PA Promotion and Graduation

Academic Policies and Requirements for Promotion and Graduation

• Policies listed and detailed on the CUNY School of Medicine and the City College of New York Web Pages and in the CUNY Medicine PA Program Student Handbooks are subject to change. Enrolled students are informed when significant changes are made to published policies.
• Importantly, CUNY Medicine PA Program Policies may differ from policies noted in the CUNY School of Medicine and/or City College of New York. When a difference exists, the CUNY Medicine PA Program policy should be considered the policy of record.
• The CUNY Medicine PA Program is designed as a full-time 28-month, 80 semester credit hour program consisting of seven consecutive semesters. The semesters are divided between a 16-month didactic phase and a 12-month clinical phase. All program courses must be completed.
• Advanced Placement (I.E., credit for previously completed coursework) is not an option.
• Attaining the CUNY Medicine PA Program degree will require the successful completion of all didactic and clinical phase coursework. Specifics regarding course completion deadlines/requirements are noted in course syllabi. Unless otherwise noted in the syllabi, failing to complete all required course assignments may result in a failing grade for that course and subsequently prevent the student from progressing to the next semester.
• Satisfactory progress through the program requires a minimum passing grade of C (70%) in each course; a 3.0 GPA in each semester, and a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA. Failing to receive a final passing grade in any didactic phase coursework included in the first 4 semesters, will result in either deceleration or dismissal and automatically prevent students from progressing to the next semester. Failing to receive a passing grade in clinical phase Supervised clinical practice experiences (SCPE) coursework will result in deceleration or dismissal or require remediation (e.g., repeating a supervised clinical practice experience) automatically resulting in delay of graduation.
• Students in the CUNY Medicine PA Program are expected to complete all coursework in the program, successfully completing all required courses each semester to progress to the next semester. In the didactic phase of the program, withdrawal from a course is the equivalent of decelerating and/or withdrawing from the program. In the clinical-phase of the program, withdrawing from a SCPE course does not necessarily prevent the students from progressing to the next course, depending on the issues involved, but would automatically result in a delay of graduation.
• Students must secure and maintain stable and consistent wi-fi capability to use the platforms such as, but not limited to, Zoom for participation in online/distance learning class requirements and activities.

Academic Advisors

All students are assigned an academic advisor from matriculation to graduation, within the program to monitor their progress and to recommend resources if experiencing academic difficulties (importantly, students do not need referral from program faculty to receive services for college resources). Students who fail to maintain the academic requirements are subject to probation, deceleration, or dismissal (details are noted in the CUNY Medicine PA Program Student Handbooks).

Achieving and Maintaining Good Academic Standing

A student must achieve and maintain the required course grade and cumulative semester Grade Point Averages (GPAs) to remain in good academic standing and graduate from the PA Program. Performance in courses is commonly assessed by written and/or practical examinations, oral presentations and/or research papers. In designated courses throughout the program, grades will be recorded as a raw score and a percentage. At the end of each course the percentage scores will be converted, to a grade, A through F, for each of the core PA courses. 

The CUNY Medicine PA Program uses the following grading conversion scale for all course grades:

Details regarding progression
(I.E., promotion from one semester to the next)

The following policies apply to student progression in the CUNY Medicine PA Program:

• Students are required to complete the designated professional curriculum, as designed, in the full-time sequence specified. 
• Progression will be a function of successfully passing all required courses, with a grade of 70% or greater, in each semester, achieving a minimum semester and cumulative GPA of 3.0, continuing to meet all technical standards, and meeting all other program policies/standards in each semester.

Didactic Phase

• Each semester’s course work is to be considered pre-requisite to the next semester. 
• Students are expected to complete each semester on time as a cohort. 
• Failing to receive a passing grade in didactic phase coursework, following all offered exam remediation opportunities, will prevent students from progressing to the next semester.
  • In such cases, students are either dismissed from the program or offered deceleration as explained in the deceleration section below. 

Clinical Phase

• Clinical Phase Coursework includes Supervised Clinical Practice Experiences (SCPEs), an End of Curriculum exam, a Clinical Technical Skills Assessment, and Summative Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). 
• As with the Didactic Phase, coursework will be full-time in the sequence designated and as assigned at the beginning of the clinical phase of training.
  • Although, at the discretion of the Clinical Coordinators, there may be a necessity to change the order of the Supervised Clinical Practice Experiences (SCPEs), there is no possibility to change the order of didactic, research, or summative course work. 
• Students are expected to complete each semester on time as a cohort. 
• Failing to receive a passing grade in SCPE coursework, will either require SCPE course remediation or result in deceleration or dismissal as described in the Student Clinical Handbook. 
• Remediation for Supervised Clinical Practice Experience (SCPE) courses will automatically result in delay of graduation.
  • Students are responsible for any associated tuition and fees related to SCPE course remediation. 
• Students are permitted to remediate – via course repeat – a maximum of one SCPE course.
  • The repeated SCPE course will take place after the summative phase of the student’s program and, as such, will automatically result in delay of graduation. The student is responsible for any additional tuition and fees related to the additional course or coursework. 
  • If more than one SCPE course is not passed successfully, students will automatically be dismissed from the program. 
  • When a student does not meet minimum requirements for a SCPE course they receive an “F”, and must repeat the SCPE course, which will result in a delay in graduation.
  • See the information detailed in the CUNY Medicine PA Program Student Handbook within the Academic Policies/Requirements for Promotion & Graduation and Policies and Procedures for Academic & Behavioral Probation or Dismissal sections of this webpage. 
  • Students must achieve a score of 70% or greater on the End of Curriculum MCQ exam and a 70% or greater on the Summative OSCEs to graduate. Failure to achieve a final grade of 70% or greater in the End of Curriculum and/or the summative OSCE will require remediation. 
• Failing to meet all technical standards and/or student conduct policies/standards, as outlined in this CUNY Medicine PA Program Student Handbook, and the CUNY Medicine PA Program student Clinical Handbook, will result in automatic referral to the Course & Standing Committee and subsequent consequences up to and including deceleration or dismissal from the program. 
• Throughout and at the end of each semester, the Course & Standing Committee will meet to discuss each student’s level of success. Students who do not attain and maintain a 3.0 semester GPA, do not achieve a passing grade in individual courses, or have student conduct issues during the semester, will receive a letter/email from the Committee and/or Associate Dean/Program Director notifying them of their evaluation within the Course & Standing Committee and their individual progression status. In such cases, progression status can include:
• For didactic phase coursework:
  • Academic probation or dismissal 
  • Behavioral probation or dismissal 
• For clinical phase coursework:
  • Academic probation or dismissal 
  • Behavioral probation or dismissal 
  • Required repeat of an SCPE course resulting in delay of graduation 
• In the End of Curriculum Exam, the Clinical Technical Skills Assessment, and the Summative OSCE, all of which take place in the last 4 months of the program, the student must pass all components to graduate.