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MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (January 8, 2018)—Milligan College officially welcomed its inaugural class of physician assistant students this morning during a special matriculation ceremony, in which students signed the college registry.
Program Director Andrew Hull and Milligan President Dr. Bill Greer provided brief remarks, along with other faculty, administrators and Mountain States Health Alliance Board Chair Bob Feathers. Mountain States has been a long-standing supporter of Milligan’s healthcare programs and made a financial investment into the new PA program, along with other donors.
The inaugural class is composed of 26 students from nine states, with 15 students from Tennessee. Hull said that the students range in age from 22 to 53 and come from a variety of backgrounds, including engineering, business, ministry and education.
“We are excited to officially launch Milligan’s new physician assistant program,” said Hull, a certified physician assistant. “We have worked diligently to create a rigorous program that will challenge students, and we have an excellent group of students that are well prepared to begin this program and eventually become top-notch physician assistants with a heart to serve.”
The 28-month, 108-credit hour Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies program prepares highly trained healthcare professionals with a foundation in primary care to work with physicians and other members of the healthcare team in a variety of medical specialties.
“What makes Milligan’s program unique is that we’re training students not only to be excellent medical providers, but encouraging them to be servant leaders in their community,” said Milligan President Dr. Bill Greer. “In addition, Milligan’s physician assistant program will help meet a critical healthcare need both regionally and nationally.”
Learn more about Milligan’s PA program at www.milligan.edu/pa.
The ARC-PA has granted Accreditation-Provisional status to the Milligan College Physician Assistant Program sponsored by Milligan College.
Accreditation-Provisional is an accreditation status granted when the plans and resource allocation, if fully implemented as planned, of a proposed program that has not yet enrolled students appear to demonstrate the program’s ability to meet the ARC-PA Standards or when a program holding Accreditation- Provisional status appears to demonstrate continued progress in complying with the Standards as it prepares for the graduation of the first class (cohort) of students.
Accreditation-Provisional does not ensure any subsequent accreditation status. It is limited to no more than five years from matriculation of the first class.