Emergency Medicine, DSc.P.A.
Doctor of Science in Physician Assistant Studies - Emergency Medicine
Program Director Chair: COL Aaron J. Cronin, DSc, PA-C
In fall 2007, Baylor University, in affiliation with the U.S. Army, established a new degree program, the Doctor of Science in Physician Assistant Studies (DSc.P.A.) with the concentration in Emergency Medicine. This professional, terminal doctoral degree was then new to the discipline of physician assistant studies. The program consists of 18 months of didactic study, clinical experience, and clinically oriented research conducted in a professional residency setting. Today, the U.S. Army / Baylor University Emergency Medicine Physician Assistant Residency Program trains joint-services, active-duty PAs at five training sites: Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) at Joint Base San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas, Madigan Army Medical Center (MAMC) at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Washington, Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center (CRDAMC) at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, William Beaumont Army Medical Center (WBAMC) at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, and Mike O’Callaghan Military Medical Center (MOMMC) at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Objectives
The vision of the U.S. Army / Baylor University Emergency Medicine Physician Assistant Residency Program is to create the benchmark for postgraduate emergency medicine physician assistant education through the pursuit of academic and clinical excellence. The program achieves this vision by developing clinical scientists who are prepared to conduct advanced scientific research and provide quality emergency care for patients with a wide variety of illnesses and injuries in the emergency department or in the deployed setting. The clinical scientists graduating from this program become future leaders and mentors by establishing scholarly excellence for the physician assistant profession.
The U.S. Army / Baylor University Emergency Medicine Physician Assistant Residency Program provides advanced education and training, further enhancing the abilities of clinicians to save U.S. Military servicemembers’ lives on the battlefield, to serve Military Health System beneficiaries, to augment and extend physician care, and to improve recruiting and retention through unique professional development opportunities. The program produces graduates with expertise in evidence-based emergency care for examining, diagnosing, and managing a variety of life-threatening injuries and illnesses. The curriculum is structured to develop competency in research design, production, analysis, and critical review. Graduates will use competencies in triage and management of emergency medical conditions and injuries to stabilize critically ill or injured soldiers on the battlefield and prepare them for transportation to higher echelons of care.
Admission Requirements for the DScPAS - Emergency Medicine
For admission, candidates must be active-duty U.S. military physician assistants with a master’s degree in physician assistant studies (or equivalent) with a minimum of two years of active-duty military service practicing as a physician assistant prior to beginning the program. Applicants must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or above, a minimum GRE score of 300, and letter of endorsement from an emergency medicine PA after 40 hours of shadowing in an emergency department setting. Candidates must have a minimum of two years of time on station prior to the start date of the residency or if outside the continental United States (OCONUS), the applicants must have served to within 60 days of their prescribed tour. Applicants must also agree to incur a 2-year active-duty service obligation (ADSO). Candidates must also meet the entrance requirements of the Graduate School of Baylor University. Candidates are selected by a competitive board process by their respective uniformed service.
Applicants must be graduates of an ARC-PA accredited program and possess current NCCPA certification. Additionally, all applicants must be current U.S. Military servicemembers and meet service specific application requirements.
Requirements for the DScPAS with a Major in Emergency Medicine
The 18-month curriculum totals 77 semester credit hours and consists of 4 didactic, 16 clinical, and 3 research sections (representing approximately 840 hours of classroom instruction, 3,240 clinical training hours, and 540 research hours respectively), and a research project. Midterm and final board examinations, including written and oral evaluations, are based on the standards set by the American Board of Emergency Medicine for physician training.
The didactic and research portions account for 23 credit hours and consists of 7 courses on an array of emergency-medicine and research topics.
The remaining 54 credit hours are earned through clinical rotations. These include emergency medicine blocks, critical (intensive) care blocks, pediatric blocks, ultrasound block, airway and analgesia block, and elective blocks:
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Didactic and Research Portion | ||
| Didactic Courses | ||
| MEM 6330 | Introduction to Emergency Medicine | 3 |
| MEM 6410 | Concepts of Emergency Medicine 1 | 4 |
| MEM 6411 | Concepts of Emergency Medicine 2 | 4 |
| MEM 6322 | Concepts of Emergency Medicine 3 | 3 |
| Research Courses | ||
| MEM 6310 | Medical Research Design | 3 |
| MEM 6311 | Approaches to Medical Data Collection and Analysis | 3 |
| MEM 6312 | Techniques for Medical Research and Presentation | 3 |
| Subtotal - Didactic and Research Portion | 23 | |
| Clinical Rotations | ||
| MEM 6331 | Clinical Emergency Medicine 1 | 3 |
| MEM 6332 | Clinical Emergency Medicine 2 | 3 |
| MEM 6333 | Clinical Emergency Medicine 3 | 3 |
| MEM 6334 | Clinical Emergency Medicine 4 | 3 |
| MEM 6335 | Clinical Emergency Medicine 5 | 3 |
| MEM 6336 | Clinical Emergency Medicine 6 | 3 |
| MEM 6337 | Emergency Care Elective 1 | 3 |
| MEM 6338 | Emergency Care Elective 2 | 3 |
| MEM 6439 | Emergency Pediatrics 1 | 4 |
| MEM 6440 | Emergency Pediatrics 2 | 4 |
| MEM 6445 | Emergency Ultrasound | 4 |
| MEM 6447 | Clinical Critical Care 1 | 4 |
| MEM 6448 | Clinical Critical Care 2 | 4 |
| MEM 6449 | Clinical Critical Care 3 | 4 |
| MEM 6450 | Clinical Critical Care 4 | 4 |
| MEM 6210 | Emergency Airway, Anesthesia, and Pain Management | 2 |
| Subtotal - Clinical Rotations | 54 | |
| Total Hours | 77 | |
Each physician assistant resident is required to initiate and complete an Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved research project during the 18-month residency. During the final month of the residency, each resident will present the results of the research project in written and oral form and defend the project before a doctoral defense committee. The defense committee is chaired by the training site program director and includes three additional program faculty and a faculty member from the Baylor-Waco campus.