WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., June 15, 2015 — West Liberty University’s Physician Assistant (PA) Studies Program recently earned the nation’s highest accreditation rating possible.
The PA program was notified in March that it earned full accreditation from the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant. This “accreditation-complete” status is for seven years, which is the maximum number of years a school can earn after an accreditation visit.
“I congratulate the faculty, staff and hard-working students who have worked as a team to establish the strength of our Physician Assistant Studies program. Top quality PAs are needed in the state of West Virginia and our students provide a valuable addition to the healthcare industry, especially in rural areas. We look forward to providing excellent PAs for many years to come,” said Interim President John P. McCullough.
“When we began our program, we only had provisional accreditation. We had to demonstrate our academic excellence and student success. So this is very exciting and shows the strength of the WLU PA program,” said Dean Dr. Robert Kreisberg, who leads the College of Sciences. Kreisberg was instrumental in developing the program when it began four years ago.
“We are proud of the teamwork and accomplishment of achieving full accreditation status this spring,” said Program Director Dr. William Childers. “Although it’s cliché to say, we wouldn’t be this successful without everyone — faculty, staff and students — coordinating the program.“
Faculty include: Childers, Ed.D, MS, PA-C; Howard L. Shackelford, MD, FACS, FACC; David A. Blowers, MPAS, PA-C; Brittney J. Sobota, MSPAS, PA-C; Derrick L. Latos, MD, MACP and Jennifer L. Childers, MSPAS, PA-C. Staff includes Administrative Secretary Tara K. Hardman.
This year’s graduating class completes the program on June 26 and will soon take their national certification exams. Though they can’t begin practicing until they pass the exam, most of the class of 2015 are already hired and will soon be employed in a variety of hospitals and private practice offices and clinics, located in the surrounding area and throughout the country.
A new class of 18 — the fourth class of WLU PA students, enter on June 29 and begins the 24-month master’s degree program. Half the incoming class is from the Mountain State.
PAs are state licensed healthcare professionals who practice medicine with physician supervision. PAs are able to perform an extensive range of medical services from entry-level primary care to highly technical specialty procedures in nearly every medical and surgical healthcare setting. In some rural and underserved communities PAs may serve as the primary providers of healthcare.
All PAs must graduate from a nationally accredited (ARC – PA) program, pass a national certification exam (NCCPA) and be licensed by a state medical board before being able to practice with physician supervision.
For more information on WLU’s PA program, please visit westliberty.edu/physician-assistant or call 304-336-5098.