MCPHS PA Traditional Questions
A patient is admitted to the intensive care unit with severe coronary artery disease. The patient
is a Jehovah's Witness and declares that he cannot receive any form of blood products because
of his religious beliefs. Immediately after the surgery, the patient begins bleeding severely from
'everywhere'. Without the blood products, he is likely to die. What options are available to you?
- ANS: This relates to "refusal and withdrawal of treatment." Patients have the right to make
their own health-care decisions, and medical providers have the obligation to honor those
decisions.
-The patient has the right to start, stop, or refuse treatment and my responsibility as a medical
provider would be to disclose the consequences of not taking the treatment
-I would allow free and effective decision making by the patient and respect patient personal,
religious, and cultural values
A patient of yours was recently diagnosed with HIV, and he demands that you don't tell his wife
because he fears she will leave him. His wife is also your patient. What will you tell her? -
ANS--As a medical provider, I will always do my best to respect patient privacy
-However, the patient's right to privacy is not unconditional. Confidentiality may be legally
breeched in certain circumstances
-In this scenario, public welfare is the issue, and once I report the HIV-positive status to the
health department, they will approach the wife
After working a "double" shift, you realize that you gave a patient the wrong medication. The
patient seems to be doing fine, but you are concerned. What do you do? - ANS--The first rule of
medicine is to "do no harm." I would double-check the medication to see if what I prescribed
would be harmful to the patient or interact with any of her prescribed medications.
-I would then check the patient's vital signs and look for any suggestion of an adverse reaction.
-I would speak to the patient directly, informing her that I made a medication error and that she
appears to be stable.
-I would ask her if she had any questions or concerns relative to the medication error.
-I would then document the facts surrounding the error in the patient's chart and order the
correct medication.
-I would also notify my supervisor about the incident
Are you familiar with any national or state regulations for PAs? - ANS--PAs are regulated on two
different levels: the state level and the national level.
1.) State Level: PAs need to be licensed in their state, as laws vary somewhat depending on
the state you are practicing in. Although the physician need not be present at the same location
as the PA, all state laws require the PA to work under the supervision of a physician. 2.)
National Level: The PA must be certified to practice. In order for this to happen, PAs must first
graduate from an accredited PA program. Once they complete this program, they then must
pass the PANCE (Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam) which is administered by the
NCCPA (National Comission on Certification of Physician Assistants). After this certification, a
, PA must MAINTAIN their certification by completing 100 hours of continuing medical education
(CMEs) every 2 years. Also they must complete a recertification exam every 10 years.
Certification: PA-s to PA-C by passing PANCE through NCCPA (national level).
Registration-National level.
Licensure- National Level.
In order to practice you MUST:
1. Graduate from an accredited PA Program
2. Pass PANCE
3. CME renewal requirements
With all 3, you can be licensed to practice in CA.
Clinical Clerkships - ANS--Each clinical clerkship lasts five weeks.
-Clinical sites include rural as well as urban sites
-Encouraged to choose rural health facilities for a portion
Hours of the Course MPA 600 Family Medicine I 5
Family Medicine II, MPA 601 MPA 602 Internal Medicine 5
MPA 603 Pediatrics 5
MPA 604 Psychiatry 5
MPA 605 Surgery 5
MPA 606 Women's Health 5
MPA 607 Emergency Medicine 5
MPA 609 General Elective Rotation 5
Total 45
Curriculum Design - ANS-Asynchronous Learning
Case-Based Learning
Early Clinical Exposure
Organ-Based/Systems-Based Learning
Problem-Based Learning
Describe an interaction you've had with a patient that made an impact on you. - ANS-
Do you believe that all individuals have a right to health care in this country? - ANS--As medical
providers, it is our duty and obligation to treat every patient to the best of our ability. It is not up
to us to determine who qualifies for that treatment. Those decisions are largely left up to the
politicians and insurance companies. To this end, our hands are somewhat tied.
Do you think health-care reform will be positive or negative for physician assistants? Why or
why not? - ANS--I think health-care reform will be a "positive" for physician assistants. With
current plans to extend health insurance coverage for some forty-seven million people, couple
with the current primary-care physician shortage, PAs will be in more demand than ever
Do you think HMOs and PPOs are good or bad for the PA profession? - ANS--I believe HMOs
and PPOs are good for the PA profession because PAs are cost effective and yet rank highly in
terms of patient satisfaction. Generally speaking, I think it was good for healthcare because it
opened options for more patients to be part of the healthcare system.
