Overview
The College of Idaho’s Doctor of Medical Science (DMSc) program is a post-professional doctorate, specifically crafted for PAs. It is designed for PAs who are currently, or have previously been, certified or licensed to practice as a PA and delivered with flexibility in mind through an online, asynchronous learning model, allowing PAs to continue to practice or teach full-time while obtaining their doctorate.
The College’s DMSc program offers a rigorous and innovative curriculum leveraging implementation science to lead change using evidence-based practices across disciplines. It is a 36-credit hour program that provides three pathways: a traditional pathway, an accelerated pathway, and a pathway for bachelor’s-trained PAs and international PAs.
The traditional pathway is completed in 12 months (granting students 12 credits of advanced standing) and offers PAs the option to choose a concentration in Health System Leadership, Health Professions Education or Lifestyle Medicine. The Health System Leadership concentration is based on the American Academy of PA’s Competencies for PAs in Healthcare Administration and is designed to empower PAs to lead in a healthcare setting and meaningfully contribute to the safe, effective, and equitable delivery of healthcare services. The Health Professions Education concentration expands the knowledge and aptitude of established educators and prepares new or aspiring educators with educational skills based on the PA Education Association's Physician Assistant Educator Competencies. The Lifestyle Medicine concentration is built on a foundation of lifestyle medicine and implementation science and enables students to deepen their clinical knowledge of chronic disease management and prevention through patient behavior change.
The accelerated pathway grants eligible students 18 credits of advanced standing, allowing the doctorate degree to be completed in 9 months. The Early Career PA accelerated pathway is designed exclusively for new PAs who have graduated within the past three (3) years from an ARC-PA accredited program and are seeking to further their PA career through the DMSc degree. The Experienced PA Educator pathway is designed exclusively for PA faculty who have been teaching as principal faculty (0.5 FTE or greater) at an ARC-PA accredited program for at least three (3) years and are seeking to expand their knowledge and skills through the DMSc degree. The PA Fellow pathway is designed exclusively for PAs who are currently enrolled in or have graduated from an eligible PA fellowship program (also referred to as a clinical postgraduate PA program or a PA residency) and are seeking to accelerate their career through the DMSc degree.
For bachelor’s-trained PAs and for international students who are PAs or in PA-like professions (such as clinical officers (COs) and clinical associates (CAs)), the College offers an 18-month track with the option to choose a concentration in Health System Leadership, Health Professions Education or Lifestyle Medicine and Advanced Clinical Practice.
For more information about the curriculum for each pathway, see DMSc Program Requirements.