Yale PA Online Program Welcomes Fifth Class of Students

Yale School of Medicine’s Physician Assistant Online (PA Online) Program welcomed its fifth class of students in January 2022. The 80-member cohort is almost double the number of students in the inaugural class, which started in January 2018. 

The PA Online Program blends online classes and coursework with in-person clinical rotations and three immersions on the Yale campus. This format enables students to receive a Yale education without relocating. To date, students have participated from 45 states and the District of Columbia. Many students in the program want to serve as PAs in their home communities, often in primary care, cognizant of the nationwide shortage of primary care providers. 

Below are links to articles that discuss the program and its students and faculty. This includes articles about the program’s curriculum and impact—and how the program is advancing its mission to improve the health of all people by transforming medical education through innovation.

• 43 Students Comprise Yale’s Inaugural Physician Assistant Online Program Class: This article describes the inaugural Yale PA Online cohort beginning the program in January 2018.
  
• Yale PA Online Program Welcomes 81 New Students: This article about the fourth cohort, which began the program in January 2021, reflects the growth and diversity of Yale PA Online.
  
• First-year Yale PA Online Students Apply Coursework in Clinical Settings: This article describes a unique and valuable element of the Yale PA Online curriculum: Clinical Experience in Early Didactic (CEED), which provides students with 120+ hours of clinical experience during their first year in the program. 
  
• Transgender Patient Care a Priority in MD, PA, and PA Online Curricula: This article describes how Yale School of Medicine’s MD, PA Online, and Physician Associate degree programs incorporate curricular content to train students to care for transgender and non-binary patients competently and compassionately. Yale PA Online has prioritized including such content in its curriculum since the program began.
  
• Yale PA Online Innovates with Virtual Standardized Patient Exercise: In January 2019, before COVID-19 made telehealth a critical and common practice, Yale PA Online students engaged in an innovative virtual standardized patient exercise.
  
• Yale PA Online Program Alumnae Contribute to Their Home Communities: Read about Yale PA Online alumnae practicing primary care in their home communities, exemplifying a central element of Yale School of Medicine’s objectives for launching the Yale PA Online Program, against the backdrop of an increasing nationwide shortage of primary care physicians.
  
• White Coat Ceremony Marks Transition to Clinical Practice for 81 YSM PA Online Students: Read about the virtual 2021 White Coat Ceremony for the Yale PA Online Class of 2023 and watch the video shown during the ceremony of students, often with families and friends, donning their white coats from their home communities across the country.
  
• Second Class of Yale PA Online Students Receive Diplomas: This article discusses the 58 members of the Yale PA Online Class of 2021, who came from 25 states, receiving their diplomas in June 2021. Although they could not have an in-person Commencement, it includes links to a heartwarming video of graduates of the class with their families and friends marking their graduations. There is a similar video for the Yale PA Online Class of 2020.
  
• Yale PA Online Students Provide College Students with Guidance to Mark National PA Week: Read about Yale PA Online students engaging with college students during National PA Week, in what has become a tradition for the program.