Date of Award
Spring 4-7-2020
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctorate of Education, Ed.D.
College
College of Education
Department
Education
First Advisor
Chad Becker, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Kallen Dace, Ed.D.
Third Advisor
Joshua Johnson, Ed.D.
Abstract
Inauthenticity occurs in the physician assistant program admission process when students plagiarize content of the admission essay. This qualitative research study focused on the experiences of physician assistant admission committee members with the admission process, including the experiences of physician assistant admission committee members with the authenticity of the admission process. The experience with the components of the admission process were discussed through eight interviews with physician assistant admission committee members from accredited physician assistant programs in the United States. Phenomenology was the research method used to evaluate the experience the admission committee members have had with the components of the admission process, as well as their experience with the authenticity of the admission process. I identified four themes when I analyzed the data. The first theme demonstrated that admission committee members place importance on noncognitive components of the admission process. The second theme recognized that the admission process of physician assistant programs is an evolving process that is consistently reviewed and revised. The third theme identified that some physician assistant programs have made changes to the admission process due to concerns of inauthenticity of admission materials. The fourth theme presented implementation of an on-campus writing sample in order to compare the quality of the writing of the on-campus writing sample to that of the admission essay.