, Pediatrics, General Surgery, Emergency Medicine, Orthopedics, and Four elective rotations 

By exploring several clinical centers and patient populations, students will be better equipped to consider where their clinical talents can better serve their communities.

ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú University’s PA program is designed to build a generalist, family medicine clinician with a service to predominantly rural, underserved communities.

We invite you to explore our university, program, and this rewarding profession!

Love and Honor,
Dr. Christopher M. Howell
Program Director & Associate Clinical Professor