The Duke Physician Assistant Program is designed to integrate classroom and clinical learning experiences considered necessary for competency as health care providers. Faculty and staff promote an inclusive learning milieu to support student learning and achievement of satisfactory course grades and progression in the program.
Preclinical and clinical year grades are assigned as follows:
Satisfactory = 70-100; Unsatisfactory = below 70.
Students in the Duke Physician Assistant Program are participants in a professional training program whose graduates assume health provider positions requiring a high level of responsibility. Therefore, students are assessed as they progress throughout the program on their medical knowledge, clinical technical skills, interpersonal skills, clinical reasoning, professional behaviors, and problem-solving abilities
In order to remain in the program, all students must demonstrate professional behaviors and receive final course grades of satisfactory, as a grade of unsatisfactory would result in dismissal from the program. However, dismissal from the Duke PA Program is a rare occasion, and our 99% five-year graduation rate speaks to the program’s commitment to each student’s success.
Technical Standards
All candidates for the physician assistant certificate must have the ability to learn, integrate, analyze, and synthesize data. They must have use of the senses of vision, hearing, equilibrium, or an intermediary as determined by the program or disability office. Candidates must have
motor function capabilities, physical endurance, and the emotional health to meet the program’s demands as well as the SOM requirements outlined in the link below.