University Of Dubuque Physician Assistant Program

The University of Dubuque Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies Program, a fully accredited program, prepares and educates clinicians in all aspects of health care with special emphasis placed on primary care in rural and under-served areas. PAs are medical professionals who diagnose illness, develop and manage treatment plans, prescribe medications, and often serve as a patient's principal healthcare provider. PAs play a vital role in increasing patient access to high-quality care and are able to do this because of their general medical training based on the medical model. The PA Program is located on the beautiful University of Dubuque campus situated inside Linda Chlapaty Hall which was constructed specifically to house the PA program, including classrooms, labs, exam rooms, & offices, and was dedicated in Sept. 2016. It adjoins the University Science Center and provides students with state of the art equipment and facilities including cadaver lab, skills lab, & exam room suite. Students accepted into the MSPAS program hold a minimum of a bachelor's degree &, on average, have 3700 hours of direct patient contact experience. Students spend 15 months in the pre-clinical phase with classroom instruction in anatomy, physiology, physical examination, pharmacology, skills and procedures, clinical medicine, & evidence-based medicine. The following 11 months are spent in the clinical phase comprised of supervised clinical rotations where students gain hands-on experience in the core areas of family medicine, rural medicine, general surgery, emergency medicine, pediatrics, women's health, psychiatry, and internal medicine, plus two electives. The 27th month is spent back on campus to complete the clinical phase capstone project and a review course. We are proud to report the class of 2021's achievement of a 100% first-time pass rate - PA national certification exam and we hope you join us to make an impact on healthcare!