The Barry University Physician Assistant Program in Miami seated its first class in 1997, and had the first graduation celebration in 1999. In 2005 the program expanded and opened a distant campus in St. Petersburg Florida. Barry University’s Mission includes the core commitments of knowledge and truth; inclusive community; social justice; and collaborative service which are reinforced in the program curriculum.
The Barry University PA Program educates students in the practice of collaborative medicine and encourages life-long learning and professional development. It fosters a technology rich environment and clinical training experiences among diverse patient populations. The Program enables students to develop competencies required to meet the health care needs of contemporary society.
The purpose of the Physician Assistant Program is to prepare well-trained health care providers who will extend and complement the capabilities of physicians in primary health care delivery. This purpose is accomplished in a responsive academic and clinical environment conducive to the pursuit of excellence in graduate medical science education, research, and community service.
Students are trained in underserved communities, with an emphasis on Primary Care. The curriculum ensures students gain sufficient knowledge of scientific research design to ably read and interpret medical literature. The Program makes use of the latest technology for several purposes: to augment instruction, to develop faculty, student, and staff technological self-efficacy, to manage evaluation data, and to facilitate the administration of the program.
The Program curriculum is 28 months long. The first year of study includes intense didactic study of basic sciences and pathophysiology of disease. A medical Spanish course is included, which helps students overcome language barriers with patients. The program utilizes regular hands on, small group labs to ensure students’ physical diagnosis abilities. The curricula includes professional patients to help students prepare for their clinical rotations. The clinical year consists of 8 six-week-long rotations across the state of Florida. For this purpose, he Program develops and maintains collaborative relationships with local hospital systems, private offices and public health clinics. The final semester of the Program offers students an intensive review course to prepare for the national board exam. That last semester also offers courses such as biomedical ethics and transitions to PA practice, which enable students to transition from being students to being working PAs.
To learn more about Barry University’s Physician Assistant Program, please visit our website barry.edu/PA or follow us on Instagram @barry_university_pa.
