Mount St. Mary’s launches new physician assistant program

Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg is addressing Maryland’s growing healthcare crisis with the launch of a new physician assistant (PA) initiative. Recently granted provisional accreditation, it will welcome its inaugural class in January 2026.

The timing is urgent. Maryland faces not just a physician shortage, but a looming healthcare gap. According to the Cicero Institute, the state is projected to be short 1,052 doctors by 2030, with more than a third of its physicians currently of retirement age. To maintain existing healthcare services, Maryland will need a 23 percent increase in primary care providers by 2033 – a need Mount St. Mary’s leaders say PA professionals are well-equipped to meet.

“There’s a shortage of healthcare providers at all levels,” said Christine McCauslin, dean of the School of Health Professions. “PAs are advanced practice providers, and they can perform the majority of functions that somebody who has formal MD training can perform, but they are more cost-effective in delivering care.”

Mary Jackson, program director and a Mount alumna, noted the strong job outlook for the profession over the next decade.

What distinguishes Mount St. Mary’s program is its focus on rigorous academics paired with a mission-driven, values-based approach to healthcare. Rooted in the university’s commitment to service, the program emphasizes compassionate, ethical care – training providers to lead with humility and joy.

“It’s our mission-driven program, which permeates everything that we do,” Jackson said. “It’s a faculty that’s primarily working clinicians.”

Jackson, who continues to practice emergency medicine, said her active clinical work enhances her teaching. 

“I’m actually out in the field caring for patients the way our graduates will be,” she said.

Students will benefit from state-of-the-art technology and immersive hands-on learning. Clinical training includes bedside ultrasound and procedural skills – “such a phenomenal tool to help with patient outcomes and diagnoses in a very safe and accessible way,” Jackson said.

A distinctive component of the program is its partnership with the university’s Center for Clinician Well-Being, which supports students in building healthy coping strategies to prevent burnout and sustain long-term professional resilience.

Burnout has become a pervasive issue across the healthcare landscape. According to the American Medical Association, it affects every specialty and practice setting, often manifesting as emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and decreased sense of achievement.

“One of the things that we would like to be able to do is really think about how do we be proactive in addressing this problem of health care provider burnout,” McCauslin said.

That proactive approach is built into the curriculum through a required course focused on clinician well-being and health equity. As part of the coursework, all PA students are paired with a well-being coach – not only during the two-year program, but for a full year after graduation.

“We have developed the Center for Clinician Well-Being, and as part of that center, all PA students will participate in curricular work in a course called Healthcare Equity and Well-Being,” Jackson said. “Students will work one-on-one with a well-being coach, not only the two years in the program, but after graduation for an additional year, which I think is a really premier offering among medical programs in general.”

The training also includes a dedicated space for breath work, yoga and meditation, and addresses both the emotional and technical demands of clinical care.

“We help students to be able to achieve the greatest version of themselves, and then we support them long-term in achieving their goals,” Jackson said.

In tandem with self-care, the program emphasizes service – particularly in underserved and under-resourced communities.

“One of the focuses and emphasis of our program is having our students participate in rotations and in-service experiences where they are going out into health care provider shortage areas, under-resourced areas, (and) understaffed areas,” McCauslin said. “Part of the hope is in having exposure and seeing the need, we will help to cultivate a pipeline of health care professionals that have a desire to meet that need and really think carefully and be advocates for health care equity.”

That community commitment is strengthened by a close partnership with the Daughters of Charity, whose mission aligns with the Mount’s vision of dignity and service in care.

“The Daughters of Charity have just been fantastic since day one,” Jackson said. “We are graduating students who will care for every single patient with dignity and respect and compassion, and I think that’s where all of us really are, just grounded in this work, because that’s the foundation of everything.”

The Care for America initiative will offer scholarships to students who commit to working in underserved areas for two years post-graduation.

To measure the program’s success, faculty will track graduates’ performance on the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE), the national standard for PA certification.

Applications to the Mount’s PA program, submitted through the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants, opened April 29 and will close Sept. 1. The program will accept 42 students in its first class.

“We’re tremendously grateful to our partner organizations, especially the Daughters of Charity, that have really worked hand in hand to help make this a reality,” McCauslin said. “We look forward to helping to fill the need of healthcare providers in our community and beyond.”

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