Accreditation

We recognize our responsibility to the public and to potential and enrolled students to clearly show our data, goals, and outcomes for the last five years as provided below:  

Goal #1: Prepare graduates with the requisite medical knowledge and skills to enter into clinical practice.   

Outcome measure: Five-year first-time PANCE pass rate that meets or exceeds the national average.

• Rationale: As a highly successful program, we continuously seek to improve our curriculum to prepare students with the requisite knowledge and skills to pass the PANCE and enter clinical practice.
• Actual Outcome: The Duke PA Program 5-year (2019-2023) first-time PANCE pass rate is 93% consistent with the national average of 93%.

NCCPA PANCE Exam Performance Summary Report Last 5 Years

Duke PA 3-Year Program Attrition Data

Goal #2: Matriculate highly qualified applicants who successfully graduate from the program.

Outcome measure:  Five-year rolling graduation rate of 97% or greater.

• Rationale:  As a nationally top-ranked program and the birthplace of the PA Profession, we understand that graduates need to be able to meet program expectations, achieve learning outcomes, and successfully graduate to carry on the Duke PA traditions of excellence and service.  
• Actual Outcome: 98.5% PA student graduation rate over the past 5-years (2019-2023).

Goal #3. Support students through all phases of their PA education by holistic academic and professional means.  

Outcome measure: Deceleration rates will be 2% or less.

• Rationale:  We recognize that not every student will be able to proceed from semester to semester with a class cohort as scheduled.  Illness, life events, and academic challenges will occur and the PA Program seeks to keep students on track to complete the program with the class they were originally enrolled.  
• Actual Outcome: In the past five years (2019-2023), 1.5% of PA students have been decelerated, meaning they have graduated with a later class than that in which they were originally enrolled.

Goal #4. Guide new program graduates with the process of securing employment

Outcome measure: 95% of program graduates will secure employment as a PA within 12 months of graduation

• Rationale:  Graduates may delay seeking employment for various reasons and may encounter challenges due to differing regional job markets, which can affect job availability. The program encourages graduates to enter the workforce as soon as they are eligible and offers supportive resources and processes to facilitate their employment.
• Actual Outcome: Within 12 months of graduation, 98% of the Class of 2023 (87/89 graduates eligible to work) are employed as PAs, including those employed through post-graduate training programs. 

Goal #5: Encourage new program graduates to enter clinical practice in a primary care setting

Outcome Measure: The percentage of new graduates entering clinical practice in a primary care setting will equal or exceed the national average for Physician Assistants (PAs) working in primary care.

• Rationale: The program has a mission of primary care and offers a primary care-focused curriculum, student scholarships, and clinical rotations in rural and underserved areas in support of its mission.
• Actual Outcome: For the class of 2023, 46% of graduates are employed in primary care settings (including outpatient internal medicine, pediatrics, women’s health, and family medicine), which exceeds the national average of 22.3%¹
  
  _{1. National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. 2023 Statistical Profile of Board-Certified PAs. 2024}