A point of Contention in PA Education

        In this commentary, I will discuss my opinion about a recent trend noticed in the PA academic sphere. Many, if not many PA programs are failing our prospective colleagues in their professional preparation to become competent, skillful clinicians. This is based & derived from my own past observations from my own past precepting/teaching experiences and occasional lecture presentations, even to practicing PAs. And w/o much fanfare, I will get to the issue at hand in my next paragraph as shown below. 

My main point of contention is that they believe that the current PA curriculum being taught has no room or need for Clinical Risk Management exposure at this stage of training. As some of their experts–as read recently in a blog– would have you believe. They hold the view that this would better serve as a post-PA school training pursuit in the form of CME through their various venues of teaching/training. 

I would disagree, and here is why: This author believes that these rationalizations are flawed given the push for adding other “nonessential” PA courses into their curriculum; namely Nutritional training and others for our students. This is one of the most common ones discussed in some PA forums. 

            This is the dilemma: they fail to see their pedagogical myopia when it comes to our students and the community at large, by dismissing teaching them how to mitigate and shield their careers from legal landmines encountered in the everyday practice of medicine. For that same reason, I am strongly in disagreement favoring a more tangible “investment in a quality education/course”. One that would have better “return of investments” sort of speak. 

I would further add, this is not only necessary but vital to develop confident clinicians in providing care in a very litigious industry, I believe that identifying and using a set of curricular Risk Management standards in this regard at the national level for PA students is more than a good idea. Not only would it mean they would feel empowered to tackle legal minefields based on sound proved risk management practices & methodologies. But moreover, it would be a step in the right direction towards ensuring sound training for all students, regardless of the particular PA program enrolled. 

I realize and wholeheartedly admit Education is a dynamic field and granted almost every change in the realm of education has a direct impact on us as educators, students, and practitioners at large. Therefore, it is important and incumbent that we be ready to accept this new paradigm and be prepared to learn and use effective new methods and techniques that would not only enhance our PA curricula but would benefit our students in their career journeys. 

With this in mind, we must always entertain relevant educational issues and seek out educational offerings that add and not detract from their careers, rather by elevating their professional development with substantive subject matter exposure topics.