Academic policies & requirements for promotion & graduation

All CUNY Medicine PA Program policies apply to all students, principal faculty and the program director regardless of location. Policies listed and detailed on the CUNY School of Medicine and the City College of New York Web Pages and in the CUNY Medicine PA Program Student Handbooks are subject to change.

Enrolled students are informed when significant changes are made to published policies.

Importantly, CUNY Medicine PA Program Policies may differ from policies noted in the CUNY School of Medicine and/or City College of New York. When a difference exists, the CUNY Medicine PA Program policy should be considered the policy of record.

 The CUNY Medicine PA Program is designed as a full-time 28-month, 80 semester credit hour program consisting of seven consecutive semesters. The semesters are divided between a 16-month didactic phase and a 12-month clinical phase. All program courses must be completed at the CUNY Medicine PA Program.

 Academic Progression in the PA Program Progression within the Didactic Year

The following policies apply to student progression in the CUNY Medicine PA Program:

·         Students are required to complete the designated professional curriculum, as designed, in the full- time sequence specified.

·         Progression will be a function of successfully passing all required courses, with a grade of 70% or greater, in each semester, achieving a minimum semester and cumulative GPA of 3.0, continuing to meet all technical standards, and meeting all other program policies/standards in each semester.

·         Didactic Phase

·         Each semester’s course work is to be considered pre-requisite to the next semester.

·         Students are expected to complete each semester on time as a cohort.

·         Failing to receive a passing grade in didactic phase coursework, following all offered exam remediation opportunities, will prevent students from progressing to the next semester.

·         In such cases, students are either dismissed from the program or offered a leave of absence if appropriate criteria are met (see Leaves of Absence).

Progression from the Didactic to Clinical Year

 Several conditions must be met in order to progress from the didactic to the clinical phase:

·         Successful completion of all didactic phase courses.

·         A cumulative grade point average of 3.0 must be earned for the didactic year.

·         All incomplete grades, probationary issues or pending assignments must be resolved.

·         A passing grade must be earned for the didactic phase exit examination.

·         A faculty evaluation of professional behavior evaluation must be satisfactorily completed.

Didactic Year Exit Exam

 Upon the completion of the didactic phase of instruction all students are required to take a written, comprehensive, examination of basic medical knowledge prior to beginning the clinical year of instruction. The passing grade for this examination is 70%. Students who fail to achieve 70% will work with a faculty member to remediate deficits. A second exam will be given after five weeks of remediation. Failure of the second attempt makes the student eligible for dismissal and will result in referral to CCS for determination of continued academic status.

Progression Within Clinical Year

 ·         Clinical Phase Coursework includes Supervised Clinical Practice Experiences (SCPEs), Research coursework, and the Summative Course.

·         As with the Didactic Phase, coursework will be full-time in the sequence designated and as assigned at the beginning of the clinical phase of training.

·         Although, at the discretion of the Director of Clinical Education, there may be a necessity to change the order of the Supervised Clinical Practice Experiences (SCPEs), there is no possibility to change the order of didactic, research, or summative course work.

·         Students are expected to complete each semester on time as a cohort.

·         Failing to receive a passing grade in SCPE coursework, will either require SCPE course remediation or result in dismissal as described in the Student Clinical Handbook.

·         Failure to earn a passing grade (≥70%) on an End or Rotation (EoR) exam will require remediation of that exam (see Clinical Handbook for details). Students may remediate a maximum of two (2) EoR exams. Failure of third EoR exam will result in failure of that SCPE. The student must repeat the failed rotation in its entirety, including sitting for the EoR exam. If the student fails the EoR exam after repeating the SCPE, or fails a second SCPE, the student will be eligible for dismissal.

·         When a student does not meet minimum requirements for a SCPE course they receive a “no grade”, and must repeat the SCPE course, which will result in a delay in graduation.

·         See the information detailed in the CUNY Medicine PA Program Student Handbook within the Academic Policies/Requirements for Promotion & Graduation and Policies and Procedures for Academic & Professional probation, & dismissal sections of this handbook.

·         Students must achieve a score of 70% or greater on the End of Curriculum MCQ exam and a 70% or greater on the summative OSCEs to graduate. Failure to achieve a final grade of 70% or greater in the End of Curriculum and/or the summative OSCE will require remediation.

End of Curriculum Examinations

A series of examinations are taken throughout the clinical year and advanced didactic semester:

·         End of Rotation Exams: comprehensive, standardized, 120- question multiple-choice examinations given at call back sessions for 7 of 10 rotations. These exams are intended to assess medical knowledge gained during Supervised Clinical Practice Experiences (SCPEs) and make up a part of students’ final grades for clerkships.

