PA Program Clinical Curriculum

Our location in the heart of the world’s largest medical center affords the opportunity for students to train in a number of settings. Students care for varied populations throughout the 36-week core clinical curriculum.

A mix of public and private institutions and community-based facilities provides a rich exposure to patients across the lifespan with medical, surgical, women’s health, and behavioral and mental health conditions and from many cultures and ethnic groups. Exposure to health beliefs and practices influenced by cultural origins provides an understanding of how to approach providing patient-centered care.

The 36-week Clinical Core provides in-depth instruction in the evaluation and management of patients seeking medical care across the lifespan to include infants, children, adolescents, adults and elderly, women’s health care to include prenatal and gynecologic care, care for conditions requiring surgical management including preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative, and care for behavioral and mental health conditions. Students evaluate and manage patients with preventive, emergent, acute and chronic illness, and injury alongside medical students, residents and faculty in emergency medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry and behavioral medicine, and surgery within the affiliated institutions and community practice settings of Baylor College of Medicine. While in these settings students interview and examine patients, assess and stratify illness risk, identify problems requiring behavioral, medical and surgical management, communicate patient information in verbal and written form to physicians, obtain specimens for and order diagnostic tests, participate in surgeries and deliveries, monitor programs of evaluation and therapy, and discuss preventive health care behaviors with patients and families.

The 16-week Integration Core is comprised of four-week rotations in Geriatric Medicine and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and an eight-week rotation in Family and Community medicine. The earlier training experiences conducted in the ambulatory clinic, emergency center, nursery, operating room, and hospital ward settings prepare PA students to deliver health care services to diverse patient populations of all ages including infants, children, and adolescents, adult and elderly with a range of preventive, emergent, acute and chronic medical, surgical and mental health and behavioral conditions. During the Family and Community Medicine rotation, students may be assigned to practices in rural community settings across Texas, or urban or suburban settings in Houston and surrounding areas. Each of these settings emphasizes the principles and practices of community-oriented primary care offering the student greater understanding of the health and disease status of individuals in the psychosocial and economic context of the family.

The remaining Research Core is comprised of two four-week research practicums and the Master’s Paper Project.

Learn about research opportunities and requirements.