General Information

Message from the Director

Welcome to the University of Wisconsin - Madison PA Program website! We are delighted in your interest in our nationally regarded institution and program. Founded in 1975, we are proud to celebrate over a quarter century of excellence in PA education. For applicants, this site will provide you with all the information you need about our program and the application process. For alumni, we hope this site will keep you up to date and in touch with your alma mater.

Here are a few important facts about our program:

• The University of Wisconsin-Madison Physician Assistant Program is an undergraduate professional program within the School of Medicine and Public Health.
• Our graduates have scored within or near the top ten percent on the national PA certifying (NCCPA) examination in seven of nine consecutive years.
• Every one of our graduates in the past ten years has passed the NCCPA exam.
• In September 2002, the program received the highest possible rating from the accrediting agency for PA programs. The Accreditation Review Commission on Education of the Physician Assistant approved the UW Madison PA Program through 2009.
• We invite you to compare our tuition, reputation, and the quality of our curriculum with any existing program.
• We are committed to providing quality, cost effective health care to Wisconsin and the nation's medically underserved populations.
• We are leaders in educational technology and one of the only PA programs in the nation to offer a distance education track, which allows selected students to remain in their home communities while completing their education as physician assistants.
• We have a beautiful lakeshore campus in a dynamic and progressive city. As part of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, we benefit from the faculty and resources of the flagship University of Wisconsin - Madison campus and affiliated hospitals.

We thank you for visiting our web site and hope you will appreciate all that the UW-Madison PA Program has to offer. Please feel free to contact our office for more detailed information or to schedule an appointment with one of our academic advisors.

Master's Degree Transition

The UW-Madison Bachelor of Science PA Program is currently a twenty-four month professional program whose rigorous curriculum parallels that of a post-baccalaureate education. Typically, more than 80% of our enrolled students have already attained a bachelor’s degree. The program is in the process of planning the implementation of a Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) degree and plans to admit its last undergraduate class in 2009.  We will continue to update our website as information becomes available.

If you are an undergraduate at UW-Madison, you must declare a major other than Pre-PA as a bachelor’s degree in PA will no longer be offered in the near future. You may choose any major as long you fulfill program prerequisites.  Please see the Prospective Students section of our website for further details. You are encouraged to work with our advising and admissions services no matter what major you have chosen.

Other Masters Options that May be of Interest to UW-Madison PA Students

The Master of Public Health Degree at the University of Wisconsin
The Medical School of the University of Wisconsin is scheduled to begin enrolling students into a new Master of Public Health degree program in 2005. Completion of this degree requires an on campus presence. The degree may be completed in one year while employed clinically. It is not possible to simultaneously complete this degree while enrolled in the UW-Madison PA Program.
Click here for the latest information on this upcoming degree: UW Medical School Master of Public Health Degree.

Mission & Overview

The UW-Madison Physician Assistant (PA) Program has a rich history of excellence and innovation in PA education. Our mission is to educate primary health care providers committed to the delivery of comprehensive, preventive and therapeutic health care in a culturally sensitive manner. The program encourages scholarship, is responsive to changing health care and societal needs, facilitates personal and professional growth and promotes life-long learning.

Approximately thirty students are accepted each year into our full-time, 24-month campus-based professional program or our 36-month distance education track. We are an integral part of a world-class university, medical school and family medicine department. We have an experienced and committed faculty, a dynamic primary care curriculum with an emphasis on prevention, an innovative approach to community health and diversity and unique community-based clinical learning experiences. Our students have an exceptional pass rate on NCCPA exams and we have earned the highest possible national accreditation rating.

About the PA Profession

The following paper provides an overview of the profession and useful information about major trends. Please note that much of the data in the paper reflects 2002 statistics.

Trends in the PA Profession (pdf file)

The following is a current and comprehensive guide on the Physician Assistant practice in Wisconsin containing information on a wide variety of topics (last updated Fall 2005).

PA Employment Guide (pdf file)

PA Hiring Resources

The Program Director was interviewed in the Spring of 2005 by a student at UW-Madison. Topics covered included current information about the profession and the PA Program at UW-Madison. The following wo documents were created. Both are excellent resources – applicants especially will find them well worth reading:

Question and Answer document about the profession and program

Expository paper about the profession

Meet the Faculty and Staff

Virginia Snyder, Ph.D., PA-C
Program Director/Faculty Associate

Virginia Snyder, Ph.D.,PA-C, is a 2001 graduate of the UW-Madison PA Program. Her background includes former anatomy instructor, former chair of the biology department at UW -Platteville and former medical technologist. Ginny continues to work clinically as a PA in neurosurgery with Mercy Health System in Janesville. Her primary responsibilities in the PA Program include coordinating the obstetrics/gynecology course in the Fall semester and the Emergency Medicine course in the Spring semester. She also plays a supporting role in clinical preceptorship coordination and in the development of our Masters degree plan.

