Mission and Goals

The Stanford School of Medicine's Master of Science in PA Studies program regards the diversity of an entering class as an important factor in serving the mission and goals of our program. We define diversity broadly, including but not limited to early educational environment, socioeconomic status, culture, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and life and work experiences. We have succeeded in recruiting diverse and highly qualified students, as noted in the data below.  Our first cohort of students matriculated in 2017 and graduated in 2020. The characteristics of the MSPA classes of 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 are presented below.

Entering characteristics of the MSPA Classes of 2020-2023

Average age: 25 years

Gender: 84% female

1st generation college student: 21%

State of origin: California 51%; 25 US states represented

Underrepresented minority*: 22%

Educationally/Economically Disadvantaged#: 30%

Academic Performance

GPA (mean): Overall: 3.65, Science: 3.62

GRE (% mean): Quantitative: 59, Verbal: 79, Analytic: 78

Experience Hours (mean hours): Clinical: 2,858; Research: 949; Volunteer: 574

*URM as defined by the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD): Black, African-American or African; Hispanic or Latino; American Indian, Native American or Native Alaskan; Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander; and Asian other than Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Pakistani, Asian Indian, and Thai. 

#Per Health Resources and Services Administration variables collected at time of application.

MSPA students are introduced to the concept of patient-centered care and inter-professional health care teams early in their educational training through their PAs in Health Care I and Practice of Medicine (POM) courses.  PAs in Health Care I introduces the concept of patient-centered care, including collaboration, coordination, and care access, with the value placed on patients and their family preferences and taking into account cultural traditions and socioeconomic conditions.  An emphasis is placed on the importance of patients and their families being part of the care team and an integral part of decision making. The introductory concepts of patient-centered care are expanded upon in the POM course through an extensive program of simulated medical encounters with patients and families, focusing on providing patient-centered care. 

Within the POM course, MSPA students undergo core skills training in medical interviewing and the physical examination alongside Stanford MD students, providing both groups of students an opportunity to understand each other's role within the healthcare team.  In addition, during the POM curriculum students learn about the roles of other members of the healthcare team, including nurses, nutritionists, respiratory therapists, physical therapists, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists.  Students also spend time in the healthcare setting, learning from the aforementioned clinicians to better understand the importance of the healthcare team. The specific role that PAs play within healthcare is expanded upon throughout the didactic and clinical curriculum.

The MSPA program provides students with a clinically practicing Stanford PA as a mentor (E4C-PA) upon matriculation to the program. The E4C-PA provides numerous opportunities for shadowing and for networking with other clinical PAs at Stanford. Through shadowing and participation in medical community interest groups, students have many opportunities to explore various disciplines of medicine. Beyond their required clerkships, our students are provided with three elective clerkship opportunities to train in any field of medicine at Stanford that is of interest. Our curriculum prepares graduates to manage acute, chronic, preventative, and emergent encounters in various health care settings, across the age spectrum.  Additionally, it offers advanced concepts in sub-specialty areas along with training in clinical and procedural skills required for sub-specialty practice.

Below is a partial list of practice areas for our past and current students:

• Adolescent and Adult Congenital Heart Disease
• Cardiac Surgery
• Emergency Medicine
• Geriatrics 
• Head and Neck Oncology
• Hospitalist Medicine
• Neurosurgery
• Occupational Health
• Orthopedic Spine Surgery
• Orthopedics
• Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Pediatric Cardiovascular Critical Care
• Pediatric Kidney Transplant
• Pediatric Neurosurgery
• Plastic Surgery
• Primary Care
• Surgical Oncology
• Trauma
• Women's Health

Of the MSPA Class of 2020, 15% are working in an underserved healthcare area.

Of the MSPA Class of 2020, 41% of graduates are now working in the Stanford healthcare community.

During their education in the MSPA program, our students explore and take courses within one of five leadership tracks --community health, medical education, health services and policy research, clinical research, or healthcare administration. This education provides the tools and skills they will need to become healthcare leaders. In addition, students receive leadership training during their clerkship years on-call-back-day intensives.

The first MSPA cohort (Class of 2020), has just begun their journey as PAs.  We look foward to following their careers and will be tracking their leadership roles and activities.  Some highlights to date are listed below. 

• Publications: 
  • Humphrey (MSPA 2020). Optimizing the Future Competitiveness of the PA Profession.  J Allied Health.Health, 2021;50(1):e17-e21.
  • Hix (MSPA 2020). Experience of the Irish Physician Associate Role: PA and Supervising Consultant Perspective. Int J Healthcare. 2020 Oct;7(1): 18-28. 
  • Hix (MSPA 2020). An Initial Exploration of the Physician Assistant Role in Germany, J Physician Assist Educ. 2020 Mar;31(1):42-47.
  • Donovan (MSPA 2020). The Hybrid Electronic Medical Registry Allows Benchmarking of Quality of Trauma Care: A Five-Year Temporal Overview of the Trauma Burden at a Major Trauma Centre in South Africa. World J Surg. 2019 Apr;43(4):1014-1021.
• Presentations:
  • Eichler (MSPA 2020). Pain in Adults with Congenital Heart Disease.  International Symposium on Congenital Heart Disease in the Adult. Invited for oral presentation (top 3 abstract). 2019 Skamania, WA.
• Awards and Honors:
  
  • Polevoi (MSPA 2022). PAEA Future Educator Fellowship. 2020.