Physician Assistant Faculty Perceptions Regarding Ongoing Self-assessment and Accreditation

While the processes of ongoing self-assessment and accreditation provide significant benefits to physician assistant (PA) programs, faculty members are often challenged by the required procedures and standards set by accreditation agencies. This study explored faculty perspectives regarding the processes of ongoing self-assessment and accreditation in PA programs.

A qualitative research design centered around semistructured interviews was used. A total of 26 participants were recruited, including PA program directors, associate program directors, directors of assessment and accreditation, past Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant commissioners, accreditation consultants, deans, and PA Education Association leaders.

Semistructured one-on-one interviews were conducted by 8 members of the research team through Zoom video conferencing. Data were collected until saturation was reached.

The interview recordings were transcribed and analyzed independently by 3 researchers. The transcripts were imported into NVivo, a qualitative data analysis software, for coding and inductive thematic analysis.

Six emergent themes were identified under 2 major categories: facilitators and challenges. Facilitators for conducting continuous programmatic review and analysis include it takes a village, internal and external support, and sustained faculty development, whereas challenges are lack of knowledge and time, unclear expectations, and inflexibility.

The study highlights factors associated with facilitating the ongoing self-assessment process. However, a number of challenges were also identified. The study suggests opportunities for intervention at the program, institution, and profession level.