Do you think it's important to promote team building in an organization? What steps will you
take as a PA student to promote team building in the class? - ANS-Yes, I think team building
should be promoted in organizations. Part of learning in a classroom environment is learning
A patient is admitted to the intensive care unit with severe coronary artery disease. The patient
is a Jehovah's Witness and declares that he cannot receive any form of blood products because
of his religious beliefs. Immediately after the surgery, the patient begins bleeding severely from
'everywhere'. Without the blood products, he is likely to die. What options are available to you?
- ANS: This relates to "refusal and withdrawal of treatment." Patients have the right to make
their own health-care decisions, and medical providers have the obligation to honor those
decisions.
-The patient has the right to start, stop, or refuse treatment and my responsibility as a medical
provider would be to disclose the consequences of not taking the treatment
-I would allow free and effective decision making by the patient and respect patient personal,
religious, and cultural values
A patient of yours was recently diagnosed with HIV, and he demands that you don't tell his wife
because he fears she will leave him. His wife is also your patient. What will you tell her? -
ANS--As a medical provider, I will always do my best to respect patient privacy
-However, the patient's right to privacy is not unconditional. Confidentiality may be legally
breeched in certain circumstances
-In this scenario, public welfare is the issue, and once I report the HIV-positive status to the
health department, they will approach the wife
After working a "double" shift, you realize that you gave a patient the wrong medication. The
patient seems to be doing fine, but you are concerned. What do you do? - ANS--The first rule of
medicine is to "do no harm." I would double-check the medication to see if what I prescribed
would be harmful to the patient or interact with any of her prescribed medications.
-I would then check the patient's vital signs and look for any suggestion of an adverse reaction.
-I would speak to the patient directly, informing her that I made a medication error and that she
appears to be stable.
-I would ask her if she had any questions or concerns relative to the medication error.
-I would then document the facts surrounding the error in the patient's chart and order the
correct medication.
-I would also notify my supervisor about the incident
Are you familiar with any national or state regulations for PAs? - ANS--PAs are regulated on two
different levels: the state level and the national level.
1.) State Level: PAs need to be licensed in their state, as laws vary somewhat depending on
the state you are practicing in. Although the physician need not be present at the same location
as the PA, all state laws require the PA to work under the supervision of a physician. 2.)
National Level: The PA must be certified to practice. In order for this to happen, PAs must first
graduate from an accredited PA program. Once they complete this program, they then must
pass the PANCE (Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam) which is administered by the
NCCPA (National Comission on Certification of Physician Assistants). After this certification, a
, PA must MAINTAIN their certification by completing 100 hours of continuing medical education
(CMEs) every 2 years. Also they must complete a recertification exam every 10 years.
Certification: PA-s to PA-C by passing PANCE through NCCPA (national level).
Registration-National level.
Licensure- National Level.
In order to practice you MUST:
1. Graduate from an accredited PA Program
2. Pass PANCE
3. CME renewal requirements
With all 3, you can be licensed to practice in CA.
Clinical Clerkships - ANS--Each clinical clerkship lasts five weeks.
-Clinical sites include rural as well as urban sites
-Encouraged to choose rural health facilities for a portion
Hours of the Course MPA 600 Family Medicine I 5
Family Medicine II, MPA 601 MPA 602 Internal Medicine 5
MPA 603 Pediatrics 5
MPA 604 Psychiatry 5
MPA 605 Surgery 5
MPA 606 Women's Health 5
MPA 607 Emergency Medicine 5
MPA 609 General Elective Rotation 5
Total 45
Curriculum Design - ANS-Asynchronous Learning
Case-Based Learning
Early Clinical Exposure
Organ-Based/Systems-Based Learning
Problem-Based Learning
Describe an interaction you've had with a patient that made an impact on you. - ANS-
Do you believe that all individuals have a right to health care in this country? - ANS--As medical
providers, it is our duty and obligation to treat every patient to the best of our ability. It is not up
to us to determine who qualifies for that treatment. Those decisions are largely left up to the
politicians and insurance companies. To this end, our hands are somewhat tied.
Do you think health-care reform will be positive or negative for physician assistants? Why or
why not? - ANS--I think health-care reform will be a "positive" for physician assistants. With
current plans to extend health insurance coverage for some forty-seven million people, couple
with the current primary-care physician shortage, PAs will be in more demand than ever
Do you think HMOs and PPOs are good or bad for the PA profession? - ANS--I believe HMOs
and PPOs are good for the PA profession because PAs are cost effective and yet rank highly in
terms of patient satisfaction. Generally speaking, I think it was good for healthcare because it
opened options for more patients to be part of the healthcare system.
Do you think it's important to promote team building in an organization? What steps will you
take as a PA student to promote team building in the class? - ANS-Yes, I think team building
should be promoted in organizations. Part of learning in a classroom environment is learning
