About Physician Assistants

Physician Assistants are health care professionals licensed to practice medicine with physician supervision. Services commonly provided by physician assistants include taking medical histories,performing physical examinations, ordering and interpreting lab tests,assisting in surgery; and counseling patients. Physician assistants aretrained in intensive education programs accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission for Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). Physician assistant education is designed using the medical model that emphasizes basic sciences, clinical sciences and the critical thinking skills required to compliment physician practice. Upon graduation, physician assistants take a national certification examination developed by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants in conjunction with the National Board of Medical Examiners. To maintain their national certification, physician assistants must log 100 hours of continuing medical education every two years and sit for the recertification exam every six years.
Graduation from an accredited physician assistant program and passage of the national certifying exam are required for state licensure.  

The Lock Haven University Physician Assistant Program represents the first Masters Degree entry level program within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The 24 month program leads to a Masters of Health Science Degree and a certificate as a Physician Assistant. With locations at both the Lock Haven University Main Campus and the Clearfield Branch Campus via distance education (Internet TV delivery), the LHUP program offers students a high quality affordable educational experience.In addition to the core PA education received at both campus locations, students concentrate their studies on either the care of rural underserved populations or corrections medicine. The program incorporates the use of state of the art technology, a module based teaching format. Extensive use of small group learning, service learning strategies, and a variety of clinical experiences result in greater than 90% first time pass rate on the NCCPA board examination. Students and graduates highly rate the quality of their educational experience and their preparedness for entry level clinical practice. While emphasizing primary care, program graduates work in a variety of clinical settings including surgery and surgical subspecialties, pediatrics, OB/GYN, Internal Medicine, and others.

Core PA Program faculty are available onsite at both campus locations and consist of physicians, physician assistants, pharmacologists, and professors of basic human and social sciences from Lock Haven University. The core physician and PA faculty have over 130 years of cumulative health care experience and represent leaders within the PA profession and PA education.