WCU Marks Milestone at White Coat Ceremony
Continued accreditation caps a celebration for all cohorts
West Chester University’s Physician Assistant Program celebrated a major milestone during its annual White Coat Ceremony, recognizing the program’s recent achievement of Accreditation-Continued from the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA), the highest accreditation status awarded to established physician assistant programs.
The ceremony also celebrated students at every stage of the physician assistant journey, welcoming the Class of 2028, recognizing the Class of 2027 as they begin clinical education and graduating the Class of 2026 as they prepare to enter one of the nation's fastest-growing healthcare professions.
Under the leadership of Program Director Amy Baker, DSc, MPAS, the designation follows a rigorous seven-year process of program development, implementation, evaluation and continuous quality improvement. Much of that work took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, as faculty and staff simultaneously built a new academic program, established clinical partnerships and prepared students for careers in medicine.
For the Class of 2026, the ceremony marked the culmination of years of rigorous academic study and clinical training. Collectively, graduates completed more than 37,000 patient encounters during their clinical year and will soon take the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE). Previous WCU graduating classes have achieved a 92% first-time PANCE pass rate, exceeding the national average.
Graduates have accepted positions across the region in specialties including critical care, hospital medicine, primary care and emergency medicine, with placements at organizations such as UPMC, Lancaster General Health, Main Line Health and Norwalk Hospital.
Students in the Class of 2027 celebrated another significant milestone as they received their short white coats before beginning clinical rotations. The ceremony symbolizes the trust, responsibility and professionalism expected as students transition from classroom instruction to direct patient care under the supervision of physician and physician assistant preceptors.
Meanwhile, the newest cohort—the Class of 2028—begins its journey as one of the program's most competitive classes to date. Twenty-six students were selected from more than 1,200 applicants, entering the program with an average undergraduate GPA of 3.6 and more than 2,000 hours of prior healthcare experience.
The ceremony also recognized outstanding students, faculty and clinical partners through several awards, including inductions into the Pi Alpha National Honor Society, which honors excellence in scholarship, leadership, research and service to the physician assistant profession.
“For the faculty and staff who launched this program during one of the most challenging periods in higher education and healthcare, this ceremony represented far more than a graduation,” said Scott Heinerichs, EdD, dean of the College of Health Sciences. “It affirmed that a vision conceived years earlier has matured into a fully accredited physician assistant program whose graduates are already improving the health of communities across Pennsylvania and beyond.”
WCU Physician Assistant program facts
- 7 years from program development to achieving ARC-PA Accreditation-Continued
- Highest Accreditation Status: ARC-PA Accreditation-Continued
- 26 graduates in the Class of 2026
- 26 students entering clinical education in the Class of 2027
- 37,000+ patient encounters completed by the graduating class during clinical rotations
- 92% first-time PANCE pass rate for previous graduating classes—above the national average
- 1,200+ applications received for the Class of 2027
- 3.6 average undergraduate GPA for the Class of 2027
- 2,000+ average hours of prior healthcare experience before entering the program
- Graduates accepted positions and fellowships at organizations including UPMC, Lancaster General Health, Main Line Health, Norwalk Hospital and numerous additional healthcare systems across the region.