PA program adds doctor of medical science degree as extra-year option for grads

by Chuck Gordon

Wingate is adding a fourth doctoral-level degree to its stable of health sciences offerings this fall.

Students earning master's degrees in physician assistant studies at Wingate can now tack on an extra year of study and earn a doctor of medical science (DMSc) degree. Classes in the new program begin today.

The program joins three other Wingate health-science doctoral programs, in occupational therapy, pharmacy and physical therapy.

The DMSc program was launched as an enticing add-on that can make PA graduates more marketable and candidates for promotion. It was designed for students with an eye on eventually getting into various leadership positions or into academia: Students will take classes in public health, business, education and research.

"It's giving them the skills and the leadership they're going to need to lead a healthcare team, step into education or step into advocacy," says Dr. Beth Maupin, director of the program. Maupin and Dr. David Weil, director of Wingate's Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) program, have DMSc degrees.

For now, the program is open only to graduates of Wingate's MPAS program. More than a dozen Wingate grads comprise the initial cohort.

The program of study is entirely online and asynchronous, which means that, although classes have deadlines, there are no set meeting times and students can do the work on their own schedules.

That's especially important for students who have already begun working full time as PAs, such as Mikayla Cristino. A December 2023 graduate of Wingate's MPAS program, Cristino works in neurology with Atrium Health in Charlotte. She works both day and night shifts, so an asynchronous schedule was perfect for her.

"If I'm on a night shift and things are slow, I can get things done if I have the time," she says. "I also think the benefit of going to Wingate, since I got my master's degree there, is that they know me and I know them. If I'm ever having a little bit of trouble handling the course load, it's going to be beneficial because I have that support and them to lean on."

The program is a "lean" operation, Maupin says. Wingate has hired one adjunct faculty member to fill in some gaps, but most classes are being taught by current faculty members. "There's not a lot of skin in the game," Weil says. "We don't need classrooms and IT support and libraries and six faculty members."

There are also no additional clinical hours required, since students are given credit for the 28 clinical hours they complete in the MPAS program. That means they need just 22 credit hours, in three semesters, to earn a DMSc.

That keeps the cost down for students. "We wanted to provide the DMSc for them but not just burden them with more debt," Weil says. "I believe it's the most cost-effective DMSc in the region, if not the country. This is not a money-grab. It's to serve our students and to maintain our excellence."

For Cristino, it's a long-term play: She is considering a return to academia one day, possibly teaching as an adjunct professor, and having a DMSc under her belt will be beneficial. But for now she is just happy she gets to stay in close contact with her Wingate PA professors.

"I truly am blessed to have gotten to be a student at Wingate," she says. "When I graduated, I was a little sad to know that I would be almost disconnecting from the faculty, so being able to maintain that connection gets me really excited. Truly, I think the family-like atmosphere at Wingate is incredible with the PA program. I hope that's something that will happen with the DMSc. I don't see why not."

Learn more about Wingate's MPAS program.

Aug. 26, 2024

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