On June 4, the College of Allied Health and Nursing will expand Physician Assistant training into southwest Florida. The Naples program will open with approximately 40 students beginning the 27-month march toward graduation as a physician assistant. Building on the highly successful program already on the main campus, the Naples program has successfully achieved its own provisional accreditation from the Accreditation Review Committee for Physician Assistants (ARC-PA), allowing its graduates to take the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE).

Richard E. Davis, Ed.D., PA -C, dean of the College of Allied Health and Nursing, has assembled an outstanding faculty and staff for the program. Located on the campus of International College in Naples, the program now occupies a brand new building complete with state of the art classrooms, physical diagnosis labs and ample office and administrative space.

Julie Keena, M.M.Sc., PA -C, serves as the department chair. Keena and Anthony Dyda, M.P.A.S., PA-C, associate department chair, worked tirelessly to prepare the documents and material needed for the accreditation site visit. It is noteworthy that of 300 possible citations, the reviewers had concern with only one issue, which has already been addressed by program faculty and staff members.

The program has received tremendous support from the local medical community, with many of the didactic lectures being delivered by local physicians, practicing and retired, as well as actively practicing physician assistants. It also has affiliation agreements with facilities such as the Cleveland Clinic, Naples Community Hospital, and North Collier Hospital, allowing students to perform clinical rotations at their facilities.