The mission of this program is to educate highly competent and compassionate Orthopaedic Physician Assistants who excel in meeting the health care needs of Orthopaedic Physicians across the United States.
What is an Orthopaedic Physician Assistant (OPA)?
Orthopaedics is an area of health care that deals primarily with the musculoskeletal system. The care of this system is shared among a number of professions including physical therapists, athletic trainers and orthopaedic surgeons. With increasing participation in sports, and with an aging population, orthopaedic services will continue to be in demand.
The OPA program is not a physician assistant program. This is a program that was inspired by the current OPA profession that has lacked any formalized didactic education for some time. Because USA is known for having a strong orthopaedics curriculum, the OPA program was designed to meet the needs in this specialty area. OPA will work as physician extenders for orthopaedic surgeons in their daily practices.
About the OPA Program
The OPA degree is a two-year program that combines a year of classroom/online learning with a full-year of orthopaedic-specific clinical rotations. Graduates of this program will be eligible to sit for boards conducted by the National Board for Certification of Orthopaedic Physician Assistants (NBCOPA). All students will be required to be members of the American Society of Orthopaedic Physician's Assistants (ASOPA), the professional body for this profession.
The OPA program was designed to offer those who are passionate about orthopaedics a specialized program to fit their needs. This unique degree prepares the student for the specialized field of Orthopaedic Physician Assistant, as opposed to the more generalist offering of a PA program. Instead of clinical rotations through multiple health care settings, the OPA student will experience multiple orthopaedic rotations exposing them to the various specializations within the orthopaedic field.
Program Objectives
Upon completion of the MOPA program, a student will:
- Execute the skills necessary to participate in the triage, evaluation and treatment of orthopaedic injuries and diseases found in orthopaedic office practice and hospital settings.
- Perform standardized and non-standardized evaluation and assessment procedures for clients with orthopaedic conditions across the lifespan.
- Utilize effective clinical reasoning, judgment, and differential diagnosis skills to determine the best approach to comprehensive treatment.
- Plan evidence-based non-surgical and pharmacologic treatment approaches in consultation with an orthopaedic surgeon.
- Demonstrate technical skills for a wide variety of orthopaedic procedures and ability to assist with orthopaedic surgeries.
- Appropriately order diagnostic imaging studies and communicate with the orthopaedic physician.
- Establish clear written and verbal communication skills for patient interactions, professional communications and documentation purposes.
- Value ethical, legal, and regulatory responsibilities of this profession.
- Demonstrate independent and life-long learning skills for future contributions to the profession.