| Graduates
of the Physician Assistant Program at Stony Brook University
are highly skilled professionals who are educated at the masters
level to provide medical services with physician supervision in all
practice settings and a wide range of medical disciplines. Education
at Stony Brook emphasizes the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required
to evaluate and manage patients in the primary care setting. Feedback
from physician supervisors and employers indicates that graduates
are expected to exercise an appropriate degree of autonomy and
be capable of integrating, interpreting, and acting on findings without “over
the shoulder” physician supervision or surveillance.
Program graduates are capable of formulating a detailed patient
database through the medical history and physical examination and
developing a comprehensive patient management plan. They prescribe
medications, order and interpret diagnostic studies such as laboratory
tests and electrocardiograms, and perform many therapeutic procedures
including minor surgery, suturing and casting. Graduates also provide
other important aspects of medical care such as patient education,
counseling, and health risk appraisal.
Program graduates are found in all types of health care settings
such as private and group practices, hospitals, managed care setting,
geriatric and long term care facilities, industrial and occupational
health clinics, correctional facilities, student health services,
community clinics, and international medical service organizations.
Although the majority of program graduates are employed in primary
care disciplines, they are also found in all other specialties and
sub-specialties including, but not limited to, emergency medicine,
orthopedics, general surgery, hematology-oncology, infectious disease,
nephrology, and cardiology. Program graduates are also employed in
administrative, teaching, and research positions.
The demand for program graduates is high because they are well educated
and capable of providing quality, cost-effective patient care services.
The fact that they are schooled in the medical educational model
facilitates a close working relationship with their physician supervisors
and other health care providers. Graduates are encouraged to work
in underserved areas and/or with underserved patient populations
and are increasingly responding to international health care needs.
Their contributions in those venues are well established and recognized.
Involvement in local, state, and national professional organizations
and activities, and participating in the education of the next generation
of physician assistants, are hallmarks of Stony Brook graduates,
as is a commitment to maintaining high ethical, moral, and professional
standards in all interactions with patients and other health care
providers.
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