Who should an individual contact if questions are not answered by the website and FAQ’s?
For additional questions, submit them to the ARC-PA by email.
What should an individual do if a specific standard is not clear?
First review the Accreditation Manual for clarification. If there is still doubt, after reading the manual, contact Accreditation Services by email.
If there is a manual of explanation to accompany the Standards, where can it be found?
The Accreditation Manual includes the Standards along with suggested evidence of compliance and performance indicators and clarifying comments to help guide programs in their self-assessment of compliance with the Standards. This manual can be found in the Resources section of the website.
If an individual has comments on suggested changes for the Standards, what is the process?
Anyone with comments related to the Standards may provide their comments to the ARC-PA. The ARC-PA has a standing committee that reviews and evaluates the Standards and comments related to them. Clarification and changes to the wording of the Standards can be made by the commission at any of the three ARC-PA meetings per year. Substantial changes to the Standards are made every ten years.
Do the ARC-PA Standards require certain information to be gathered from graduate surveys?
The program must have a process of ongoing self-assessment. The Commission expects programs to submit a self study report that includes an assessment of the program’s preparation of graduates to achieve program defined competencies. This requires the program to collect data from exiting students AND/OR graduates about their perception of how well the program prepared them for entry into the profession. The program may also utilize these surveys to collect additional information about the program related to its assessment process.
The ARC-PA does not have any information that is required on these surveys but expects the program to develop these surveys to collect the necessary data related to the program’s specific self-assessment process.
Can preceptors still serve as health care providers for students in the program?
The Standards do not address preceptors as providers for students.
The Standards do prohibit principal faculty, the program director and the medical director from participating as health care providers for students in the program, except in an emergency situation.
Are the “suggested evidence of compliance” in the Accreditation Manual really just additional standards?
No, the suggested evidence of compliance and performance indicators are just that, suggestions for how programs can demonstrate compliance with the Standards. They are not mandatory or exclusive lists and programs should feel free to submit other documentation in addition to or instead of the suggested evidence.
When should programs notify the ARC-PA about changes in class size?
The Standards require that programs must inform and receive approval required from the ARC-PA using forms and processes developed by the ARC-PA no less than six months prior to implementation of a proposed change in maximum entering class size of any number of students for any reason.
Timelines for a program seeking ARC-PA approval for a change are below:
Forms related to reporting proposed changes to the ARC-PA are available in the Change Forms section of this site.
What roles do the four major national PA organizations play in the support of PAs?
Learn the unique roles that the four major national PA organizations play in the support of PAs from the beginning and throughout their careers by watching this video. Learn how they are enabling PAs to deliver high quality, accessible care to their patients.