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Accreditation Resources

PALLA is committed to supporting our partner programs within the state of Maryland in the areas of accreditation and ongoing self-assessment. The information on this page is intended to provide you with data, tools and resources related to the accreditation process. We hope you find this information useful.

ARC-PA Newsletters:

Summer 2024 Newsletter

Entry Level Newsletters and Notes to Programs – ARC-PA 

 

Resources on ARC-PA website: 

Entry Level Manuals and Guides – ARC-PA 

 

ARC-PA Provided Resources

ARC-PA Consultant Presentation 2022

ARC-PA SSR Exercise

ARC-PA Overview of the Accreditation Process

ARC-PA Data Analysis and the Self Study Report

  1. Fleming, S., Kulo, V., Stakem, A., Gordes, K., Jun, Hyun-Jin, Ludeman, E., Cawley, J.F., Kayingo, G. Compliance with Accreditation Standards on Diversity: Is Institutional Support the Missing Link? JPhysician Assistant Education 2024;in press.
  2. Snyder, Jennifer; Honda, Trenton; Lohenry, Kevin; Blue Sky Thinking: Physician Assistant Accreditation and the Potential Impact on the Programs, Faculty, and the Profession Journal of Physician Assistant Education. 35(2):162-166, June 2024.
  3. Lewis, Jon; Peacock, Jeff; Miller, Paul M. Physician Assistant Program Accreditation Analysis and Survey of Program Directors  Journal of Physician Assistant Education. 35(2):144-149, June 2024.
  4. Snyder, Jennifer PhD, PA-C; Quincy, Brenda PhD, MPH, PA-C; Brown, Darwin MPH, PA-C; Asprey, David PhD, Accreditation Outcomes: Does Program Director Experience Matter? Journal of Physician Assistant Education 35(1):p 3-8, March 2024. | DOI: 10.1097/JPA.0000000000000547
  5. Kulo, Violet; Cawley, James F.; Fleming, Shani; Physician Assistant Faculty Perceptions Regarding Ongoing Self-assessment and Accreditation Journal of Physician Assistant Education. 34(4):271-277, December 2023.
  6. Snyder, Jennifer; Hills, Karen; Alexander, Lisa; Meeting the Accreditation Standard for Diversity Journal of Physician Assistant Education. 34(1):46-53, March 2023.
  7. Kayingo, Gerald; Gordes, Karen L.; Kulo, Violet; Accreditation in the Health Professions: Implications for Physician Assistant Education, Journal of Physician Assistant Education. 33(4):318-324, December 2022.
  8. Kulo, V., Kayingo, G., Ermer, E., Hagar, E., Gordes, K., Fleming, S., Jun, H., Cawley, J.F. Symposium on Program Accreditation in Physician Assistant Education: Lessons Learned. JPhysician Assistant Education 2022;33:148-151.
  9. Snyder, Jennifer A.; Quincy, Brenda. Accreditation 101: Develop, Assess, and Report Program Goals Journal of Physician Assistant Education. 31(4):189-193, December 2020.
  10. Snyder, Jennifer A.; Skala, Taylor Accreditation Outcomes: Does Program Director Experience Matter? The Journal of Physician Assistant Education. 29(4):211-219, December 2018. 
  11. Bondy, Mary Jo; Fletcher, Sara; Lane, Steven. PAEA Accreditation Task Force Briefing Paper: Moving Toward Profession-Defined, Outcomes-Based Accreditation Journal of Physician Assistant Education. 28(4):201-204, December 2017.

Data Analysis and Visualization: A Worked Example

By: Elsa Ermer PhD, 2021

 

EDI and Accreditation

By: Shani Fleming PhD, MSHS, MPH, PA-C, 2021

The following is a list of the accreditation support activities performed by PALLA for the Maryland PA programs in the past. How can we support your program? Maryland Programs can email us directly or by emailing PALLA@umaryland.edu.

  1. Provided comments on ARC-PA Observations
  2. Performed analysis of Data Collection and Conclusion Processes
  3. Drafted documentation letter for ARC-PA on behalf of a PA program
  4. Provided feedback for provisional accreditation application
  5. Creation of ARC-PA common citations list
  6. Disseminated SSR narrative templates to programs
  7. Provided review and feedback on SSR Narrative Sections
  8. Conducted mock site visits for programs preparing for ARC-PA visit

National Accreditation Trends

The below table represents the current list of the most common ARC-PA Citations using the 5th edition standards. This information reflects the ARC-PA accreditation actions taken between June 2020 and March 2025.

Standard Total Citations Standard Definition

        B4.01b

        132

The program must conduct frequent, objective and documented evaluations of student 
performance in meeting the program’s learning outcomes and instructional objectives for both 
didactic and supervised clinical practice experience components. The evaluations must: b) allow the program to identify and address any student deficiencies in a timely manner

        C1.03

        131

The program must prepare a self-study report as part of the application for accreditation that 
accurately and succinctly documents the process, application and results of ongoing program selfassessment. The report must follow the guidelines provided by the ARC-PA.

        B4.01a

        102

The program must conduct frequent, objective and documented evaluations of student 
performance in meeting the program’s learning outcomes and instructional objectives for both 
didactic and supervised clinical practice experience components. The evaluations must:
a) align with what is expected and taught

        E1.03

        88

The program must submit reports or documents as required by the ARC-PA.

        B3.06a

        66

Supervised clinical practice experiences should occur with:
a) physicians who are specialty board certified in their area of instruction

        C1.02ci

        50

The program must implement its ongoing self-assessment process by:
c) applying the results leading to conclusions that identify: 
i. program strengths,

        C1.02b

        47

The program must implement its ongoing self-assessment process by:
b) performing critical analysis of data

        C1.02cii

        44

The program must implement its ongoing self-assessment process by:
c) applying the results leading to conclusions that identify: 
ii. program areas in need of improvement

        C1.02ciii

        43

The program must implement its ongoing self-assessment process by:
c) applying the results leading to conclusions that identify: 
iii. action plans. 

        A2.09d

        41

The program director must be knowledgeable about and responsible for:
d) continuous programmatic review and analysis

Elements For Success

We identified elements for success and emerging trends across the health professions literature.

From our current review of the limited literature, we were able to identify some emerging trends and factors associated with positive outcomes with program evaluation and assessment. 

Source: 

PALLA Team, Programmatic Evaluation for the 21st Century: Best Practices and Transformative Insights Workshop 06/11/2021

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