Program Director's Welcome  

Welcome to Ohio Dominican University’s Master of Science in Physician Assistant (PA) Studies program! A career as a physician assistant is exciting, vital and most of all, rewarding. Physician Assistants are necessary members of the healthcare team delivering quality care around the world in every area of medicine. The PA Program joins an institution that for over a century has been transforming lives. The Dominican tradition holds that educational experiences provide for the development and responsible use of human skills and talents in professional and social service. We believe Physician Assistants are perfectly suited for such a calling, and ODU’s PA Program will holistically embrace this. We are dedicated to the development of high-level critical thinking in service to humanity. That is, to help and serve those who not only need our competent skills as a critical member of the healthcare team, but perhaps most importantly, our compassionate care.      
The patients we serve deserve the best we can offer.  To be the best means we settle for nothing less than the best from our applicants and our students. Students in Ohio Dominican’s PA Program should also settle for nothing less than the best from the PA Program.  I have been a PA for over 26 years and a PA educator for over 16 of those years. I consider myself blessed to have played a part in the education of energetic, compassionate, and extraordinarily skilled students. I left a program that has a 100% pass rate on the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE). I would not have assumed the position of PA Program Director at Ohio Dominican University unless this program and the university embraced the same commitment to excellence.  We have a solemn responsibility to our patients and our profession to honor your commitment as well. We will expect the best in PANCE board scores and pass rates which will mark the first step in what we hope is a long and useful career in service to others.  

I wish you much success as you work to enter this profession and thank you for considering Ohio Dominican University’s Physician Assistant Studies Program as the path to become a Physician Assistant.  Please feel free to examine all the information on our website.  If you have further questions, feel free to contact graduate admissions and/or myself for any further information. 

Warm Regards,    David Paulk, EdD, PA-C Professor and Program Director Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies  Ohio Dominican University