PAEA COVID-19 Information Center

Digital Learning Hub

The DLH provides a trove of resources, curated by PAEA and posted by your faculty colleagues, that can help as you move classes online and adapt – professionally and personally – to the new normal of our lives. Our Learning team has reorganized the resources relating to the coronavirus pandemic and to online teaching into two easy-to-access carousels:

• COVID-19 Resources
• Teacher Toolkit

As a PAEA member, you have free access to the DLH. If you have not yet set up an account, fill out this form to sign up for a new account. We also encourage your contributions to hub as well.  

Webinar Series: Student-Centered Learning in Times of Crisis

Telemedicine in PA Education – A Virtual Panel Discussion

• View the recording and handouts.
• Approved for 1.5 Category 1 CME hours by AAPA

Topics include:

• Strategies for how telemedicine can support clinical learning during the COVID-19 outbreak
• How we can prepare PA students for the future of medicine as practicing clinicians
• Technical aspects to consider (including vendors, HIPAA, and logistics)

Panelists:

• Desmond Watt, PA-C, current president of PAs in Virtual Medicine and Telemedicine, an AAPA-affiliated special interest group
• David Bunnell, MSHS, PA-C, the clinical coordinator at Frostburg State University’s PA program
• Ziemowit Mazur, EdM, MS, PA-C, associate program director of the Rosalind Franklin University PA program

Virtualizing Your Classroom – Leveraging Video

• Karin Reed, Speaker Dynamics
• View the recording and handouts.
• Approved for 1.5 Category 1 CME hours by AAPA

Better tools and bandwidth make virtual communication easier than ever. Recent events have made this capability an even more relevant and indispensable alternative as training everywhere is being “virtualized.” Without the advantage of face-to-face interactions, many are turning to virtual video as a close approximation. However, the transition to a video-centric approach can be challenging even with the best tools. Most people do not feel comfortable or confident speaking on camera — even a small one — and translating an in-person approach to an on-camera one can be tricky. This training provides specific tips and techniques to help participants overcome barriers to communication effectiveness in the virtual realm. The methodology is based upon the work of Speaker Dynamics CEO Karin Reed, author of On-Camera Coach: Tools and Techniques for Business Professionals in a Video-Driven World.  

PAEA Student Webinar: “The PA Will See You Now”

How to develop a better on-camera presence as appointments and classes shift to teleconferencing.

• View the recording and handouts.
• Approved for 1.5 Category 1 CME hours by AAPA

 

Best Practices for Integrating Aquifer into Physician Assistant Education

This webinar demonstrated how to integrate Aquifer courses into their didactic and clinical curricula. PA educator Cindy Lord is one of the co-presenters.

• View the recording.

 

Response Forums

In an effort to help programs deal with the impact of COVID-19 on PA education, the Faculty Development Mission Advancement Commission (MAC) has held two “Response Forums” — one on didactic education, and the other on clinical education. These forums are intended to provide the opportunity for PA faulty to connect to learn from each other some of the best practices and practical advice for teaching online in an informal, conversational format.

PA Education COVID-19 Response Forum, Didactic Phase

View the recording on the Digital Learning Hub.

PA Education COVID-19 Response Forum, Clinical Phase

View the recording on the Digital Learning Hub.  

Professional Learning Communities

In this time of isolation, connect with your colleagues around the country through one or more of the professional learning communities on the PAEA Learning website, including a new PLC:

• Covid-19 Info Exchange in the Professional Learning Community: This online community was developed as a space for PAEA members to connect regarding how the COVID-19 situation is affecting PA programs across the country. Please use this gathering space to share responses, ideas, questions, resources, and stories with your colleagues.

PAEA Events – Updated March 31, 2020

PAEA’s leadership team meets regularly to consider contingency plans and continue monitoring the CDC’s travel guidance, as well as other recommendations from state and local health authorities. Our guiding principle is our Association vision of “Health for All” and promoting and protecting the health and safety of our members and staff. As of Tuesday, March 31, the following events have been cancelled or postponed, or will be held virtually.

