Physician Assistant Program Curriculum

Marietta College PA Program Curriculum and Credit Hours

Curriculum Construct

Medical education requires that the accumulation of scientific knowledge be accompanied by the simultaneous acquisition and competency of skills and professional attitudes and behavior. It is in the care of patients that the physician assistant learns the application of scientific knowledge and skills. It is impossible to consider changes in medical education without considering the impact on patients who are an integral part of the educational process. The faculty has immediate responsibilities to students and patients and ultimately responsibilities to society to graduate the best possible physician assistants. As a member of this program, students are expected to contribute their talents, learning abilities, and energy to foster a professional learning and working environment for themselves, classmates, and the PA faculty.

The curriculum requires the study of both mental and physical disease, as well as preventive medicine and the socioeconomic aspects of health and disease, in both well and ill persons and groups. This instruction relates both to inpatient and ambulatory patients. Small group and case-based learning are used throughout the program curriculum as a means of fostering attitudes and skills essential to critical thinking and life-long learning. Achievement of comprehensive cognitive and skills knowledge in both the didactic and clinical phases prepares the graduate as an entry-level healthcare provider.

The education in the MC PA program includes:

• Didactic Phase (12 months)
• Classroom instruction and clinical experiences
• Clinical Phase (14 months)
• Concurrent courses of PASP 616 and 691 along with discipline specific clinical courses under the supervision of a physician and/or advanced practice practitioner (APP), or other licensed allied health professionals

The program reserves the right to modify the curriculum sequence as deemed appropriate. The program additionally reserves the right to add additional courses after obtaining the approval of the MC Graduate Council committee. (See Handbook Revisions)

Didactic Phase (44 credits)

Didactic Phase Curriculum

Summer Semester

Fall Semester

Spring Semester

Clinical Phase (58 Credits)

Clinical Phase Curriculum

Fall Semester

Spring Semester

*All family medicine, core rotations, and electives are scheduled based on site/preceptor availability and at the program’s discretion. This may alter the course sequence taken during the fall and spring semesters. 

Total Credits for the Program = 102 Credits