Evolving challenges of the pandemic highlight the critical demand for health care professionals and multi-disciplinary approaches to identifying and solving problems in health care, the health sciences, and behavioral sciences. Bryant’s Physician Assistant program is among several academic programs introduced by the University to answer the call.
Bryant University’s Master of Science in Physician Assistant (PA) Studies program launched in January 2014 as the first program of the University’s School of Health Sciences. In 2018, the PA program was granted full accreditation by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA), earning Accreditation-Continued status. This prestigious full accreditation is a distinction that Bryant’s program was the first in Rhode Island to receive. The ARC-PA has high standards, and the process was rigorous. Full accreditation is a tribute to everyone who contributed to achieving this important milestone.
Bryant collaborated with key regional partners – including The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Lifespan, CharterCARE, and Care New England– to build the program, which features an unprecedented 12 clinical specialty rotations. Students are paired with preeminent doctors affiliated with regional New England partners and benefit from an ongoing partnership with the Lyndon Baines Johnson Tropical Medical Center in American Samoa.
Bryant’s Physician Assistant Learning Center is an $8-million state-of-the-art clinical teaching space that features two physician assistant classrooms, a high-fidelity simulation laboratory, and a physical examination laboratory. Anatomy is reviewed on the University’s own digital cadaver, Anatomage.
After seven years of success, increasing applications and enrollments, valued partnerships with health care organizations across the region, and accomplished alumni contributing in service to thousands in Rhode Island and around the country, Bryant’s PA graduates embody the excellence of our program.
This fall, Bryant’s College of Arts and Sciences will offer a Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences program designed to ensure that students understand the scientific foundations of human health and disease while gaining an integrative view of the healthcare industry, human behavior and communication. The program builds on Bryant’s Center for Health and Behavioral Sciences, which has a mission to educate and train future leaders dedicated to improving the health and well-being of others. All Bryant University students benefit from a career-focused education at the intersection of health sciences, business and the liberal arts.
