Graff, Susan
(2024)
Equitable Admissions in a Physician Assistant Program: Redefining Merit for the 21st Century Medical Provider.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Increasing the diversity of the physician assistant (PA) profession can mitigate the effects of systemic health inequities, but PA programs face challenges in recruiting and matriculating cohorts with social identity diversity. As the Program Director for the University of Pittsburgh Physician Assistant Studies Residential Program, I aim to “matriculate a class, who will, as [physician assistants], address the diverse healthcare workforce needs of the United States” (Fancher et al., 2022, 21:14). This inquiry examined the effects of removing a higher-level chemistry course and a higher-level psychology course as program requirements through the following questions: (1) To what extent did dropping the higher-level chemistry and psychology courses change the social identity diversity in the application pool? (2) To what extent did dropping the higher-level chemistry and psychology courses affect the science and overall GPA of applicants who identify with one or more historically URiM groups? (3) To what extent did dropping the higher-level chemistry and psychology courses influence applicants who identify with one or more URiM groups in their decision to apply to the University of Pittsburgh Physician Assistant Studies Residential Program?
I employed a pragmatic parallel mixed methods design to explore my inquiry questions using pre-existing quantitative data from the Centralized Application for Physician Assistants (CASPA) and qualitative data from semi-structured interviews of current physician assistant students. The key findings show that removing these prerequisite courses did not significantly increase the social identity diversity of the applicants, nor the prerequisite science grade point
average pre- and post-intervention, highlight that the path to PA school is challenging and expensive, and identify that this PA program’s lower threshold for eligibility to apply and program goals that center diversity, equity, and inclusion are key factors influencing URiM students’ decision to apply. This inquiry argues that higher-level chemistry prerequisites are harming URiM prospective PA students without significant academic benefit, that removing higher-level chemistry courses will likely only achieve positive outcomes years after their removal, and that a combination of removing barriers, like prerequisites, and creating invitations, like diversity, equity, and inclusion programming, work synergistically to increase the number of URiM applicants.
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Details
Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
Status: |
Unpublished |
Creators/Authors: |
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ETD Committee: |
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Date: |
28 August 2024 |
Date Type: |
Publication |
Defense Date: |
2 July 2024 |
Approval Date: |
28 August 2024 |
Submission Date: |
5 August 2024 |
Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
Number of Pages: |
103 |
Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
Schools and Programs: |
School of Education > Administrative and Policy Studies |
Degree: |
EdD - Doctor of Education |
Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
Refereed: |
Yes |
Uncontrolled Keywords: |
physician assistant, PA, admissions, medical education, underrepresented in medicine, prerequisite, organic chemistry |
Date Deposited: |
28 Aug 2024 15:40 |
Last Modified: |
28 Aug 2024 15:40 |
URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/46842 |
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