Clinical Year Curriculum, Principles of SCPEs

Clinical Year Curriculum

ARC-PA 5th ed Standards B1.01, B1.02, B1.03, B1.04, B4.01

Each SCPE is four weeks in length and include the following areas:

For specific information regarding individual courses within the clinical year, please refer to respective Blackboard courses. In addition, each student should thoroughly review each syllabus and Blackboard for assignments, grading rubrics, and additional details before starting each SCPE.

• After each SCPE is a mandatory callback day (CBD) in which ongoing clinical training/education, professional topics, and skills/OSCEs are scheduled as a vital part of ongoing PA student training.  CBD activities focus on identified areas of weakness for the cohort (per PACKRAT), NCCPA Blueprint topics, professional development, and preparation for clinical practice. 

• Within the clinical year, additional courses include MPAS 621 Evidence-Based Medicine in either Summer II or Fall II), MPAS 651 Capstone offered in Spring III. 

• The Summative Evaluation, offered in Spring III, is a mandatory part of the clinical year in compliance with the ARC-PA Standard B4.03 to demonstrate that the graduating PA students have successfully met programmatic learning outcomes and are prepared for entry-level clinical practice.  Failure to take or pass the Summative Evaluation will result in delayed graduation or inability to complete the program. 

Principles of SCPEs

ARC-PA 5th ed Standards B3.03, B3.04, B3.07, B4.02

The central principles of each SCPE are allowing the student to fulfill ARC-PA Standards and develop entry-level medical practice skills, including:

All SCPEs are required to be successfully completed before graduation.

ARC-PA 5th ed Standards B3.03, B3.04, B3.07

For the clinical year, SCPEs must occur in the following settings:

• Outpatient
• Inpatient
• Emergency Department
• Operating Room

SCPEs are divided into two categories; core and non-core.

Mandatory Core SCPEs are completed in the following medical specialties:

• Family Medicine
• Internal Medicine
• Surgical Medicine
• Emergency Medicine
• Women’s Medicine
• Pediatric Medicine
• Behavioral Medicine

Non-core SCPEs include the following:

1. Underserved Medicine

Medically Underserved Area (MUA) and/or Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) sites are utilized for the underserved SCPE. The Health Resources & Services Administration Data Warehouse website, maintained by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is used to determine if a site meets one of the above designations. However, due to the wide variability in defining underserved populations, the DCE (or ADCE) may also consider other sites on a case-by-case basis.

• Elective I and II
• The elective SCPEs may be scheduled in core SCPE specialties or other medical sub-specialties if available. The students may have input into the elective request; however, requests are not guaranteed placement. The student must submit the SCPE Elective Option Survey form via Qualtrics by 11:59 pm on the last Sunday of Block #7.

Placement and specialty may vary based on availability and student ability to meet program competencies.

The department reserves the right to assign and/or reassign Underserved Medicine SCPE, Electives I and II SCPEs to ensure students meet required SCPE learning outcomes and instructional objectives necessary for graduation.