Educational Research Database | Duke Duke Department of Family Medicine and Community Health

As physician assistant (PA) roles expand and diversify in the United States and around the world, there is a pressing need for research that illuminates how they may best be selected, educated, and used in health systems in order to maximize their potential contributions to health. Our PA program is creating a permanent longitudinal education database for research that contains extensive student-level data.

This database will allow us to conduct research on all phases of PA education, from admissions processes through the professional practice of our graduates. Over time, trends among different PA cohorts can be compared. By merging other data onto our longitudinal database, we may be able to evaluate quality and efficiency outcomes of the care that our graduates provide. We hope to encourage other PA programs to initiate similar projects so that in the future data can be combined for use in multi-institutional research that can contribute to improved education for PA students across programs.

Current Database Contents

Data/Survey	Data Type	When Administered or Collected	Overview of Content
Student admissions data	Existing data from CASPA application	Following each annual application cycle	Demographics Academic background GRE scores Essays Volunteer experience Health care experience Work experience Interview evaluations
New student survey	Survey	Within first month or first year	Current ratings of health, well-being, fatigue, social support, financial concerns Military experience Previous education PA application process and career decision-making Previous work experience Future practice/career plans Demographics, including income & debt status Motivation for pursuing career as PA
Student volunteerism	Existing data	Monitored throughout PA education	Name of volunteer organization Total hours volunteered at organization
Student leadership	Existing data	Monitored throughout PA education	Student society nominations and elections Other evidence of leadership
Pre-clinical year academic records	Existing data	Monitored throughout pre-clinical year	All grades for pre-clinical year coursework GPA & class rank
Midpoint survey	Survey	May-June of pre-clinical year	Current ratings of health, well-being, fatigue, social support, financial concerns Future practice/career plans 8-item Grit survey Big 5 personality survey
Clinical year academic records	Existing data	Monitored throughout clinical year	All grades for clinical year coursework PANCE scores GPA & class rank
Graduating student survey	Survey	May of clinical year	Current ratings of health, well-being, fatigue, social support, financial concerns Future practice/career plans Life events Sexual orientation
Alumni survey	Survey	Spring of year following graduation (and subsequent years thereafter)	Employment status Practice information (specialty, hours, number pts seen, roles) Job satisfaction Starting annual salary Loan repayment Stress, burnout Job search (for new graduates only)

Database Resources

REDCap
Qualtrics
Cook DA et al. Longitudinal research databases in medical education: facilitating the study of educational outcomes over time and across institutions. Academic Medicine, 2010; 85(8): 1340-6.
National Reporting System Tips on Creating Longitudinal Data Systems
Publications – Morgan P., Himmerick K., Leach B, Dieter P, Everett C. Scarcity of Primary Care Positions may Divert Physician Assistants into Specialty Practice. Medical Care Research and Review. Published Online First on February 5, 2016.

For more information, or to request to be added to our email distribution list, please write to:
perri.morgan@duke.edu