Penn College Hosts Seminar for Physician Assistant Educators
Published 12.19.2006
Faculty from physician assistant programs in four states met Dec. 8-10 at Pennsylvania College of Technology to attend a seminar on "Implementing an Evidence-Based Medicine Curriculum Into Physician Assistant Training."
Each of the colleges that traveled to the conference offers a master's degree for those studying to become physician assistants, and each is affiliated with a medical school. The participating colleges and universities represented Utah, New York, Georgia and Pennsylvania.
Three faculty from the University of Utah presented details of the university's graduate-level evidence-based medicine curriculum in its physician assistant program.
Evidence-based medicine curriculum encourages medical professionals to read published medical articles and studies to determine the current best evidence to help in making decisions about the care of their patients, combining the practitioner's expertise with the best available external clinical data.
An evidence-based medical curriculum includes teaching students how to research and interpret statistics and clinical studies.
The seminar, held in the college's Madigan Library, was co-sponsored by Penn College's physician assistant program and by its Workforce Development & Continuing Education Office. The seminar was approved by the American Academy of Physician Assistants to award continuing medical education hours to those who attended.
"The library was phenomenal," Paula D. Holmes, coordinator of the physician assistant program at Penn College, said, noting that library employees opened early and scheduled extra staff to help with the seminar. "We really appreciated it."
For more information about the physician assistant major or other programs offered by Penn College's School of Health Sciences, call (570) 327-4519, e-mail the school, or visit its Web site.
For information about continuing education and workforce training opportunities offered by the college, call (570) 327-4775 or visit the Workforce Development & Continuing Education Office's Web site.