Salus and IUP Sign New Articulation Agreement

Salus and Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) have signed a third articulation agreement.

Monica Maisto, director of Admissions at Salus, believes this new addition to the already preexisting relationship between the two institutions will be extremely valuable. “We’ve had a long-standing 3+4 Optometry Agreement with IUP [plus a 3+4 Doctor of Audiology Agreement], and the Physician Assistant Program is a nice addition to our existing partnership,” she said in an email to the community at large.

With the new 4+2 Physician Assistant (PA) Studies Program Articulation Agreement, Salus will now offer to select undergraduate Natural Sciences and Mathematics students at IUP, who meet all prerequisite criteria, an invitation to interview for admission consideration to Salus University’s PA program.

The requirements for a guaranteed interview are:

• Complete a bachelor’s degree in mutually agreed upon majors in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at IUP, which must consist of a minimum of 120 semester hours of undergraduate education including the required prerequisites
• Maintain a GPA 3.5 or above on a 4.0 scale
• Submit a completed application to the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA), including scores results of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) and required letters of evaluation
• Acquire at minimum 300 hours of direct patient care experience is required
• Become familiar with the role of the PA as a member of the healthcare team by obtaining a minimum of 20 hours of PA shadowing is required
• Successful completion of an interview by the Salus PA program and Office of Admissions

“The Salus University PA program looks forward to its partnerships with the Indiana University of Pennsylvania to prepare its graduates with the knowledge, skills and attributes essential for the practice of medicine as future physician assistants,” said Donna Agnew, MSPAS, PA-C,DFAAPA, Salus College of Health Sciences interim dean and director of the PA program.

IUP vice president for Enrollment Management, Dr. Patricia McCarthy, agreed.

“Our region, our commonwealth, and our nation have a critical need for quality health care professionals,” she said.

“This agreement helps to address this need, while offering an advantage to our students who qualify for the program. IUP is very proud of its ongoing articulation agreement with Salus University’s Osborne College of Audiology, and we are very pleased to add this opportunity for our students for the Physician Assistant program. This second articulation agreement demonstrates Salus University’s continued recognition of the strong academic foundation that IUP provides to our students, and we are gratified by this recognition.”

An articulation agreement bridges two academic programs together and is often appealing to a student as it typically guarantees an interview or a seat into a graduate and professional school or allows them to take a year off of their undergraduate program which in turn cuts down on tuition costs, provided that the requirements set forth in the agreement are met by the student.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania is a leading public, doctoral/research university, strongly committed to undergraduate and graduate instruction, scholarship, and public service. IUP is home to more than 12,000 students at the undergraduate and graduate levels who have the opportunity to study in more than 160 undergraduate programs, more than 60 master’s programs and 15 doctoral programs.

IUP continues to develop new and innovative majors and programs to address current and forecasted workforce needs. Recent program additions include public health, environmental engineering, strategic communications, homeland security, teamwork, community and civic leadership, special event-tourism management, and child and adult advocacy studies.

The new articulation agreement is a welcome addition to partnerships Salus already has established with other institutions.