Core course for all CMMSc students:

This course is a survey of the developing field of Medical Informatics, and reviews databases, electronic resources, presentation tools, and other electronic resources for medical use. It also serves to introduce the CMMSc student to the on-line learning environment.

This one credit class is designed to offer students opportunities to explore and discuss concepts and issues pertinent to their careers as PAs. The course will review important legal and regulatory topics, and will discuss "the future of PAs".

An introduction to the theories of prevention of disease and its complications, as well as health promotion with a special emphasis on the educational and psychological theories of learning and behavior change.

Basic concepts of descriptive, analytic, and experimental epidemiology. Topics covered include measures of disease frequency, measures of data quality, overview of study designs, and bias in epidemiologic studies, with an emphasis on flaws and fallacies in medical literature.  Biostatistics, with applications to the biological and health sciences, are discussed.

An introduction to the skills needed to critically review the medical literature and write a technically sophisticated journal article. The student chooses a topic pertinent to primary care medicine, authors and presents a researched scholarly paper. The paper justifies the value and importance of the topic, provides a comprehensive and critical review of the current medical literature, provides suggestions for patient care implications, and makes recommendations for future research. The student is required to submit the paper to a peer-reviewed journal.

This course introduces concepts of community health assessment and models for an approach to planning community health programs. Personal leadership styles will be assessed by the students, and applied to effectively mobilize and change the health of a community. Principles of conflict management and patient advocacy will be discussed. The student will complete a community needs assessment and plan

A lively study of ethical rules, principles, and theories relating to health care delivery issues.

A guided introduction to the CMMSc tracks, designed to introduce and assist the student in selection and development of a track project.

This course reviews the concepts of cultural diversity and how culture and medicine interact. Students will gain an understanding of common healthcare beliefs, practices, and incidence of disease in different populations. The course incorporates a mini-course on Issues in Farmworker Health.

This course will review the terminology and mechanisms of external funding resources and awards, sources of external funding, and the process of proposal review. Students will examine the components of a proposal or prospectus, and be provided with guidance for developing a successful proposal. Common errors and weaknesses will be discussed. Each student will develop a project proposal suitable for submittal for external funding.

A topical seminar, this course will include modules on important health care and medical issues and trends. Topics include health care systems (managed care organizations and concepts), bioterrorism, health care financing,  complementary and alternative medicine, the business of medicine, risk management, quality assurance, clinical guidelines and evidence based medicine, genetics and genetic therapy, and other topics.

This course discusses the health care system in the United States, examines the structure of the health care  system, health care reform, the process of policy making, and options for public health advocacy.

Courses for the Teaching Track

This course introduces the student to educational philosophy, program curriculum planning and evaluation. The course presents instructional methodologies, learning styles, learning theories, and effective presentation skills. Students will develop goals, objectives, evaluations, and presentation materials. Legal issues relevant to classroom teaching and student advising will be discussed.

This course introduces the student to the organizational structure of higher education institutions, missions of universities and departments, institutional policies and procedures, classic faculty roles and responsibilities in a variety of educational settings. The student will investigate an academician's options for enhancing his/her potential for career advancement and be introduced to current issues in health profession education.

The student will plan and implement an education, administration, or community/population-based clinical research project, negotiated and approved by the teaching track coordinator. All projects will require an initial needs assessment, a final project presentation, and submission of a track portfolio. The Teaching Track project will additionally include course development and design with course goals and objectives, teaching methodology, and course learner activities. Course resource and reference materials, in addition to a course evaluation instrument(s) will be required.

Courses for the Administration Track

This course introduces theories and principles of health care services management, including effective leadership, organizational change and strategic planning, human resource management including interpersonal group dynamics, team building, conflict resolution, and marketing principles.

This course presents concepts and methods for planning and implementing outcome measurements, and for analyzing data that include clinical care, patient satisfaction and provider satisfaction measures. The course will review the process of developing administrative and clinical guidelines for best practice.

The student will plan and implement an education, administration, or community/population-based clinical research project, negotiated and approved by the teaching track coordinator. All projects will require an initial needs assessment, a final project presentation, and submission of a track portfolio. The Administration Track project will include planning and implementing an administrative intervention to address and issue identified in the needs assessment, and evaluating the outcomes.

Course for the Clinical Track

The course introduces students to the principles of risk management , quality assurance/ quality improvement, and types of clinical practice models including interdisciplinary and interprofessional models of team care. Students will utilize a case-based approach to review cost-effective, efficient and clinically responsible practice models.

(see PA 672D)

This experience will provide the student with an opportunity to participate in an interprofessional team providing patient care in an area of interest in order to upgrade clinical knowledge and skills. The student will research and investigate the clinical evaluation process in the practice setting from the perspective of the health care providers and the clinical facility administrators.

The student will plan and implement an education, administration, or community/population-based clinical research project, negotiated and approved by the teaching track coordinator. All projects will require an initial needs assessment, a final project presentation, and submission of a track portfolio. The Clinical Track project will include participating in a current population-based clinical research project, or planning and implementing a community/population-based clinical research study. Both will involve outcomes evaluation. The student will participate in a clinical administrative team to review clinical outcomes, and will develop clinical guidelines for best practice.