New Graduate School PA Medicine Launches at Recently Opened Greer Campus
North Greenville University has added a Graduate School of Health Science, which offers one of the few Master of Medical Science degrees in the area.
NGU’s T. Walter Brashier Graduate School received accred- itation for the new program, also known as the physician assistant (PA) medicine program, from the Southern Asso- ciation of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) in November 2016.
“We came through with flying colors,” says Dr. Samuel Isgett, NGU’s vice president for adult and graduate studies.
Then, in January 2017, classes officially began for PA medi- cine — a professional degree program intended to prepare students academically and professionally for responsibili- ties and services as a PA — at NGU’s new campus in Greer, S.C.
NGU’s PA medicine program is one of 218 programs in the nation, one of only three in South Carolina, and the only one of its kind offered in Upstate South Carolina, making it very competitive to enter. In fact, NGU graduate school faculty members selected only 20 students, out of the more than 500 applicants, to participate in NGU’s inaugu- ral PA medicine class.
“The program places NGU on the cutting edge of health- care education,” says Isgett.
The hands-on program seeks to develop well-informed and compassionate PAs who provide patient-centered and
service-oriented medical care in diverse environments. This entry-level master’s degree program consists of 131 semes- ter hours of graduate work, divided into three phases that span 24 consecutive months.
The three phases begin with the Didactic Phase, which consists of a preclinical year. The second phase, the Clinical Phase, consists of 11 months of supervised clinical edu- cation and coursework. During this phase, students build upon the knowledge and skills acquired during the Didac- tic Phase by participating in experiential learning in eight supervised clinical practice settings: family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, emergency medicine, surgery, psychiatry/mental health, and one elective setting of the student’s choosing. The one-month Summative Phase, the final stage of training, serves to evaluate students.
“One thing that makes our program unique is that it operates within the scope of NGU’s service-oriented, Christ-centered mission,” says Isgett. “Our faculty is made up largely of young and mid-career PA educators and experienced anatomists, physicians, and pharmacologists who bring a wealth of experience and depth of knowledge to the program. And each one of them is a Christian who affirms NGU’s mission.”
In addition to SACSCOC accreditation, the PA medicine program at NGU is also provisionally accredited by the Ac- creditation Review Commission on Education for the Phy- sician Assistant (ARC-PA), the national accrediting agency for PA programs. This accreditation guides the
ngu.edu | 5
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36
