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Mississippi College’s physician assistant students in the Class of 2016 are ready to embrace challenging assignments in their field.
That comes next for members of MC’s Class of 2016. Thirty-one graduate students begin 15 months of clinical rotations after recently participating in a White Coat ceremony.
At the August 14th program, Dr. Rod Cutrer, medical director of the university’s Department of Physician Assistant Studies, offered words of encouragement.
“I challenged the students to get out of their comfort zone, jump in the deep end of medicine and make a difference in the lives of all those they will touch over the next 15 months,” Cutrer said.
The keynote speaker at the event on the Clinton campus, Dr. Cutrer touched many lives during his extraordinary medical career in Mississippi. The MC graduate left a successful 32-year family medical practice in Hattiesburg to serve as PA medical director at his alma mater.
Launched in 2011, the MC Physician Assistant program enrolls more than 90 students. The 30-month program trains the students to become medical professionals under the supervision of physicians. Partnering with the University of Mississippi Medical Center and other facilities in the region, the MC program remains the only one of its type in the Magnolia State.
And so far, the Mississippi College initiative based at the Baptist Healthplex is gaining national recognition.
The MC program received continuing national accreditation through March 2021. Its attrition rate remains rock bottom. Of the 154 Mississippi College students accepted into the program, only three students withdrew. That’s an attrition rate of only 1.9 percent at MC, and that’s lower than the national average.
In addition, MC leaders report an outstanding 97 percent pass rate for its students on the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination. That exceeds the 95 percent national average.
At White Coat ceremonies that Friday, the Class of 2016 took the physician assistant oath pledging to perform their duties with honesty and dedication. They also will strive to improve their medical practice and equally treat all people seeking their care.
President Lee Royce, Physician Assistant Director Dr. Robert Philpot and Class of 2016 President John Murphy were among other speakers at the event. More than 300 guests, including parents, attended the dinner that evening at Anderson Hall.
The students say they are blessed to be part of the medical program at Baptist-affiliated Mississippi College.
Brittney Brown of Pensacola, Florida said she decided to pursue PA studies because of a desire to help people. “You can help someone, but don’t have to specialize in one thing,” says the University of Central Florida graduate.
“I like the flexibility,” says MC student Deandria Thompson, a Tougaloo College graduate from Tylertown, Mississippi.
“I always wanted to pursue a career in the medical field,” said Bobby George, a Texas Southern University graduate after lining up with classmates for photos. Physician assistant studies are a perfect fit for the Houston, Texas resident. “It is a prestigious field.”
Mississippi residents comprise at least 50 percent of the students in the PA program at Mississippi College.
Photo: These members of Mississippi College physician assistant program took part in White Coat ceremonies on August 14.They are: Sidney McClendon of Hattiesburg, Mohammed Fikry of Florida, Mira Gandhi of New York, Jackie Henry of Wisconsin and Bobby George of Houston, Texas.