·         PACKRAT: a standardized exam developed by PAEA, modeled on the PANCE is given once per year. This exam is also based on the NCCPA Blueprint. Results are reported both by organ system (cardiology, pulmonology, etc.) and by critical thinking area (history taking skills, therapeutics, management, etc.). A national mean is set as the benchmark. Students not achieving the benchmark will meet with their advisors.

·         Summative Exam: a two-part, pass/fail, final assessment given within the last four months of the curriculum. It assesses basic competence in the following areas:

o   Medical Knowledge: Demonstrate knowledge of etiology, risk factors, signs and symptoms of a medical condition.

o   Affective skills: Demonstrate effective communication to elicit and provide information; demonstrate compassionate and respectful behavior when interacting with patients.

o   Oral and written communication: Accurately and adequately document information regarding care; orally present a patient encounter with precision and poise.

o   Critical thinking: Demonstrate the ability to conduct a complaint-focused interview and physical exam; develop an accurate and detailed differential diagnosis.

o   Patient care: Obtain essential and accurate information; counsel and educate patients and their families; provide education aimed at disease prevention and health maintenance; develop and implement patient management plans.

 The format of the summative examination consists of: (1) a clinical simulation using standardized patients, and (2) a comprehensive 300-question standardized, multiple choice exam. In addition, there is a summative clinical skills check that must be conducted in the final four months prior to graduation. Each student will perform a randomly selected set of clinical technical skills under the observation of PA Program Faculty. If a student is unable to correctly and completely perform a skill, the student will fail the skills check and will be required to remediate and repeat any failed skills.

For the simulated patient case, students are given a chief complaint and perform a focused history and physical examination on the standardized patient. The student then orders laboratory tests for which results will be given. Interpretation of the tests is integrated into a SOAP note, which includes a differential diagnosis and plan. The final phase is oral presentation of the patient to a faculty member.

The second component is the PAEA End of Curriculum Examination, a comprehensive, five-hour, 300- question multiple choice examination. This test is developed and standardized by the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) and based on the NCCPA Blueprint. Like the End of Rotation exams, students not meeting the benchmark will meet with their advisor for remediation prior to graduation.

 This examination is pass/fail. In the event of failure, students will be given the opportunity to remediate and take a reassessment examination, prepared by the faculty. Should a student fail a second time, s/he will appear before the Committee on Course and Standing and may be required to delay graduation for five weeks in order to remediate deficiencies.

Graduation Requirements

·         Graduation is dependent upon successful completion of the following:

·         All courses in the physician assistant curriculum including all clinical rotations

·         A cumulative grade point average of 3.0 must be earned across the clinical and didactic phases of the program

·         Successfully pass the summative examinations (End of Curriculum Exam, Summative OSCE, and Summative Clinical Skills Check)

·         Meeting all patient and procedural log requirements

·         Faculty review of professional behavior throughout the entire program.

 Attaining the CUNY Medicine PA Program degree will require the successful completion of all didactic and clinical phase coursework. Specifics regarding course completion deadlines/requirements are noted in course syllabi. Unless otherwise noted in the syllabi, failing to complete all required course assignments may result in a failing grade for that course and subsequently prevent the student from progressing to the next semester.

Satisfactory progress through the program requires a minimum passing grade of C (70%) in each course; a 3.0 GPA in each semester, and a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA. Failing to receive a final passing grade in any didactic phase coursework included in the first 4 semesters will result in either deceleration (via a leave of absence) or dismissal and automatically prevent students from progressing to the next semester. Failing to receive a passing grade in clinical phase SCPE coursework will result in deceleration (via a leave of absence) automatically resulting in delay of graduation or in dismissal.

Students in the CUNY Medicine PA Program are expected to complete all coursework in the program, successfully completing all required courses each semester to progress to the next semester. In the didactic phase of the program, withdrawal from a course is the equivalent of decelerating and/or withdrawing from the program. In the clinical phase of the program, withdrawing from a Supervised Clinical Practice Experiences (SCPE) course does not necessarily prevent the students from progressing to the next course, depending on the issues involved, but would automatically result in a delay of graduation.

Students must secure and maintain stable and consistent wi-fi capability to use the platforms such as, but not limited to, Zoom for participation in online/distance learning class requirements and activities.

Eligibility to sit for the Physician Assistant National Certification Examination is contingent upon successful completion of all program requirements.