부산대학교 도서관

There has been explosive growth in the physician assistant/associate (PA) profession in the last ten years, leading to a meteoric increase in PA training programs. Attaining and maintaining accreditation is required for PA program operations, and thus, successfully leading an accreditation self-assessment is a critical responsibility for PA program leaders. There is little research on accreditation processes and even less examining PA program leaders' approach to accreditation and how they use assessment data to guide curricular change decisions. This study explored PA program leaders' attitudes regarding ARC-PA accreditation processes and how their attitudes affect how they approach program performance assessment. The study also explored leaders' use of culture of assessment practices to ensure the soundness of their assessment activities and data-based curricular change decisions. This phenomenological qualitative research design study explored the lived experiences of PA program leaders with their programs' most recent accreditation review. The researcher conducted six semi-structured, in-depth interviews, followed by a confirmatory focus group interview with three of these participants. The three themes from the study's findings are Value of Accreditation, Assessment Matters, and Accreditation Challenges. According to the researcher's interpretation, PA program leaders value accreditation, and their attitudes directly affect how they approach the self-assessment process. PA program leaders are inherently driven to succeed and are motivated to ensure the quality of their student's learning outcomes. However, fear of adverse professional standing or job loss may be a negative motivator underlying the leaders' drive to achieve a successful accreditation outcome. Program leaders must also overcome significant challenges in conducting assessments and documenting compliance with accreditation standards. The results suggest that while program leaders value accreditation and assessment, opportunities for professional development exist to use assessment data to drive curricular change decisions consistently. The findings of this study further advance the research related to PA program leadership in guiding successful accreditation outcomes. These findings have implications for advancing PA leadership capacity in learning, service, and practice. This study's findings also have implications for research, as there is need for more research regarding PA program leader approaches and attitudes toward accreditation and assessment. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]