PA Studies Foundation (PASF)

This lecture/seminar course provides a foundation for clinical decision making that will be necessary for the future practice of the physician assistant student. The course teaches the basic principles of evidence-based medicine and how to apply them to clinical decision making. Students will learn basic principles of ecidence-based medicine, how to formulate a good clinical question, how to access and search the literature, how to evaluate the validity of the literature and how to apple it to answer a clinical question. After the foundational principles have been presented through lectures, students will work in small groups to practice using case based scenarios to apple the principle that they have learned.

This lecture and laboratory course will review basic histology along with the major anatomical structures of the human using a regional organization. Laboratory sessions utilizing microscopic examination, models and cadaver specimen dissection will augment lecture material.

This lecture and laboratory course will review basic histology along with the major anatomical structures of the human using a regional organization. Laboratory sessions utilizing microscopic examination, models and cadaver specimen dissection will augment lecture material.

Medical and Professional Ethics Understanding the philosophical principles related to biomedical ethics, patient-practitioner relationships and the role of the physician assistant provider within the health care system are the main topics encompassed in this lecture and discussion seminar course.

Applied Behavioral Science The topics of developmental psychology, abnormal psychology, human sexuality, stress responses, behaviors related to psychological health and illness and the diagnosis and management of common psychological disorders are the focus of this lecture course.

This lecture course is designed to teach the principles of human medical physiology along with the physiological mechanisms of common disease states.

Medical Genetics and Microbiology This lecture course presents current concepts and issues in medical genetics, immunology and microbiology. It focuses on diseases of genetic origin, the function of the immune system and emerging trends in disorders caused by microorganisms.

This first of a three-semester lecture-based course is designed to provide students with the medical and scientific concepts needed to practice medicine to include physiology, pathophysiology, clinical presentations of disease states, diagnostics studies, and treatment approaches.

This is the first of a three-semester lecture, skills, and clinical reasoning laboratory-based course designed to provide students with the communication, humanistic, medical history, physical examination, and clinical reasoning skills needed to practice medicine.

In this first lecture-based course of a three-semester series, you will learn about many components and aspects that embody the art of the practice of medicine. It also includes exploring those areas where the work of a PA intersects with ethics, evidence-based medicine, medical research, behavioral medicine, health care systems, and policy and public health.