Jane McDaniel, MS, MLS, SC

Innovative Strategies for Clinical Microscopy Instruction: Virtual Versus Light Microscopy (2018): Compared virtual microscopy with light microscopy to determine differences in learning outcomes and learner attitudes in teaching clinical microscopy to physician assistant (PA) students. This study confirmed that virtual microscopy is an effective educational strategy, and that students prefer this method when learning to interpret images of clinical specimens. However, students were not in favor of abandoning the process of learning light microscopy techniques for use in clinical practice. They believed that a combination of both light microscopy and virtual microscopy would be ideal.

PA Applicant Pool: The First 50 Years (2017): Data reflects the most notable changing demographics of the profession’s applicant and matriculant pools in sex, age, grade point average, and health care experience. Aggregate data of self-identified race descriptors was used to compare the contributions of PA, medical, and osteopathic medicine schools to the improvement of diversity within the health professions. To date, the applicant pool of PA programs seems to have kept pace with the expansion of existing programs and the development of new programs. This article poses serious questions for the profession to ponder, as the demographics of those entering PA education change and the number of PA graduates continues to grow.

CASPA Ten-Year Data Report 2002-2011 (2016): Highlighted the trends and data points of interest in PA applicant data over the first 10 years of the Central Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA) (2002–2011) and PA matriculant data over the last 5 years of that 10-year period (2007–2011).

Promoting Preconception Health in Primary Care (2015): Recommendations that all women of reproductive age have preconception care integrated into their primary care visits have been made since 1990. By looking at every premenopausal woman as a potential mother and advising her accordingly, primary care PAs can help women improve both their health and pregnancy outcomes.

Use of Noncognitive Factors in PA Admissions (2013): Identified the most influential noncognitive factors valued in admissions processes by physician assistant (PA) programs throughout the United States, as well as the motivators for and barriers to using these factors. Study results may assist PA applicants in becoming more competitive and provide programs with additional factors for consideration in current admissions practices.

Admission Variables as Predictors of PANCE Scores in Physician Assistant Programs: A Comparison Study Across Universities (2010): This study served to create a model of cognitive and noncognitive measures that could estimate the probability of achieving a given level of performance on the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE). It was determined that a model of equations and predictors can be used to project how successful a physician assistant (PA) graduate will be on PANCE performance. Years of health care experience, grades on prerequisites, and demographics were not significant predictors across programs but did have significance in certain individual institutions.

CASPA Five-Year Data Report (2007): Summarizes the annual data collected by the Central Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA) and highlights trends and data points of interest over the 5-year history of the service. This first comprehensive analysis of the CASPA data will help the profession develop effective recruitment strategies at the local (program), state, and national levels.