What is a Physician Assistant (PA)?

• a skilled member of the healthcare team
• one who practices medicine with the supervision of a licensed physician
• one who fulfills a broad range of medical services that would otherwise be provided by the physician

What are the roles of a Physician Assistant?

• take medical histories
• perform physical examinations
• order and interpret diagnostic studies
• develop and implement treatment plans
• prescribe medications
• confer with physicians and other clinicians
• provide patient education

What is the PA Program's Mission Statement?

• to excel in the art and science of physician assistant education 
• to promote leadership, research, service, and excellence among our faculty, students, and graduates
• to consider the global health needs of a diverse and dynamic population
• to foster a commitment to lifelong learning
  
  

Why choose UT Southwestern?

• UT Southwestern has more Nobel Prize-winning faculty than any other medical school in the world
• For the past five years, our first-time pass rate on the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination has averaged 98 percent.
• Melissa Prasatik, MPAS Class of 2005, was selected as the winner of the Sidney Rodenberg Memorial Scholarship Award, given annually by the Alpha Eta Allied Health Honor Society to the top allied health student in the United States.  Melissa becomes only the third PA in the United States to win this award, and all three have been UT Southwestern students.  Past winners include Julie Watson (Class of 1999) and Rebecca Jacobs (Class of 1995).
• Faculty recognition includes the following:
  • American Academy of Physician Assistants, First Place, Publishing
  • Association of Physician Assistant Programs
    Outstanding Young Faculty (two awards), Master Teacher 
  • Texas Academy of Physician Assistants, Educator of the Year
  • UT Southwestern, Distinguished Teacher (three awards) and Distinguished Researcher
• Leadership positions currently held by UT Southwestern PA faculty members include:
  • Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Physician Assistant Education
  • Chair of the Cultural and Ethnic Diversity Committee of the Physician Assistant Education Association
• UT Southwestern PA faculty have published their research in the following journals: 
  • Texas Medicine
  • Journal of the American Medical Association
  • Academic Medicine
  • Annals of Emergency Medicine
  • Perspective on Physician Assistant Education
  • Physician Assistant
  • Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants
  • Journal of Physician Assistant Education