J Educ Eval Health Prof.  2014;11:11. 10.3352/jeehp.2014.11.11.

Imperfect physician assistant and physical therapist admissions processes in the United States

• Jones PE
• Simpkins S
• Hocking JA

• KMID: 2380930
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3352/jeehp.2014.11.11

Abstract

We compared and contrasted physician assistant and physical therapy profession admissions processes based on the similar number of accredited programs in the United States and the co-existence of many programs in the same school of health professions, because both professions conduct similar centralized application procedures administered by the same organization. Many studies are critical of the fallibility and inadequate scientific rigor of the high-stakes nature of health professions admissions decisions, yet typical admission processes remain very similar. Cognitive variables, most notably undergraduate grade point averages, have been shown to be the best predictors of academic achievement in the health professions. The variability of non-cognitive attributes assessed and the methods used to measure them have come under increasing scrutiny in the literature. The variance in health professions students' performance in the classroom and on certifying examinations remains unexplained, and cognitive considerations vary considerably between and among programs that describe them. One uncertainty resulting from this review is whether or not desired candidate attributes highly sought after by individual programs are more student-centered or graduate-centered. Based on the findings from the literature, we suggest that student success in the classroom versus the clinic is based on a different set of variables. Given the range of positions and general lack of reliability and validity in studies of non-cognitive admissions attributes, we think that health professions admissions processes remain imperfect works in progress.

Keyword

Educational measurement; Physician assistants; Physical therapists; School admission criteria; United States

MeSH Terms

Educational Measurement
Health Occupations
Humans
Physical Therapists*
Physician Assistants*
Reproducibility of Results
School Admission Criteria
Uncertainty
United States*

Figure

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  Figure 1. Typical physician assistants and physical therapists admissions process in the United States

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  Figure 2. Word cloud of the most common physician assistants attributes assessed in the United States

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  Figure 3. Number of times mentioned for the personal attributes most frequently assessed among 126 physician assistant programs in the United States

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  Figure 4. Number of times mentioned for the personal attributes least frequently assessed among 126 physician assistant programs in the United States

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