The Board of Directors of the Liberia National Physician Assistants Association (LINPAA) has approved its first accreditation guide document since its establishment to be used by physician Assistant schools in the country.
A press release quoting the Board chairperson said the accreditation document is intended to guide individuals or institutions to the establishment and operation of Physician Assistant programs in the country.
According to Zayzay S. Yekeh, this accreditation guide document maintains, and promotes appropriate standards of quality for training of Physician Assistants and to provide recognition for training programs that meet the requirements outlined in this guide.
The newly approved guide will be used for the development, accreditation, evaluation, and self-analysis of Physician Assistant programs.
“Physician Assistants are medical professionals who diagnose illnesses, develop and manage treatment plans, prescribe medications, and often serve as a patient’s principal healthcare provider. Physician assistants are academically and clinically prepared to practice medicine in collaborative medical teams,” he said.
Mr. Yekeh noted that the guideline is a set of rules to govern Physician Assistants In the execution of their duties and they are expected to demonstrate high level of integrity, intellectual honesty, clinical competency and confidentiality in the care of their patients.
Meanwhile, the president of LINPAA, Theophilus T. Fayiah, disclosed that the PA profession in Liberia has evolved over time from working as primary health care professionals to secondary and tertiary health care workers which require a training of a high level of academic thoroughness.
He urged institutions running the PA programs are expected to incorporate this high level of academic accuracy into their programs and award an appropriate certificate/diploma/degree.
With this, the accreditation is given to institutions that have met the requirements prescribed by the guidelines to provide standards.
According to him, only four schools in Liberia that are accredited to operate Physician Assistant program which he named as: Tubman National Institute of Medical Art (TNIMA) in Monrovia, Bushrod Technical College in Monrovia, Cuttington University and Baptist Missionary in Bong County.
He warned any institution purporting to be operating PAs school in the country without accreditation should immediately desist and those schools attending are doing it at their own risk. He cited that LINPPA will accredits only qualified Physician Assistant programs that are in the boundaries of Liberia that have adhere to the standards, and procedures outline in this guideline and such accreditation will last for three years.
The Director for the school of Physician Assistant at the Tubman National Institute of Medical Art (TNIMA), Rebecca Scotland noted that it was very necessary for a standard to be set as tools to guide schools and LINPAA in their operations and to maintain ethical standard.
