Introduction:

NYIT's Department of Physician Assistant Studies is committed to the admission and matriculation of all qualified students and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, national origin, religion, sex, or disability. NYIT does not discriminate against persons with disability who are otherwise qualified. NYIT does expect that minimal technical standards are met by all applicants and students as set forth herein. These standards reflect what has been determined to be reasonable expectations for physician assistant students in performing common and important functions, considering the safety and welfare of patients. These standards may not reflect what may be required for employment of the graduate physician assistant.

Technical Standards

A candidate for the PA degree signifies that the holder is prepared for entry into the practice of medicine. Therefore, a physician assistant must have the knowledge and skills to function in a broad variety of clinical situations and to render a wide spectrum of patient care. In order to perform the activities described below, candidates for a PA degree must be able to quickly, accurately, and consistently learn, integrate, analyze, and synthesize data.

The graduate of the PA program must have multiple skills and abilities including: observation, communication, motor, conceptual, integrative, quantitative, behavioral, and social. Technological compensation can be made for handicaps in some of these areas, but a candidate must be able to perform in a reasonably independent manner.

Candidates for the PA program must have functional use of the senses of vision, hearing, equilibrium and taste. Their exteroceptor (touch, pain, and temperature) and proprioceptor (position, pressure, movement, stereognosis, and vibratory) senses must be sufficiently intact to enable them to carry out all the activities required to complete the activities described below. Candidates must have sufficient motor function capabilities to meet the demands of the PA program and the demands of total patient care.

I. OBSERVATION:

Candidates and all physician assistant students must have sufficient vision to be able to observe demonstrations, experiments, and laboratory exercises. They must be able to observe a patient accurately at a distance and nearby. It is essential to have adequate visual capabilities to assess structural asymmetries, and abnormalities of the musculoskeletal and integumentary systems.

II. COMMUNICATION

Candidates and all physician assistant students should be able to speak clearly, and to hear and observe patients in order to elicit information, examine patients, describe findings, and understand nonverbal behaviors. They must be able to communicate effectively and sensitively with fellow students, faculty, patients, and other health care providers. This includes the ability to read and communicate, both verbally and in writing, in English, using appropriate grammar and vocabulary.

III. MOTOR

Candidates and all physician assistant students must have sufficient motor function to execute those movements required in the general and emergency care of patients and to elicit information from patients by palpation, auscultation, percussion, and other diagnostic maneuvers. Physician Assistants are required to be able to perform cardiovascular resuscitation, insert catheters, open obstructed airways, perform obstetrical maneuvers and operate various diagnostic and therapeutic devices, as well as perform other procedures. All of these require both gross and fine muscular movements, equilibrium, and use of touch and vision.

IV. SENSORY

Physician Assistant students need enhanced tactile abilities and should a candidate have significant tactile, sensory or proprioceptive disabilities, he or she would have to be carefully evaluated prior to admission. Problems might be present in individuals who have had previous burns, loss of sensation, scar formation, or malformations of the upper extremities.

V. STRENGTH AND MOBILITY

Physician Assistant students should have upright posture with sufficient extremity and body strength to carry out various manipulative techniques. Individuals with limitations in these areas would be unlikely to succeed. Mobility is required when attending to emergency codes and performing CPR.

VI. BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL

Candidates and physician assistant students must possess the emotional health required for full utilization of their intellectual abilities, the exercise of good judgment, the prompt completion of responsibilities, and development of mature sensitive and effective relationships with patients. Physician Assistant education requires the ability to tolerate physically taxing workloads and adapting to changing environments. Candidates and students must display flexibility and spirit of cooperation with faculty, classmates and colleagues.

Certain personal characteristics are expected of a physician assistant. These include integrity, compassion, interpersonal skills, and motivation.

The NYIT Physician Assistant Program will attempt to develop creative ways of opening its curriculum to competitive, qualified disabled individuals. In so doing, however, the program must maintain the integrity of its curriculum and preserve those elements deemed essential to the education of a physician assistant.

Physician Assistant students must have the ability to touch and be touched during the process of learning and practicing the art and science of medicine and physical examination.

Students will be partnered with another student regardless of age, gender, nationality, religion, race, or size. For the purpose of learning diagnostic and physical examination skills, students must dress in a prescribed manner:

• Males are to wear gym or bathing shorts.
• Females are to wear gym shorts or swim shorts and any of the following: a halter top with thin back strap, sports bra, or a backless bathing suit.

All students may wear t-shirts, scrub wear, or sweat shirt/pants when not the subject of examination or treatment. The wearing of street clothes, unless otherwise notified, is not permitted during physical diagnosis sessions.

The wearing of hats or sunglasses during lectures, laboratory sessions, and between classes, except for religious and health reasons, is not permitted. The clinical skills courses, as well as other courses, require hand contact by a partner with the student's body, including the head.

The standards for performance and behavior will be noted in documents such as the "NYIT Student Handbook." Other more detailed documents such as course outlines, syllabi, and/or memorandums may supersede these.

Admission to Physician Assistant Studies Department

• Admission Requirements
• Cost of Attendance