Similarities and Differences Between Physician Assistant Program and Medical School Mission Statement Themes

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Professions Education

Background:

• Mission statements guide institutional direction and priorities in higher education.
• Understanding the alignment between physician assistant (PA) programs and medical schools is crucial for interprofessional collaboration.
• Previous analyses have identified key themes in medical school mission statements.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the mission statements of US physician assistant (PA) programs with those of US medical schools.
• To determine the congruence and identify differences in stated institutional priorities.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of mission statements from 209 accredited US PA programs.
• Qualitative coding and thematic analysis of keywords and phrases using NVivo software.
• Comparison of identified themes against established medical school mission statement categories and additional relevant themes.

Main Results:

• Both PA programs and medical schools emphasize education, prevention, and cost control.
• Significant dissimilarities were found in the emphasis on research, service, primary care, diversity, and provider distribution.
• PA programs more frequently highlighted interprofessional care compared to evidence-based medicine, patient safety, or quality improvement.

Conclusions:

• The congruence between PA program and medical school mission statements was less than hypothesized.
• Differences in mission statement emphasis suggest distinct priorities between the two types of programs.
• Further research is needed to assess the actualization of these stated missions into measurable outcomes.