TY - JOUR
T1 - The Influence of Patient Care, Shadowing, and Volunteer Experience on Diverse Applicant Matriculation Into Physician Assistant/Associate Programs
AU - Bruza-Augatis, Mirela
AU - Coplan, Bettie
AU - Sethi, Wendiann
AU - McDaniel, M. Jane
N1 - Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2023 PA Education Association.
PY - 2024/6/1
Y1 - 2024/6/1
N2 - Introduction To better understand factors contributing to low matriculation rates for health professions students from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine (URiM), this study examined the influence of healthcare-releated preadmission experiences on physician assistant/associate (PA) program matriculation. Methods We analyzed data from the Centralized Application Service for PAs 2018 to 2019 admissions cycle to compare characteristics of non-URiM and URiM PA program applicants and matriculants. The primary focus was on preadmission healthcare-releated experiences. To control for the strong influence of grade point average (GPA) on the likelihood of matriculation, we divided applicants into 2 groups: those with GPA < 3.6 (the median GPA for matriculants) and those with GPA ≥ 3.6. Analyses consisted of descriptive statistics and logistic regressions. Results Our sample consisted of 25,880 PA program applicants. Higher proportions of URiM compared with non-URiM applicants identified as first-generation college students (39.3% vs. 19.9%) or indicated economic disadvantage (32.3% vs. 12.5%). Overall, higher proportions of URiM compared with non-URiM applicants reported no patient care experience (24.3% vs. 17.9%), no shadowing (31.7% vs. 21.7%), or no volunteering (32.2% vs. 26.9%). Among all applicants with GPA < 3.6, reporting any type of experience was associated with increased odds of matriculation. Among URiM applicants with GPA ≥ 3.6, patient care experience did not influence odds of matriculation (odds ratio [OR] = 1.22, P = .23), whereas shadowing was associated with twice the odds (OR = 2.01, P < .001). Discussion Although academic metrics are known to predict PA program matriculation, we found that preadmission experiences also play a role. The study findings suggest that lack of experience hours may hinder URiM student access to PA education.
AB - Introduction To better understand factors contributing to low matriculation rates for health professions students from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine (URiM), this study examined the influence of healthcare-releated preadmission experiences on physician assistant/associate (PA) program matriculation. Methods We analyzed data from the Centralized Application Service for PAs 2018 to 2019 admissions cycle to compare characteristics of non-URiM and URiM PA program applicants and matriculants. The primary focus was on preadmission healthcare-releated experiences. To control for the strong influence of grade point average (GPA) on the likelihood of matriculation, we divided applicants into 2 groups: those with GPA < 3.6 (the median GPA for matriculants) and those with GPA ≥ 3.6. Analyses consisted of descriptive statistics and logistic regressions. Results Our sample consisted of 25,880 PA program applicants. Higher proportions of URiM compared with non-URiM applicants identified as first-generation college students (39.3% vs. 19.9%) or indicated economic disadvantage (32.3% vs. 12.5%). Overall, higher proportions of URiM compared with non-URiM applicants reported no patient care experience (24.3% vs. 17.9%), no shadowing (31.7% vs. 21.7%), or no volunteering (32.2% vs. 26.9%). Among all applicants with GPA < 3.6, reporting any type of experience was associated with increased odds of matriculation. Among URiM applicants with GPA ≥ 3.6, patient care experience did not influence odds of matriculation (odds ratio [OR] = 1.22, P = .23), whereas shadowing was associated with twice the odds (OR = 2.01, P < .001). Discussion Although academic metrics are known to predict PA program matriculation, we found that preadmission experiences also play a role. The study findings suggest that lack of experience hours may hinder URiM student access to PA education.
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U2 - 10.1097/JPA.0000000000000563
DO - 10.1097/JPA.0000000000000563
M3 - Article
C2 - 37962338
SN - 1941-9430
VL - 35
SP - 136
EP - 143
JO - Journal of Physician Assistant Education
JF - Journal of Physician Assistant Education
IS - 2
ER -