Jerry J. Noack, PA-C
Clinical Instructor

Jerry Noack joined the faculty in 1980 after spending several years in family practice in Edgerton and Madison. Current responsibilities include distance education and teaching in both the junior and senior years. He has previously served as Associate Director from 1991-1995, and Program Director from 1995-2001. For many years Jerry was the PA Program liaison with the Wisconsin Academy of Physician Assistants, having previously served on the Academy's Board of Directors. He is a member of the PA Council of the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board. In addition to his current involvement he has a historical perspective of the program, having graduated in the first class at UW-Madison.

John Beasley , MD
PA Program Medical Director

Dr. Beasley joined the PA Program as Medical Director in 2007 on a 20% time basis. He provides support to the PA Program by teaching, providing clinical guidance to the curriculum and serving as an advocate for the program within the medical community. He brings 35 years of experience as a Family Physician in academic, rural and international health care settings. He graduated from Harvard College and went to medical school at the University of Minnesota. Following internship, he served as a physician in the Peace Corps in Micronesia (Pacific Islands) and did full time family planning in Louisiana before coming to Wisconsin so he could take a Family Medicine Residency graduating in 1975. After residency, he remained on the DFM faculty. While on the faculty, he started a nurse-practitioner run clinic in Tigerton, Wisconsin, where he practiced one day a week. He also developed the UW's Family Medicine Medical Student program and served as Residency Director in Madison and Eau Claire. Active in maternity care until 2000, he co-authored (along with Jim Damos, MD) the Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO) course that has now reached over 54,000 clinicians in 25 different countries. In addition to his Peace Corps experience, his international work has included consulting at medical schools in Pakistan. Dr. Beasley has also been active in Primary Care Research. He was the founder of the Wisconsin Research Network, and is immediate past-Chair of the International Federation of Primary Care Research Networks. His research has resulted in more than 25 publications on issues relating to Research Network operations, medical error reduction, quality of professional work life, quality of care, practice complexity and medical education. Dr. Beasley sees patients three sessions a week at the Verona Clinic and is staff for Family Medicine Residents one to five sessions a week at Verona and the Fox Valley Family Medicine Residency in Appleton. John is an active pilot, aviation medical examiner, and aviation author with over 40 articles in lay press.

Forrest M. Girdley, MA, PA-C
Faculty Associate

Forrest Girdley, M.A., PA-C, is a 1979 graduate of the UW-Madison PA Program.  Prior to entering the PA program, taught high school science and completed his Masters degree in Science and Secondary Education.  His pre-PA healthcare experience was in prehospital Emergency Care (EMS).  After graduation, he joined the Emergency Medical Services Program where he assumed instructional duties for the interdisciplinary emergency medicine course, and other instructional areas including basic emergency care, ACLS, and ATLS, and explored clinical work in critical care medicine.  In 1981, he joined the PA Program as an instructor.  During his long tenure with the PA Program, he has provided instruction across a wide range of courses, and served as Program Director between 1990 and 1995.  He has had the privilege to participate in PA education at the state and national levels, and has served on many campus, medical school, and department committees.  During this time, he continued with clinical practice in a variety of clinical specialties that included Emergency Medicine, Peripheral Vascular Surgery, Urology, and Sports Medicine.  In 1995, he began and continues a half-time clinical practice at the Research Park Family Medicine Clinic.  

Honorie Coté, PA-C
Director of Clinical Education

Honorie became interested in pursuing a PA degree during her four years of experience as an ophthalmic assistant, and she subsequently graduated from the UW-Madison PA Program in 1979. Honorie practiced as a physician assistant for 10 years, working in the Immediate Care Department of Physicians Plus in Madison. During a hiatus from clinical practice, she obtained experience in education through her position as a Regional Training Manager in the pharmaceutical industry. Honorie joined the faculty of the PA Program in 1995 and was appointed Director of Clinical Education in 2001. As the Director of Clinical Education, her primary responsibilities include the organization, development, administration and evaluation of the clinical year of the program. Honorie is currently working with the Information Specialist and the Clinical Year Assistant to establish a new, comprehensive database to track students and preceptors, and she is assisting the Regional Outreach Coordinator with grant initiatives to develop clinical sites in underserved areas of the state. Her didactic responsibilities include coordinating the Ophthalmology and ENT modules of Clinical Medicine and participating in the Physical Assessment courses. She is active on both the Admissions and Curriculum Committees. Honorie will begin pursuing an advanced degree at UW-Madison in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis in the fall of 2006.

