We were the first Physician Associate programme in the UK, have grown to be the biggest and this year we celebrate our 15-year anniversary.
We are renowned for providing a comprehensive, diverse, and inclusive educational program that cultivates confident, knowledgeable, compassionate physician associates equipped with exceptional communication and exemplary clinical skills. This is evidenced by our success rate at the Physician Associate National Examination (PANE) and our graduates's impressive employment success rate securing fulfilling positions shortly after graduation.
Our team benefits from having both physician associates and doctors, a combination of whom work solely in education and those whose work balance their educational role with a clinical role. Those who practice clinically, work across a breadth of specialities including general practice, emergency medicine, acute medicine, urology, palliative care, intensive care, sport medicine and HIV.
Some of our faculty hold lead roles nationally including Chandran Louis who is the Vice-President for the Faculty of Physician Associates (FPA) at the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), the professional body for physicians associates in the UK. Alex Wolley is also a member of the FPA board. Other staff members have prominent national roles including, board positions for the PA national exam, the OSCE and SBA writing groups and educational committee roles as well as ambassador positions with NHS-England. Our active presence in these national groups demonstrates our commitment to excellence which, in turn encourages our students to become informed, professional and outstanding physician associates.
The Physician Associate Team:
Develop and quality assure all the modules that run across the 2 years of the programme including:
- Foundations of Clinical Medicine (FCM)
- Personal & Professional Development (PPD)
- Physician Associates Applied Clinical Knowledge and Skills (PAACKS)
- Applied Pharmacology (AP)
- Investigations in Clinical Medicine (ICM)
- Evidence Based Practice (EBP)
- Physician Associate as a Professional Evaluation Report (PAPER).
Deliver all the core teaching activities including the following:
- Clinical examination and communication skills
- Small group teaching including professional practice workshops
- Problem-based learning (PBL).
- Create, develop, and deliver all the assessments including written examinations and Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs)
- Recruit, coordinate and quality assure all clinical placements in primary and secondary care
- Provide pastoral support via a personal tutor programme
- Perform academic scholarship relating to physician associate and medical education.