Blessing for Mercy College Physician Assistant Students' Stethoscopes
Mercy College of Ohio’s inaugural class of Physician Assistant (PA) students participated in a Blessing of Stethoscopes ceremony on Friday, August 27, 2021. The ceremony was part of the students' welcome to the program and to the campus. The ceremony provided a blessing for the students and the patients they will serve.
This first stethoscope serves as a milestone in the professional life of every PA student and the journey that they are beginning. The stethoscope is symbolic and of the call to body, mind, and spirit healing and of the bond between the patient and clinician.
Physician Assistants are medical professionals who diagnose
illness, develop and manage treatment plans, prescribe medications, and often
serve as a patient’s principal healthcare provider.
Dawn LaBarbera, PhD, PA-C, Mercy College of Ohio’s Founding
Director of the Physician Assistant Studies graduate program says, “There are
great needs in many areas of medicine including mental health, geriatrics, and
primary care. PAs have an important role to help fill in the gaps.”
The new program is 118 credit hours and offered at Mercy College
in Toledo with preceptored clinical experiences at Mercy Health and healthcare
facilities throughout the United States. The seven-semester program prepares
students to sit for the Physician Assistant National Certification Examination.
For more information about Mercy College PA or other healthcare
programs please visit www.mercycollege.edu/MPAS