• John O’Rourke

    Editor, BU Today

    John O'Rourke

    John O’Rourke began his career as a reporter at The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. He has worked as a producer at World Monitor, a coproduction of the Christian Science Monitor and the Discovery Channel, and NBC News, where he was a producer for several shows, including Now with Tom Brokaw and Katie CouricNBC Nightly News, and The Today Show. John has won many awards, including four Emmys, a George Foster Peabody Award, and five Edward R. Murrow Awards. Profile

Comments & Discussion

Boston University moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (EST) and can only accept comments written in English. Statistics or facts must include a citation or a link to the citation.

There are 4 comments on MED to Launch Physician Assistant Program

  1. Our son is a Senior at BU and his Mom is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (35+ years). While it is commendable that BU is helping with the nationwide health care crisis, the general population should be aware that Nurse Practitioners (of any specialty)offer the same services, are licensed in many states to write prescriptions, and are way more educated. For example, Registered Nurses can typically start their education through a diploma school of nursing (3 years), achieve a BSN School of Nursing college degree (another 1 year for a total of 4), pursue an MSN in a Nursing specialty (1-2 years), and pursue study as a Nurse Practitioner in many fields. In addition, there are many other certifications that require specific study and clinical hours to achieve. Many Nurse Practitioners affiliate with Medical Doctors or work independently to offer the efficient and effective health care that needs to be provided to those who need it.

    1. Nurse practitioners provide valuable service but the statement that they are better educated than their PA counterparts is false. Both are valuable assets in the healthcare team. Both are highly educated but emphasize some elements differently. PA education is in the medical model and we train as generalists first (including clerkships in psychiatry, surgery, pediatrics, family medicine, OB/Gyn as well as sub-specialties) contrasting the NP model of nurse-based philosophy and specialization. Both professions have merit and are utilized well in my community hospital and local practices. We partner together realizing the strengths of our backgrounds.

      One of the nice facets of the PA profession is the fact that it has attracted so many applicants for small class sizes. Most schools require a minimum of 1,000 hrs direct patient care experience to apply. Applicants include paramedics, nurses, dentists, physical therapists, medical tecnologists… The breadth of experience is what helps strengthen the program and build rich patient encounters.

  2. The program requires at the very least a research proposal, but students are able to do more in-depth research if they would like. Students will be trained through “Journal Clubs” in skills that include reading scientific literature, performing sample size calculations, etc.

Post a comment.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *