General Charges- $60 x 50 = $3000.00
Clinical skills center -OSCE- $130 x 50 = $6500.00
PAEA- PACKRAT Exam II- $40 x 50 = $ 2000.00
Supplies $9 x 50 = $450.00
Aquifer/ i Human Online Simulation Cases =$120 x50 = $6,000.00
ROSH Review-online study program = $72 x 50 = $3600.00
PAEA- End of Curriculum Exam - $80 x 50 = $4000.00
PAEA- End of Rotation Standardized Exam = $34 x 50 = $1700.00
Lab Coat- $40 x 50 = $2000.00
Clinical Practicum IV is a new course and the fourth of 4 courses (Clinical Practicum I-IV) that will be required for our senior students' clinical training. These courses are the result of the revamping of clinical year curriculum. This revamping was necessary as the previous curriculum was not in compliance with University policy 14.1 regarding clinical training time to credit hours. During this evaluation, it was also decided that our 9 clinical rotations would be condensed to 4 more broadly described clinical practicums, avoiding students registering for a specific clinical rotation (i.e. internal medicine) but actually being placed in another clinical rotation (i.e. psychiatry) in which the student was not registered for (this was the practice of the Program since its inception). The course fees of 8 courses have been transferred and divided into each of the 4 broader courses. There have been no new additions to these course fees- the previous approved amounts for PAS 8060 (Family Practice rotation- Winter semester and PAS 8070 (Preceptorship-Winter semester) have been combined into the course fees proposed for PAS 8400.
The following is a brief description of all costs:
1. General Charges- costs of several exercises and end of curriculum procedure assessments required for graduation.
2. Clinical Skills Center- OSCE (objective structured clinical examination)- Assessment tool used by our program -this is traditionally done at the clinical skills testing center at the WSU medical school using standardized patients for clinical scenarios. Cost of 1 OSCE is set by School of Medicine fees.
3. PAEA-PACKRAT Standardized Exam-this is a National exam that is given to the students at the beginning and end of their clinical year of training to gauge the knowledge they have acquired during their clinical year of training. The results are used as a main assessment tool with results being compared to national averages, allowing the identification of deficiencies of training and at-risk students. This exam is part of a package of all standardized exams given during the clinical year of training and composed of 2 PACKRAT exams (given before and at the end of their clinical training), 7 end of rotation exams (each given at the end of the following clinical rotations: family practice, internal medicine, psychiatry, pediatrics, women's health, emergency medicine, and surgery) and a comprehensive end of curriculum exam. The total cost per student is $420. This cost is divided between PAS 8100, 8200, 8300 and 8400.
4. Supplies- supplies required for in-house assessment (i.e. end of curriculum clinical skills assessment).
5. Aquifer/iHuman Online Simulation Cases-two online learning opportunities for our clinical year students. The Covid-19 epidemic resulted in part of clinical practicum courses to go to a virtual platform with online patient simulation cases. Two programs were used during this time -Aquifer (https://aquifer.org) and iHuman (https://www.i-human.com). Over the two years, we have found elements of both programs have greatly augmented and leveled the exposure of patient scenarios that students experience during their clinical year. A decision to incorporate both of these programs to enhance the didactic component of the clinical year was made by our faculty. These programs will also be used to prepare for the national boards that students must pass at the end of the program. The fees for these two programs will be spread over 4 courses students take during their clinical year (PAS 8100, 8200, 8300 and 8400). The ARC-PA (our accrediting body) is emphasizing the use of several assessment tools, both internally and externally vetted, to determine the depth and breadth of our PA students. Access to this online learning environment will provide another avenue for our students.
6. ROSH Review- this has been an online learning and assessment tool that has been historically used by the majority of our Year II PA student (https://www.roshreview.com/specialties/physician-assistant/). Students have used this as an accessory study tool to augment their clinical year learning and have paid for this individually. We approached the developers of this Review program to review the program and determine if a discounted price could be obtained for the students. The developers provided us with a package including the learning and assessment tools for the students as well as assessment tools for faculty to determine how each student is doing in individual topics. This will allow both the faculty and the students to identify areas of deficiency in our teaching/learning areas. It also provides tools for the remediation of students and preparation for end of year summative exams as well as the PA boards at the end of the program. The total cost for the clinical year per student discounted was $288 (individually the students cost was $299 per website- this did not include faculty access to the assessments). The total cost has been divided between the clinical practicum courses of the Year II curriculum (PAS 8100, 8200, 8300 and 8400).
7. PAEA- End of Curriculum Exam- see explanation for #3.
8. PAEA- End of Rotation Standardized Exams- see explanation for #3.
9. Lab coats- tradition that at the end of the program students receive their long white coat in the Program's White Coat Ceremony.