• March 17 – 18 (Washington, DC): PAEA Spring Advocacy Trip (to be rescheduled)
• March 18 – 20 (Washington, DC): PAEA Spring Workshops  (cancelled)
• March 26 – 29 (Chicago, IL): Exam Development Summit (held virtually)
• April 3 (Stanford, CA): Leadership Lab  (to be rescheduled)
• April 19 – 21 (Washington, DC): Volunteer Leadership Summit (cancelled; volunteer groups may meet virtually as needed)
• June 23 – 27 (Alexandria, VA): Program Directors 101 (will be transitioned to a blended format)

Advocacy

The current crisis is generating a lot of discussion and government support of health care and health professions education. PAEA has been working with our partners to advocate for resources for PA education, students, and practicing PAs. Recent legislative wins for PA programs and practice have shown that our combined advocacy efforts are paying off.

We appreciate the hard work of those programs that have been able to comply with PAEA’s proctoring policies, but we realize that it is increasingly difficult in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. Below we identify important policy updates for our exams. PAEA is working with PA programs to support changes you may need with your purchases and to address program-specific questions. Please contact us directly for support: Chat, exams@PAEAonline.org, or phone (866-749-7601).

• PACKRAT®. PACKRAT is a student self-assessment that will continue to be available, without interruption. This exam can be delivered in a proctored or unproctored mode, onsite or remote, within a scheduled testing window. See instructions here. We encourage programs to leverage this option for students who are at home and might benefit from self-assessment and keyword feedback.
• End of Rotation™. PAEA is temporarily waiving our proctoring policies for the End of Rotation exams effective immediately and through the end of December. ExamDriver scheduling and administration procedures will remain unchanged — programs will still need to assign a proctor to start the exam at the appointed time, and in the event of inappropriate behavior, provide rationale for auto-paused exams. Given this interim decision to waive the requirement for high-security remote proctoring tools, caution is advised when interpreting individual student performance, comparing scores to scores from previous administrations, and making inferences based on the national comparative data provided on score reports. The integrity of these administrations will rely on the honor system and codes of conduct of the educational institution, and thus cohort-level statistics may better reflect the shift in exam administration practices. Programs that wish to do so may continue to monitor students via remote proctoring services.
• End of Curriculum™. PAEA has modified the PAEA Assessment Exam Policies for the administration of the PAEA End of Curriculum exam to include program eligibility requirements that must be met in order to administer the End of Curriculum exam. These requirements are important to maintain the validity of the assessment data we provide to all PA programs. In order to be eligible to administer the PAEA End of Curriculum exam, all programs must meet the following requirements:
  • Security: The PAEA End of Curriculum exam must be proctored in person –the use of remote proctors is strictly prohibited for this exam. The PAEA End of Curriculum exam must be administered using PAEA’s selected lockdown browser, Safe Exam Browser.
  • Graduation/Completion Date: The PAEA End of Curriculum exam must be delivered within the final four months of the program. Programs will not be able to schedule the exam before this point, so it is important to ensure that the graduation/completion date is accurate in ExamDriver.
  • Program Director Attestation: The Program Director must truthfully complete the below Attestation of Eligibility prior to requesting to schedule the PAEA End of Curriculum exam.
  If your program meets the above eligibility requirements and you would like to administer the PAEA End of Curriculum exam, please complete this form. Your program director will be asked to verify that your program meets the eligibility requirements after which you will be contacted by a member of the PAEA Assessment team with clarifying questions or approval and exam scheduling will be made available.

PAEA is working with the ARC-PA to help provide guidance to programs on how they can adapt to changing circumstances while maintaining the safety of their students, the quality of their instruction, and rigor of their programs. We are also advocating with the federal government on student loans and aid. We encourage students to direct questions on changes in didactic or clinical curricula to their programs.

