Physician Associate Studies

About This Course

A Physician Associate (PA) is defined as a healthcare professional who, while not a doctor, works to the medical model, with the attitudes, skills and knowledge base to deliver holistic care and treatment within the general medical and/or general practice team under defined levels of supervision.

While Physician Associates are not meant to replace doctors, they are urgently needed to meet the increasing demand of a growing and ageing population combined with reductions in the medical workforce especially in the more rural areas of Wales. Working within teams, they enhance patient care both in the community and hospital setting in a more efficient and relatively cost-effective manner.

Graduates from this course will have a broad and relevant set of transferable skills with a focus on medical history-taking, clinical examination, analysis of test results, clinical reasoning and diagnosis, and the development of evidence based patient management plans.

Our Physician Associate course was one of the first of it’s kind in the UK. It will utilise the best teachers in medical science and clinical practice in north Wales - all of whom have a track record of teaching, research and clinical excellence in their specialist fields.

To be eligible to sit the national Physician Associate examination, successful completion of the PGDip or MSc in Physician Associate Studies is required.

• 89% pass rate in national Physician Associate exams, which is considerably above the national average.
• NHS funded places, no tuition fees.

Bangor will accept applications all year round for this course however, we have a limited number of places and recommend applications are submitted as early as possible in the cycle. Once the course is full, applicants will be considered for the following year.  

Course Content

What will you study on this course?

This course uses a multi-disciplinary, research-informed approach to teach clinical and basic science related to the human systems (cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, female reproductive, renal and genitourinary, the eyes, and skin) and diagnostics and therapeutics.

The scientific background is taught in the context of clinical placements in Community Medicine, General Hospital Medicine, Front Door Medicine, Mental Health, General Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Paediatrics.

Successful completion enables graduates to take the national certification exam, which is mandatory to register and work as a Physician Associate. The modules for this course are integrated; your learning throughout one module will significantly inform and influence your learning in another module. The course consists of 7 modules totaling 180 credits at level seven.

Students benefit from a strong exposure to clinicians and scientists with active research in medically related subjects.