Cultivate a commitment of service to medically underserved populations.
A. Underserved Rotation Requirement
The Medically Underserved SCPE is performed at a site arranged and approved by the Director of Clinical Education or the Director of Clinical Placement and the Clinical Scheduling Manager. This four-week SCPE may include inpatient care, outpatient care, core rotation specialties, or other clinical experiences at a site designated to meet Program criteria.
Medically Underserved Area (MUA) sites are utilized for the Underserved SCPE. The Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) Data Warehouse website, which the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services maintains, is utilized to determine if a site meets the MUA designation. However, due to the wide variability in defining underserved populations, other sites may be approved on a case-bycase basis by the Director or Associate Director of Clinical Education.
B. International Medical Missions as an Elective SCPE
To further promote our programmatic commitment to offering medical care to the underserved, international medical missions may be approved as an Elective SCPE if they meet the SCPE requirements and program accreditation standards. The Program performs continuous monitoring of patient logging encounters and the student’s ability to meet the required educational standards of our accrediting agency (ARC-PA Standard B3.02, B3.03, B3.04, B3.06, and B3.07). If deficiencies are noted, the Program reserves the right to assign Underserved and/or Elective SCPE to ensure students meet competencyrequirements.
C. A minimum of one (1) Supervised Clinical Practice Experiences in a medically underserved community for every PA student during their clinical year. Many of the SCPE sites utilized for core rotations are within MUAs.
D. Graduate Job Placement by Medically Underserved Areas (MUA)
E. Programmatic Community Service
Since the inaugural 2016 cohort, the GWU PA Students hold monthly health screenings for the homeless and underserved population of Cleveland County at a local homeless ministry held at First Baptist Church of Shelby. This opportunity is available to non-clinical PA students during their didactic year of PA education. Two faculty members serve as volunteers to oversee the health screenings.
