Trine Announces Physician Assistant Program
January 28, 2014
News Release
Angola, Ind. -- Trine University is partnering with Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne to develop a physician assistant program. The master-level program will be offered by Trine's School of Health Sciences, which was started last year.
"Trine's School of Health Sciences is proud to partner with Lutheran Hospital to cultivate a physician assistant program that will help meet the growing need for these healthcare professionals," Earl D. Brooks II, Ph.D., Trine president, said. "We're confident we can extend our tradition of generating work-ready graduates to a new program for physician assistants."
The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (arcpa.org) plans an accreditation review of Trine's evolving program. Plans are for the new physician assistant (PA) program to offer specialties in orthopedics, cardiology, trauma and emergency.
Physician assistants, PAs, often treat minor injuries, instruct and counsel patients and order or carry out therapy. The practitioners typically need a master's degree from an accredited education program and earning the degree usually takes at least two years of full-time postgraduate study, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.
In Indiana, ARC-PA has accredited three entry-level PA programs and given provisional accreditation to a fourth program. Indiana has no accredited clinical postgraduate PA programs. The accrediting agency "protects the interests of the public and physician assistant profession by defining the standards for physician assistant education and evaluating physician assistant educational programs within the territorial United States to ensure their compliance with those standards," according to the agency's website.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 38 percent job growth for PAs through 2022.
That's compared to a projected 20 percent growth for all health diagnosing and treating practitioners and a projected 11 percent growth for all occupations during the same time.
In November 2013, Trine and Parkview Health announced its partnership to offer the Doctor of Physical Therapy program, which is scheduled to begin this fall. The program is also offered by the School of Health Sciences and Trine is accepting applications for admission (trine.edu/DPT).
Graduation from a physical therapist education program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), 1111 North Fairfax Street, Alexandria, VA 22314; phone, 703-706-3245; accreditation@apta.org is necessary for eligibility to sit for the licensure examination, which is required in all states.
Trine University is seeking accreditation of a new physical therapist education program from CAPTE. The program will submit an Application for Candidacy, which is the formal application required in the pre-accreditation stage. Submission of this document does not assure that the program will be granted Candidate for Accreditation status. Achievement of Candidate for Accreditation status is required prior to implementation of the professional phase of the program; therefore, no students may be enrolled in professional courses until Candidate for Accreditation status has been achieved. Further, though achievement of Candidate for Accreditation status signifies satisfactory progress toward accreditation, it does not assure that the program will be granted accreditation.
Trine University, an internationally recognized, private, co-educational, residential institution, offers associate, baccalaureate, and master degrees in programs to students in engineering, mathematics, science, informatics, business, teacher education, communication, criminal justice, golf management, social sciences, and various other fields of study. Trine is a member of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association and offers 21 varsity sports. Its golf program includes the university-owned 18-hole championship Zollner Golf Course. Founded in 1884 and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (www.ncahigherlearningcommission.org), Trine operates a 450-acre main campus in Angola, Ind., and education resource centers throughout Indiana, Arizona and Michigan.
Source: Trine University
