Nazareth University is launching a master’s program for prospective physician assistants that gives students the ability to take courses online.
The hybrid format is meant to reach students who might not otherwise have access to this kind of instruction, said Heather Grotke, who is the program director and a PA herself.
“Our focus is really trying to train students who are in rural or medically underserved areas,” she said, “with hopes that they would then go back to those communities and provide medical care.”
Grotke said most of the classroom-based coursework will be available online, supplemented by periods of immersive in-person training.
“We'll be teaching skills like suturing, doing lumbar punctures, and putting catheters in,” she said. “As you can imagine, those are difficult things to do in an online format.”
Nazareth was able to expand their in-person offerings with a grant from New York state's Higher Education Capital Matching Grant Program, and a donation last year from Rochester philanthropist Tom Golisano. Physician assistant students will have access to state-of-the-art technology like medical manikins that can simulate human responses.
“It's amazing what these things can do,” Gotke said. “Their pupils can dilate and constrict, they can sweat, they can turn pale.”
The second year of the program will include supervised clinical rotations.
The program is open to those with an undergraduate degree and some experience in health care, like EMTs, paramedics, and social workers.
Physician assistant is one of two fastest growing professions in the medical field, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, along with nurse practitioner.