Curriculum.
An effective curriculum provides teachers, students, school leaders and community stakeholders with a
measurable plan and structure for delivering a quality education. The curriculum identifies the learning
outcomes, standards and core competencies that students must demonstrate before advancing to the next
level.
Why??
ARC Standard(s).
A3.12g: The program must define, publish and make readily available to enrolled and prospective students
general program information to include: program required competencies for entry level practice, consistent with
the competencies as defined by the PA profession.
B1.03: For each didactic and clinical course (including required and elective rotations), the program must
define and publish learning outcomes and instructional objectives, in measurable terms that can be assessed,
and that guide student acquisition of required competencies.
D1.03: Prior to the ARC-PA provisional comprehensive evaluation site visit, the program must have a
complete curriculum and institution-approved curriculum and have established evaluation methods for all
didactic and clinical components of the program.
Programs must define and describe:
a) what learners will be able to do after completing a program (our outcomes)
b) the K/S/A/B required to achieve program outcomes (competencies)
When developing curriculum (what we’re choosing to teach/our competencies), we must keep
assessment in mind.
 Must be able to objectively and effectively assess everything we teach (assessment methods).
Assessment is our attempt to ensure we’re giving learners what we said we’d give them.
To demonstrate compliance with ARC Standards RE: curriculum, many programs publish the 4-org
comps for professional PAs (not new graduates) and related competencies on their website
(i.e. our students will be able to do this when they finish)
Example: UC Davis
Patient Care. Patient care includes patient- and setting-specific assessment, evaluation, and management.
Physician assistants must demonstrate care that is effective, safe, high quality, and equitable.
Physician assistants are expected to:
 work effectively with physicians and other health care professionals to provide patient- centered care demonstrate
compassionate and respectful behaviors when interacting with patients and their families
 obtain essential and accurate information about their patients
 make decisions about diagnostic and therapeutic interventions based on patient information and preferences, current
scientific evidence, and informed clinical judgment
 develop and implement patient management plans
 counsel and educate patients and their families
 perform medical and surgical procedures essential to their area of practice
 provide health care services and education aimed at disease prevention and health maintenance
 use information technology to support patient care decisions and patient education
Medical Knowledge. Medical knowledge includes the synthesis of pathophysiology, patient presentation, differential
diagnosis, patient management, surgical principles, health promotion, and disease prevention.
Physician assistants must demonstrate core knowledge about established and evolving biomedical and clinical sciences
and the application of this knowledge to patient care in their area of practice. In addition, physician assistants are
expected to demonstrate an investigative and analytic thinking approach to clinical situations.
Physician assistants are expected to understand, evaluate, and apply the following to clinical scenarios:
 evidence-based medicine
 scientific principles related to patient care
 etiologies, risk factors, underlying pathologic process, and epidemiology for medical conditions
 signs and symptoms of medical and surgical conditions
 appropriate diagnostic studies
 management of general medical and surgical conditions to include pharmacologic and other treatment modalities
 interventions for prevention of disease and health promotion/maintenance
 screening methods to detect conditions in an asymptomatic individual
 history and physical findings and diagnostic studies to formulate differential diagnoses
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Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) Frameworks
CBME is an outcomes-based approach to the design, implementation, and evaluation of education
programs and to the assessment of learners across the continuum that uses competencies and
observable abilities.
Why EPAs?
EPAs are observable abilities (OUTCOMES). They are written in terms that make sense to students,
patients, preceptors, prospective employers, etc..
In contrast to what UC Davis publishes, these are outcomes published on Weber State University’s PA
Program Website:
The Weber State University Department of Physician Assistant Medicine will prepare you to become a medical provider,
qualified to work in a variety of healthcare settings with the ability to:
 Interview a patient/family to obtain a medical history
 Perform a technically proficient physical exam and mental status exam
 Prioritize a differential diagnosis
 Recommend, order, and interpret diagnostic and screening tests
 Perform basic clinical procedures
 Identify a patient requiring urgent/emergent care and initiate evaluation and management
 Develop and implement treatment plans that include clinical and/or pharmacologic interventions, referrals to members
of the healthcare team, and patient counseling/education
 Document and present a clinical encounter
 Participate as a member of an interprofessional team
 Contribute to a culture of safety and quality
To achieve/perform an EPA (PLO), students are required to learn and implement competencies from various
domains. See the diagram/illustration on Teams.
WSU EPAs (as above):
1. Interview a patient/family to obtain a medical history.
2. Perform a technically proficient physical and mental status exam.
3. Prioritize a differential diagnosis following collection of medical history and exam data.
4. Recommend, order, and interpret diagnostic and screening tests.
5. Perform basic technical procedures when indicated in the course of patient care.
6. Identify patients requiring a higher level of care and initiate appropriate evaluation and management.
7. Develop and implement treatment plans include clinical and/or pharmacologic interventions, referrals to members of the
healthcare team, and patient counseling/education.
8. Document and present a clinical encounter.
9. Participate as a member of an interprofessional team.
10. Contribute to a culture of safety and quality.
See WSU application B1.01b narrative for more information and the resources used to develop our curriculum.
ARC Definitions to keep in mind:
Competencies: The medical knowledge, interpersonal, clinical and technical skills, professional
behaviors, and clinical reasoning and problem-solving abilities required for PA practice.
Learning Outcomes: The medical knowledge, interpersonal, clinical and technical skills, professional
behaviors, and clinical reasoning and problem-solving abilities that have been attained at the
completion of a curricular component, course or program.