Curriculum
Year one
The first year of the Physician Assistant Program consists of 44 weeks (three semesters) of courses to provide you with a solid classroom foundation through lectures, small group activity and hands-on workshops.
| Year I Fall Semester (16 weeks) | Credits |
| PHA 500 Human Anatomy | 5 |
| PHA 510 Human Physiology & Pathology | 4 |
| PHA 520 Foundations of Clinical Practice I | 3 |
| PHA 530 History Taking and Physical Examination | 4 |
| PHA 540 Ethics and Professionalism | 2 |
| Total | 18 |
| Year I Spring Semester (16 weeks) | Credits |
| PHA 550 Pharmacology & Pharmacotherapeutics I | 3 |
| PHA 521 Foundations of Clinical Practice II | 8 |
| PHA 560 Clinical Decision Making I | 3 |
| PHA 570 Diagnostic Medicine | 3 |
| PHA 580 Clinical Disciplines I | 3 |
| Total | 20 |
| Year I Summer Semester (12 weeks) | Credits |
| PHA 551 Pharmacology & Pharmacotherapeutics II | 3 |
| PHA 522 Foundations of Clinical Practice III | 6 |
| PHA 561 Clinical Decision Making II | 2 |
| PHA 581 Clinical Disciplines II | 3 |
| Total | 14 |
Year two
The
second year of the program consists of one four-week course (Introduction to
Clinical Practice) followed by eleven four-week rotations.
The
core clinical rotations include:
- family medicine
- internal
medicine
- emergency
medicine
- surgery
- mental health
- pediatrics
- women’s health
There
will be two additional four-week rotations in a Primary Care field and two
elective rotations.
These
clinical-year experiences provide you with hands-on learning in a variety of
rural and community clinics and hospitals throughout Arizona. Additionally,
you will return to campus several times during the year for continuous and
summative assessments, research presentations, capstone projects and reflective
coursework.
Please
note: the second year is an ongoing year of clinical rotations that do not fit
into the semester schedule and will not have scheduled semester breaks.
| Year 2 | Credits |
| PHA 610 Introduction to Clinical Practice | 3 |
| PHA 698 Seminar | 1 |
| Clinical Rotation 1 | 4 |
| Clinical Rotation 2 | 4 |
| Clinical Rotation 3 | 4 |
| Clinical Rotation 4 | 4 |
| Clinical Rotation 5 | 4 |
| Clinical Rotation 6 | 4 |
| Clinical Rotation 7 | 4 |
| Clinical Rotation 8 | 4 |
| Clinical Rotation 9 | 4 |
| Clinical Rotation 10 | 4 |
| Clinical Rotation 11 | 4 |
| PHA 689 PA Capstone | 2 |
| Total | 50 |