The physician assistant program at Marquette University plans to get bigger. The private Catholic university is slated to break ground in April on an $18.5 million, 44,000 square-foot building that will open in 2019.
“Typically we seat 55 students per class. And so we’re going to expand to 75 and then leave the door open to further expansion depending on demand,” said William Cullinan, dean of the College of Health Sciences.
The program expansion comes during a time when parts of Wisconsin are facing a doctor shortage.
Stay informed on the latest news
Sign up for WPR’s email newsletter.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, the state has several Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas including one near Marquette’s campus. State health officials say 10 counties need an additional 3-to-10 primary care providers.
Map courtesy of Wisconsin Department of Health Services
Five schools in Wisconsin train physician assistant students. Marquette’s highly competitive PA program attracted 1,400 applicants in the most recent selection process, only 55 were admitted. Cullinan said their program is ranked No. 40 in the nation by U.S. News and World Report and boasts a high pass rate on national board exams.
“The last time data were available for the board exam scores the Marquette program scored in the 99th percentile which means out of 160 plus programs in the country, statistically it ranked first, second or third.”
Most of the students, Cullinan said, have the grades to get into medical school but decide not to.
“One (reason) is certainly that it’s a shorter training period and they’re getting into the clinic faster. Second, the debt load is much smaller due to that shorter training period. And I think the third thing is the fact a physician assistant can change specialties multiple times over the course of a career which of course medical doctors aren’t able to do,” he said.
Physician assistants at Marquette University get their clinical training at 400 locations including Aurora Health Care, Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and others.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.
