About Physician Associate Studies, MPAS - at Swansea University
Are you interested in a career as a Physician Associate, working as part of a multidisciplinary healthcare team in hospitals and GP surgeries, assessing, diagnosing and managing patient treatment?
Our integrated two-year Masters in Physician Associate Studies (MPAS) degree is a full-time, intensive educational course teaching you to work as a safe and competent clinically trained healthcare professional in the National Health Service.
Year one will be university-based, comprising of systems-based clinical learning and practical sessions led by experienced clinicians. In addition to this you will have early exposure to clinical placements in primary care and later in the year exposure to secondary care. Year two will be predominantly placement based with placements across Wales and subsequent periods of time spent back in university to consolidate learning. In clinical placement, you will apply your learning in the care of real patients under the supervision of a clinically qualified mentor.
Throughout your degree you will have opportunities to work effectively with patients, develop a range of practical and clinical reasoning skills, and reflect on practice to identify your individual learning needs.
You must pass all assessments to be eligible to progress from year one into year two of the programme and from year two to the PA national examination. Regardless of which programme you have undertaken in the UK, you must pass the PA national examination to enter professional practice and work as a qualified PA.
Why Physician Associate Studies at Swansea University?
Our integrated two-year Masters in Physician Associate Studies degree is the only course in South Wales and will help you develop the knowledge and clinical skills to pass the PA National Examination and start your new healthcare role. We have a outstanding pass rate and this achievement makes us a leading place to study and train to become a Physician Associate in Wales and the UK. We use our Top 5 ranking for overall Research Quality (REF2021) to inform our teaching and ready you, our students, to practice in the Welsh NHS.
Early in the programme you will benefit from clinical placements with a high level of patient contact. Your clinical placements are underpinned by clinical skills labs and clinical teaching delivered by our dedicated teaching staff. We use a systems-based teaching method to deliver the educational material across all body systems and utilise a variety of teaching modalities (lectures, small groups, role play) to cater for a range of learning needs. Whilst the programme is face to face we do deliver some sessions remotely and make time for directed and self-directed learning enabling students to manage their work-life balance.
Through our curriculum we aim for you to graduate from our Physician Associate programme as confident, competent and safe Physician Associates delivering healthcare across the breadth of clinical practice.
Your Physician Associate Studies experience
From the moment you arrive at the Medical School, our specialist staff will help you plan and prepare for your future by identifying and developing skills that will enable you to make the most of your postgraduate degree and enhance your career options.
You will be allocated a personal tutor for the duration of the programme who will offer regular meetings, guidance, encouragement and support. In addition to this we have regular contact with students through cohort meetings and termly listening forums. We value student feedback and use this to continuously improve the programme.
Clinical Placements may take place in GP surgeries and hospitals across Wales. There is an individual circumstances procedure for any students who may need to have placements local to them, but this is not always guaranteed. Accommodation and travel expenses may be provided or refunded, depending on the location of the placements.
Physician Associate Studies employment opportunities
There is a national recruitment process for Physician Associates in Wales. This process is undertaken by Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW). As a commissioned programme HEIW all students who accept a place to study at Swansea on the MPAS programme will be required to commit to working in Wales for 18 months post qualification. Should you not take up a post or fail to stay for the 18 months, you may be required to pay back tuition on a pro rata basis.
Learn more about Physician Associate Studies, MPAS - at Swansea University
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