PAEA Releases Comprehensive Advocacy Curriculum

As PA programs work to prepare their students for professional success, an increasingly critical component of a graduate’s skill set is the ability to serve as an effective leader and advocate, both inside and outside of the clinical setting. However, while the importance of advocacy skills has become clear, faculty may be wondering how to best convey key principles to their students within the context of an already demanding PA curriculum. To help meet this need, PAEA’s Government Relations Team is proud to announce the release of the Association’s first Advocacy Curriculum – a comprehensive collection of resources that support PA faculty in teaching students how to improve their leadership skills and become successful advocates for PA education and the profession. 

Recorded Presentations 

PAEA’s Advocacy Curriculum provides an array of resources that can be tailored by faculty to meet their program’s unique needs. A key lecture-based component of the curriculum is two recorded sessions on policy and advocacy – one that provides essential content that should be mastered by all PA graduates and a longer-form recording that covers topics for those seeking a more active advocacy role throughout their career. The Essentials session covers content such as the scope of PAEA’s advocacy work, federal policy issues of relevance to PA education, and opportunities for involvement in PAEA’s advocacy efforts. The Comprehensive session covers the Essentials content in addition to providing an overview of key policy stakeholders and those within the profession, strategies within an advocate’s “toolkit,” and recent case studies of successful PAEA advocacy campaigns. 

Modules 

For programs interested in non-lecture-based resources, the Advocacy Curriculum also provides a series of five modules that can be assigned to students to complete at their own pace. The modules, covering topics from evidence-based communication strategies when meeting with elected officials to best practices for building long-term relationships with policymakers, provide the tools necessary for students to effectively engage in professional advocacy throughout their careers. Each module concludes with an assessment component, which offers critical feedback to faculty seeking to evaluate student learning. 

Simulated Advocacy Exercises 

A final key component of PAEA’s Advocacy Curriculum is a guide providing faculty with step-by-step instructions on conducting simulated advocacy exercises to reinforce the content included in the recorded presentations. Through this guide, faculty will learn how to have students conduct a mock advocacy meeting with an elected official, design their own multifaceted advocacy campaign, or craft a compelling argument leveraging both data and personal stories. 

PAEA would like to thank members of the Government Relations Steering Committee for their input throughout the development of the Advocacy Curriculum. Members with questions are invited to contact Tyler Smith at tsmith@PAEAonline.org.