Online Physician Assistant Programs

First Online PA Program

By now you’ve surely heard of the first Physician Assistant, excuse me, Physician Associate program wanting to go “live”. What I mean by this is a fully incorporated didactic online program in medicine resulting in the completion of a master's degree without any prior PA training (no certificate, associate’s or bachelor’s degree in PA studies). Yale first announced this news on March 10th, 2015 and while it has had mixed feelings from across the PA and physician community, technology is changing, education is changing, and the realm of the physician assistant must change too. In this article I will brief you on the background of the program and hopefully provide an unbiased approach to online physician assistant programs.

The introduction of Yale School of Medicine's online Physician Associate program has definitely stirred about much debate. Schools like Yale have an outstanding reputation of graduating highly skilled and well-trained physician associates/assistants, but in April of 2015 ARC-PA did approve their initial proposal, as an increase in class size was necessary.

Physician Assistant School Scholarships & Loan Repayment

You might be wondering how you will pay off those dreaded loans you’ll have after PA school, whether they be undergraduate or graduate loans. Below are several examples of programs to help with this, including scholarships and loan repayment options. It’s best to choose the right one for you and to know the differences between each and how they align with your career goals. Goodluck! 

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program:

Eligibility:

• Physician assistants are eligible.
• You must make 120 on-time, full, scheduled, monthly payments on your Direct Loans. Only payments made after October 1, 2007 qualify.
• ONLY direct loans are eligible
• You must make those payments under a qualifying repayment plan
• Income-based Repayment (IBR) Plan - must have partial financial hardship (i.e. your monthly payment under a 10-year SRP is greater than your monthly payment under IRB)
• Payments based on income (15%) and family size
• Adjusted each year based on changes to annual income and family size
• Lower payments than other plans
• Made over 25 years
• Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan - must have a partial financial hardship ((i.e. your monthly payment under a 10-year SRP is greater than your monthly payment under IRB)
• Payments based on income (10%) and family size
• Adjusted each year based on changes to annual income and family size
• Lower payments than other plans
• Made over 20 years