Resources on Student Financial Aid

• Update from Federal Student Aid: Guidance for interruptions of study related to Coronavirus (COVID-19)
• The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators’ Coronavirus (COVID-19) web center
• FAQ published by DOE on the student loan provisions included in the CARES Act
• FAQ on emergency financial aid to students under the CARES Act
• FAQ on emergency institutional aid under the CARES Act

Q&A for Applicants and Health Professions Advisors

Applicants can click here for updates and FAQs related to the CASPA application from our partner Liaison International. Q. Will there be changes to the 20-21 CASPA application due to COVID-19? A. For those applicants who are unable to obtain official transcripts, CASPA will grant an exception and allow them to upload unofficial transcripts instead. Applicants will be shown on-screen text that provides detailed instructions for how to take advantage of the new Transcript Hardship option. This exemption should only be pursued if applicants are unable to have their official transcripts sent to CASPA from any regionally accredited, post-secondary college or university they attended. Furthermore, this exception should not be used to circumvent any administrative holds that have been placed on student accounts that prevent the distribution of official transcripts. More information about this process is available in the CASPA Applicant Help Center. PAEA has also added a COVID-19 hardship essay to the CASPA application which will allow applicants to express how the pandemic has impacted their pathway to becoming a PA. This essay is optional, will be up to 2500 characters in length, and PAEA will continue to have the essay in CASPA for at least the next 5 application cycles. Q. Will PA programs accept online and pass/fail coursework to fulfill prerequisite requirements? A. PA programs are rapidly adapting to the impact of the COVID-19 on admissions. PAEA is in the process of collecting data from institutions on updates to their admission policies, including those related prerequisite courses that transitioned to an online or pass/fail format. We will share that information as soon as it is available. Please contact the school directly. Q. I earned credit at a foreign institution; will I have issues getting my transcript evaluated? A. All transcript evaluation services are still operational. However, they may have longer processing times than usual. For more information, please contact the evaluation service directly. Q. Do you anticipate any application processing delays? A. PAEA has received assurance from Liaison International that they will continue to provide uninterrupted service to all applicants. We do not expect any delays in processing applications. Q. Does the PAEA Program Directory have the most up-to-date information? A. All data in the directory was reported before the COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States. We are attempting to update information as quickly as possible. Please refer to program websites for the most up-to-date information.

Exams and Certification

• Frequently Asked Questions from PAs and resources from NCCPA regarding the coronavirus
• Pearson VUE Test Delivery Information

For students interested in the health professions

• COVID-19 and College Students: What You Absolutely Need to Know

Coping Mechanisms

• Coping in an Era of Coronavirus: A Webinar for Students by the American Psychological Association.
• Managing Your Mental Health during COVID 19 with Lynn Bufka, PhD (Video)

There is an enormous amount of information available on every aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic. PAEA is focusing primarily on educational resources, with some links to public health information and to our sister PA organizations. Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering

Higher Education

• Guidance for Higher Education Administrators
• Chronicle of Higher Ed: The Latest Developments
• Inside Higher Education: Latest Coronavirus News
• The Department of Education: Breakdown of education stabilization fund award amounts by institution and the minimum amount that must be used to offset student expenses (PDF)

CDC and Public Health

• CDC Guidelines on Reopening Schools
• American College Health Association Guidelines for Reopening Schools. Further updates from ACHA can be found on this page.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Center
• Directory of local health departments
• World Health Organization COVID-19 Pandemic page

National PA Organizations

Each of the national PA organizations has dedicated sections of their websites to information on how they are adapting their processes to changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant: Updates and guidance from the national accrediting body for PA programs.
• American Academy of PAs: Clinical, policy, and public health information from the national organization representing clinically practicing PAs.
• National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants: Information on PANCE testing and certification from the national certifying body.

Other Organizations and Resources

• American Psychological Assocation: Continually updated by APA for psychologists, health-care workers and the public
• University of Texas at Austin: Helping People Respond to Crisis: Theoretical Framework and Practical Strategies
• The Schwartz Center: Resources for Healthcare Professionals Coping with the COVID-19 Pandemic