• Physician Assistant Studies

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Why UTMB?

historic-image-of-ashbel-smith-building_smUTMB Legacy. Earn your MPAS from a School of Medicine. In fact, receive your degree from the first medical school (est. 1891) in Texas and one of the first PA programs in the state (est. 1971). Join our 130-year legacy of medical education and become part of the ranks of over 2,000 UTMB Physician Assistant alumni.

Anatomy_smAnatomy Lab. The UTMB PA program teaches a Gross Anatomy course with a full cadaver lab. Thanks to UTMB’s Willed Body program, you will learn the complicated and intricate structures of the human body in a respectful and uniquely hands-on way. Each Spring, a memorial service honors the donor’s special gift.

Cropped TOOTH 1_smCommunity Outreach. UTMB has longstanding Community Outreach through interprofessional involvement of students from the UTMB Schools of Medicine, Health Professions, Nursing, and Biomedical Sciences to serve the needs of Galveston and Bay Area through multiple community organizations.

Faculty Coached Learning Teams. At UTMB, you will be a part of a Faculty Coached Learning Team (FCLT). FCLTs are a special way UTMB fosters a sense of strong community even though the PA class is large. Students are teamed with their very own faculty mentor and then meet each week in a small group to talk about life, medicine, and career development.

Rotation- Radiation Oncology_sm Clinical Rotations. Students in their clinical year are exposed to 12 four-week rotations. These rotations provide the students with the opportunity to experience multiple subspecialty clinics. Unique supervised clinical practice experiences in rural medicine, health provider shortage areas, and correctional managed care are available. Also accessible are one-of-a-kind electives including medical Spanish, autopsy, burns, hyperbaric and undersea medicine, and international rotations.

 

Program Achievements and Successes

  • How UTMB PAS demonstrates student success
    • Over the past five years, 99% of our enrolled students have successfully completed the program and graduated.
    • The latest survey indicates nearly 21% of our graduates practice in primary care.
    • Clinical preceptor reports 100% of our clinical students are well prepared for clerkship in all clinical settings.
    • UTMB has graduated over 2,200 PA’s since 1973. UTMB PA Alumni hold leadership positions as TAPA officers, Texas Medical Board members, and Program Directors, Deans, and Provosts in Texas and around the country, as well as have pioneered to the South Pole in the name of research.
  • UTMB's full-time PAS faculty have well over 200 years of combined clinical experience. They come from diverse clinical backgrounds in primary care and are respected in their specialty areas including but not limited to underserved population, family practice, internal medicine, cardiology, rheumatology, neurology, doctorate in pharmacy, general surgery, orthopedic surgery, emergency medicine, global health and research.
  • Physician assistants are regularly ranked among the top three healthcare, STEM and overall jobs in the U.S. (Reference: AAPA).

Accreditation

The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA) has granted Accreditation-Continued status to the University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston Physician Assistant Program sponsored by the University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston Accreditation-Continued is an accreditation status granted when a currently accredited program is in compliance with the ARC-PA Standards.

Accreditation remains in effect until the program closes or withdraws from the accreditation process or until accreditation is withdrawn for failure to comply with the Standards. The approximate date for the next validation review of the program by the ARC-PA will be June 2027. The review date is contingent upon continued compliance with the Accreditation Standards and ARC-PA policy.

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  Contact Us

Department of Physician Assistant Studies
301 University Blvd.
Galveston, TX 77555-1345

Office: Room 7.200, UTMB Health Clinics
Phone: (409) 772-3048
Fax: (409) 772-9710
Email: pasrqinf@utmb.edu

 Academic Calendar

Download the PAS 2023-24 calendar in PDF format.

Download the PAS 2024-25 calendar in PDF format.

Download the PAS 2025-26 calendar in PDF format.