Lexie Shadix, Campus Carrier deputy news editor
Currently, there are nine accredited Physician Associate (PA) programs in Georgia at schools such as Emory, Augusta and, now, Berry. Berry announced the development of their PA program in 2023 and will welcome its first class this summer. This will be the first PA program in Northwest Georgia. Berry received PA accreditation this month, according to a campus update sent on March 31.
“I think, before I even existed, there was conversation at Berry about what are the needs in the community, much like what Martha [Berry] did,” PA program director Dr. Victoria Galloway said. “We know that there’s a deficit currently, and we’re experiencing a greater deficit over the next few years in healthcare providers [and] clinicians.”
In 2024, the Association of American Medical Colleges published a report in which they projected that the United States will face a physician shortage of up to 86,000 by 2036.
“The community made it known to Berry that they would like to have more clinicians and that they would prefer PAs,” Galloway said. “So, Berry did all the legwork that you do when you’re looking at bringing in a new program, and they made a decision that they wanted a PA program and then started moving forward on that.”
In 2024, the college began the construction of their new health sciences building, Morgan-Bailey Hall, which sits in the heart of the campus. It will house all the PA classes and many resources for new students.
“We’ll have a brand-new state-of-the-art simulation center, we will have virtual anatomy, we’ll do skills and procedures both with task trainers, standardized patients [and] high-fidelity and low fidelity mannequins,” Galloway said. “We have an OR (operating room) suite, four standardized patient exam rooms, four outpatients [and] downstairs there are inpatient rooms that we can use to simulate that experience.”
However, it is not only the technology that will be a valuable resource for PA students, as Berry has also hired new faculty members. All the faculty together have over 160 hours of combined medical experience.
“A lot of people that teach in medicine are coming straight from clinical practice and may not have prior academic experience,” Galloway said. “We are very fortunate in that many of our faculty have prior educational experience, and I think that’s only going to benefit this program.”
On Jan. 26, 2024, the program received approval by The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). The SACSCOC accredits institutions that award associate, baccalaureate, master’s or doctoral degrees. Furthermore, it was granted Accreditation-Provisional Status by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). ARC-PA is the accrediting agency for all physician assistant/associate programs in the US.
According to the ARC-PA website, it awards accreditation to programs “through a peer review process that includes documentation and periodic site visit evaluation” to ensure that schools continue to comply with the Accreditation Standards for PA education. Their accreditation standards reflect “a determination that a commonality in the core professional curriculum” of such programs remains current and of “sufficient depth and breadth” to prepare all PA graduates for practice.
“Provisional accreditation is full accreditation, it’s [just] the stage of accreditation when a program is still new,” Galloway said. “They have more frequent application and site visits.”
There’s a total of three site visits, and Berry has just completed the first one. After these three visits are completed, Berry will gain the status of “continued accreditation.” This is still full accreditation; the only difference is the amount of years between reviews and site visits.
“I think we are all incredibly proud of this,” Galloway said. “It has been a long road. We did it within the shortest amount of time possible for a program to be accredited and we did it very successfully. We’re starting off from a very strong position based on the feedback we got from the accreditors.”
According to Berry’s website, the PA program is defined by the values of excellence, inclusivity, integrity and service. The curriculum will span 24 months, consist of 127 credit hours, and combine classroom and clinical (time in the field) phases. Berry has partnered with several health providers around Rome that students will be able to complete the clinical phase with. Students may also be placed in rotations in other areas of Georgia, or even other southern states.
“Both local health systems, and what was Harbin Clinic [but] is now part of Atrium, have all welcomed us with open arms,” Galloway said. “Students will be rotating at Advent, Atrium [and] Harbin Clinic. They will also be at some other local groups and private practices.”
Once students have completed the program, they will receive a Master of Medical Science degree and be eligible to sit for the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE), which is administered by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). The exam assesses the clinical knowledge and reasoning, and other medical skills and professional behaviors, that have been deemed necessary for entry-level practice as a PA. Students must graduate from an ARC-PA accredited program to be eligible to take the PANCE. Once they pass the PANCE, they will be eligible for state licensure in Georgia.
“In preparation for the board certification, we have a very comprehensive, well-thoughtout and coordinated curriculum,” Galloway said. “We’re doing a modular based, or organ system based off the board teaching philosophy throughout the didactic phase. Students will complete two board reviews by the time they graduate. We’ve also tied in some very important classes, like in the third semester of the first-year didactic seminar where we will re-teach relative weaknesses in that cohort and then test them on board review questions.”
While there are nine PA programs in Georgia, and 312 ARC-PA accredited programs in the US, Berry’s program hopes to be distinguished in the fact that it places heavy importance on rural medicine.
“Our emphasis on rural medicine is important, and care [for] patients in the Appalachian region,” Galloway said. “We have a preference for students that come from medically underserved areas and areas in Appalachia, with the hope that when they graduate they will go back to those communities.”
This fall, Berry will welcome its first group of PA students, the class of 2027, with a planned cohort size of 28. The 2025-26 CASPA cycle for the class of 2028 will open on April 24, 2025, with classes beginning August of 2026 with a planned cohort size on 34.
“Ideally, we want to graduate competent, compassionate healthcare clinicians that can impact their communities in a positive way, with that special Berry flare,” Galloway said. “That intentionality and sense of purpose in service I think is important and is key.”
The PA program looks forward to welcoming this first group of students, with the hopes they will eventually help increase access to healthcare, while also increasing high quality care. The construction of Morgan-Bailey is set to be completed in summer 2025.
For more information on the PA program, students can visit berry.edu where they will find a list of faculty, application requirements and a list of classes that PA students will take.