Newswise — Misericordia University has named Scott L. Massey, Ph.D., P.A.-C., as founding department chairperson, program director and professor of the new Physician Assistant program (PA). The five-year Master of Science program, which is offered through the College of Arts and Sciences, begins classes in late August 2012.
“We are absolutely delighted to welcome Dr. Massey to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences,’’ said Russ Pottle, Ph.D., dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Misericordia University. “His presence signals that we expect our physician assistant program to attain national prominence. His expert guidance will ensure that our students graduate from a curriculum that prepares them not simply for clinical practice, but for leadership in physician assistant education and in the medical community.’’
Dr. Massey is known nationally for his strong track record of scholarship and publishing related to student learning and faculty development, and he is also recognized for his ability to improve the certification pass rates and scores for PA programs. He is widely sought after as a PA program development consultant for national and international programs that are accredited and are beginning the accreditation process. As an external reviewer, he has worked most recently with Seton Hall University, South Orange, N.J.; Keiser University, Daytona Beach, Fla.; Wingate University, Wingate, N.C.; University of the Cumberlands, Williamsburg, Kent.; and St. Katherine’s University, Minneapolis, Minn.
Dr. Massey’s expertise as a consultant also involves the development of distance education campuses for established PA programs. He has been an invited presenter at several PA programs to focus on topics such as faculty development and programmatic assessment. Between 1999-2003, he also served as a visiting professor and helped to develop a physician extender program at Hospital Albert Schweitzer in the Republic of Haiti. Dr. Massey also has been involved with the International Association of Physician Associate Educators and has spoken about the profession in the People’s Republic of China while participating in the People to People Ambassador Program.
“We are going to have an outstanding physician assistant program that will receive recognition for innovative learning methods and high graduation outcomes,’’ said Dr. Massey, who has made more than 30 national podium and paper presentations on topics such as learning and pedagogy, enhancing certification pass rates, and student study skills at various organizations including the Physician Assistant Education Association. “The program will offer opportunities to participate in applied research activities with faculty and unique opportunities to experience an elective clerkship in PA education.
“Students are going to want to come to Misericordia because they know they will get a quality education and the opportunity to work closely with faculty due to small class sizes and the personal attention they need to succeed. My passion is to build a program with a national reputation,’’ Dr. Massey added.
Dr. Massey comes to Misericordia University from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) in Manchester, N.H., where he was the assistant provost of academic affairs and associate professor in the School of Physician Assistant Studies. He previously served MCPHS as the dean and program director of physician assistant studies.
In 2011, Dr. Massey was recognized by higher education and professional organizations for his significant contributions to physician assistant studies. MCPHS recognized his contributions to the college by naming him dean emeritus at the 2011 December commencement. In September, The New Hampshire Society of Physician Assistants presented him with the Physician Assistant of the Year Award at the annual Primary Care Conference in Portsmouth, N.H. Dr. Massey also was invited to participate in the Distinguished Visiting Professor Program at South College, Knoxville, Tenn., where he will provide expert perspectives about program self-assessment in February 2012.
Dr. Massey has significant clinical experience as a physician assistant, as well. His clinical career has focused on primary care as he has held physician assistant positions in rural Wisconsin and urban emergency rooms in the Dayton, Ohio area. He also has provided care in the geriatric field as well. In Haiti, he has participated in clinical practice at various sites and facilities.
In the Journal of Physician Assistant Education, he has co-authored several peer reviewed articles, including the “Effects of an Interactive Learning System on the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE) Performance,’’ “The Effects of Synchronized Distance Education on Academic Achievement in a Physician Assistant Studies Program,’’ “The Relationship Between Formative and Summative Examinations,’’ and “PANCE Scores: Can the Past Predict the Future?’’ In the International Journal of Distance Education, Dr. Massey co-authored the article, “The Effects of Synchronized Distance Education on Anxiety, Depression and Academic Achievement.’’
Dr. Massey and his colleagues have also conducted multiple-year studies on important issues affecting physician assistant programs nationwide, such as the “Effects of Synchronized Distance Education on Anxiety, Depression and Academic Achievement in a Physician Assistant Studies Program.’’ The Massey-led team presented its findings at the 3rd annual International Academy of Physician Associate Educators Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, in September 2010. Dr. Massey also has participated in and presented at many other state, national and regional conferences.
Numerous national and international professional associations also have invited Dr. Massey to deliver presentations and speeches. In the past seven years, he has developed a platform of scholarly activity with presentations focusing on enhancement of student learning in areas such as learning styles, test-taking skills, learner-centered education, and cooperative learning. Dr. Massey has presented on these topics at the Physician Assistant Education Association annual forum, which is the premier organization for PA educators. In 2011, he co-facilitated a two-day workshop that focused on enhanced educational skills for faculty at the Physician Assistant Education Association Forum in New Orleans, La.
Dr. Massey co-wrote the book, “Classroom to Clinic Study System: Personal Professor for Clinical Rotations and PANCE/PANRE,’’ in 2010 with Dr. Mona Sedrak of Seton Hall University.
He will soon complete his second term (2008-2011) on the Physician Assistant Education Association Education Committee and will begin his first term on the Physician Assistant Education Association Research Institute in 2012.
Dr. Massey holds an Associate of Science in physician assistant from Kettering College of Medical Arts, Kettering, Ohio; a bachelor’s degree from the Regents College External Degree Program at The State University of New York at Albany, N.Y.; a Master of Science in education from the University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio; and a Ph.D., in leadership from the Andrews University Leadership Program, Berrien Springs, Mich. He also completed the management development program at the Harvard University School of Education.
Dr. Massey and his colleagues, Stanley J. Dudrick, M.D., formerly a professor of surgery at Yale University and director emeritus of Graduate Medical Education at St. Mary’s Hospital in Connecticut; and assistant professor Darci Brown, P.A.-C., formerly of Coordinated Health Inc., Bethlehem, Pa., where she assisted a team of plastic and orthopedic surgeons in all aspects of their practice, including at the office, specialty surgical center, hospital and in the operating room, designed the science-based curriculum for Misericordia University’s new program.
Dr. Massey and his wife, Patricia, have two sons and a daughter. One son, Andrew, will be attending Misericordia University in 2012.
The Misericordia University five-year Master of Science in Physician Assistant program has been approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) conducted a campus visit in October. ARC-PA will review its findings and will issue its decision on provisional accreditation in March. The new Misericordia program expects to begin accepting students for the fall 2012 semester which begins in late August.
For more information about the physician assistant science program at Misericordia University, please log on to www.misericordia.edu/pa or call (570) 674-6400. Founded and Sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy in 1924, Misericordia University is Luzerne County’s first four-year college and offers 32 academic majors on the graduate and undergraduate levels in full and part-time formats.
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