Beverly J. Speece MTS, PA-C
Associate Faculty

Beverly Speece joined the UW PA Program in 2005 as the coordinator of the Clinical Medicine course. Other responsibilities involve co-coordinating the Obstetric and Gynecology course, Emergency Medicine course, and the Professional Issues course. She is a 1997 graduate of the inaugural class of the UW-LaCrosse PA Program and her background prior to PA school involved teaching various science courses at MATC. Clinically, Beverly has worked in Family Practice up in the Twin Cities for 5 years and currently has been working part time in Emergency Medicine in Madison for the last 5 years.

Karen Brand Wendler, PA-C
Pediatrics Course Coordinator
Lecturer

Karen Brand Wendler, PA-C is the Pediatrics course coordinator for the PA program. A 1992 graduate of the PA program, she is employed in a family practice setting and also provides urgent care. She is a member of the Wisconsin Academy of Physician Assistants (WAPA) and the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA).

Abiola O. Keller, PA-C, MPAS
Regional Outreach Coordinator

Abiola has a 50% position with the program as the Madison based Regional Outreach Coordinator.  She graduated from Marquette University in 2001 with a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science.  She then obtained a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies degree from the University of Iowa.  After completing her PA training she participated in the University of Iowa PA Faculty Fellowship program before beginning her clinical practice with a nephrology group in Appleton, Wisconsin.  She currently works clinically at the UW-Health Immediate Care clinics.  As a Regional Outreach Coordinator, Abiola is responsible for student recruitment, establishment of new clinical sites, clinical visits to students completing preceptorships, and developing relationships with community partners.  Her geographic region includes the greater Madison area, as well as South Central and Southwestern Wisconsin.  Abiola also serves as the faculty advisor for the Student Association of Physician Assistants-UW.

Erin McCarthy Orth
Instructional Program Manager

Erin has been with the UW-Madison Physician Assistant Program since August 2000, first as a Program Assistant and then as Outreach Coordinator. She accepted the position as Instructional Program Manager for the PA Program in May 2004 and is responsible for curriculum management, pre-professional student advising, grants management, and special projects. Erin graduated with a degree in English Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Amber Tyler
University Services Associate

Amber Tyler joined the Physician Assistant Program in January 2001 as a program assistant. Before joining the program, she worked at UW Health Internal Medicine as a Medical Receptionist. She also has an Associate’s Degree in Child Care & Development. Amber oversees the daily operation of administrative and instructional support for the classroom and distance education components in the program. Amber and her husband Eric recently became first-time parents to a beautiful daughter, Danika who joined their family through adoption. In her spare time, she enjoys stamping, scrapbooking, and spending time with family.

Lee Jankoski
Program Assistant

Lee joined the PA program in July 2005 as a program assistant. She is the primary administrative support for the PA program Clinical Year. She works closely with the Director of Clinical Education to help coordinate the senior students and their clinical preceptorships. In the past year she has been working with the Information Specialist to help develop a comprehensive database to track the program’s network of preceptor sites. Her other duties outside of the Clinical Year include support to the admissions process and commencement activities. Lee graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Political Science and Slavic Languages & Literature. Her hobbies include reading, politics, current events, gardening, and interior decorating.

Don Huisheere, MS
Information Specialist

Don Huisheere joined the PA Program in October 1991, as an Information Specialist. He has a degree in Information Systems, and his background includes several years experience as a computer programmer and analyst. Don provides general computer support to the PA Program as well as continued development of systems used to monitor students' clinical activities and student/preceptor feedback and performance. His duties involve information organization and management, the development of our website, and general technical support. He also works closely with faculty and staff in providing on-line course materials and technical support for the students.

Service Learning Video

This video provides a snapshot of one of the many service learning opportunities available to students at the UW-Madison PA Program. Each year the students participate in providing free medical care to Wisconsin's underserved communities with the medical and dental staff of the Wisconsin National Guard. Guard Care is a collaborative statewide partnership that includes the UW, county health agencies, Wisconsin Division of Health and the Area Health Education Centers. Students also volunteer their clinical skills at the south-side Madison "Medic" free clinic on Saturdays throughout the year.
Service Learning Video

Contact Information