For more info call: 866-544-7898

Program Highlights

SJVC’s Physician Assistant graduates are health professionals qualified by academic and clinical training to practice medicine under the supervision of a physician. PAs gather and evaluate medical data and participate in the process of clinical decision-making, diagnosis, and therapeutic management.

Admissions Requirements

For specific admissions requirements, click here to see our PA Admissions page. PA Program Technical Standards

For more information regarding our Technical Standards, please click here.

Learn


In specialty settings, PAs assist in surgery, perform diagnostic procedures, participate in patient rounds, and provide a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic services. As a skilled member of the health care team, the PA improves the patient’s access to health care.

Career Opportunities

Employment opportunities for PAs are good. Currently more than 40,000 certified PAs are practicing in the United States. PA practice specialties range from Family Medicine to Neurosurgery. PAs work in:

Mission, Goals and Objectives

The mission of the SJVC PA program is to educate and train students to become competent, compassionate primary care physician assistants who practice medicine and other health care services under the supervision of licensed physicians; and who are committed to helping improve health care for rural, multi-cultural and ethnically diverse underserved populations of a geographic region known as the Central San Joaquin Valley of California.

The goal of the Primary Care Physician Assistant Program at San Joaquin Valley College is to enhance the health of individuals who reside in rural and disadvantaged communities through the following objectives:

Program Curriculum

The Program consists of 6, 16-week terms including summers. Didactic coursework (3 terms) includes Anatomy & Physiology, Pathophysiology, Adult Medicine, Diagnostic Studies, History & Physical Assessment, Pharmacology, Pediatrics, Ob/Gyn, Surgery, Clinical skills, Geriatrics and Emergency Medicine. The clinical phase (3 terms) includes the following rotations and coursework: Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Women’s Health, Emergency Medicine, Geriatrics, Surgery, Psychiatry, Primary Care Preceptorship, a Review of Medical Literature, and the PA profession.

Upon successful completion of all 96 units of coursework, an AS degree will be awarded.

Please note: It is strongly recommended that while enrolled in the PA program students are not working. No special concessions are granted for working students.

Accreditation Status

San Joaquin Valley College’s Primary Care Physician Assistant Program has received full accreditation from the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant. The next scheduled accreditation review will be in 2012. The Program was approved by the Physician Assistant Committee of the State of California in 2003.


The program has been placed on "Administrative Probation"* pending review of its December 2009 report to the ARC-PA describing the program's plans to demonstrate compliance with reporting Standards C1.01f, C2.01b3, C2.01b4, and C2.01b5. 


*"Administrative Probation" is a temporary status conferred, indicating that a program has not complied with an administrative requirement, such as failure to pay fees or submit required reports. Once placed on Administrative Probation, programs that fail to comply with administrative requirements in a timely manner, as specified by the ARC-PA, may be scheduled for a focused site visit and/or risk having their accreditation withdrawn.


Board Passing Scores


Graduating Class Number of PA Students 1st time test taker passing rates Graduates Certified on retest
2005 20 90% 100%
2006 16 87% 100%
2007 18 78% 100%
2008 17 76% 88%
2009 20 80% 80%
SJVC—Physician Assistant program student
Click on the highlighted campus where this program is offeredVisaliaBakersfieldFresnoHanfordHesperiaModestoRancho CordovaRancho Cucamonga