Despite COVID, Class of 2022 PA graduates celebrate success through challenges

It was a balmy afternoon on Aug. 12 when MUSC students Natalie Penny Saunders and Johnathon Tucker, garbed in their black graduation regalia, waited somewhat nervously to line up alongside their fellow classmates inside the vestibule of Seacoast Church Mount Pleasant. The students had been waiting for this moment – their class graduation – to celebrate the culmination of their own academic journeys and personal resilience over the past two-plus years while becoming MUSC’s newest cohort of Physician Assistant Studies (PAS) graduates.

Ninety-three men and women made up the PAS Class of 2022 working through seven semesters during the COVID-19 pandemic, completing 27-months of virtual classes and clinical experiences. 

For Saunders and others, the experience can best be described as a roller coaster ride – complete with highs and lows – that ultimately ended on a high note. She and 32 classmates within their graduating class were among a group of Lenoir-Rhyne (L-R) University Physician Assistant (PA) students who transferred into MUSC’s PAS program in spring of 2020 after their program closed, giving these students a home to continue their studies and clinical training and fulfill their dreams of becoming capable health care providers. 

Helen Martin, DHSc, PA-C, the PAS program director, has been foundational to these students’ successes. Having been a former PA faculty member at Lenoir-Rhyne in 2013, Martin advocated for the students after learning that the L-R voluntarily withdrew its accreditation with the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant – the country’s accrediting body for PAS programs. At the same time, she had been part of discussions with college faculty and MUSC leadership to expand MUSC’s PAS class size and saw accepting the L-R students into the fold as a potential solution. The class suddenly grew from 60 to 94 students by May of 2020, the start of didactic training.

 

“This has been an amazing experience for this class of students, our PA faculty and staff –  everyone,” said Martin. “The COVID-19 pandemic touched all of our lives in some way, but our students and faculty dealt with it and came together nicely. I’m so proud of each of them.”

A native of Blythewood, South Carolina, Tucker echoed the remarkable support he received from classmates, faculty and staff throughout his experience. “MUSC’s PA faculty and staff did a good job despite the circumstances caused by the pandemic. Things happened so quickly. None of us expected our classes and training would be virtual, but the faculty, staff and institution made it work. It truly was a learning experience for everyone,” said Tucker.

Not only did this cohort, faculty and staff learn to adjust to an expanded class size, but the faculty members worked hard to provide the best and safest learning experience for their students. Online teaching and learning and Zoom meetings were the norm, as was the case with all MUSC programs during the early part of COVID. Although challenging at times, Saunders and Tucker completed almost all of their didactic courses virtually. Saunders was among a small group of L-R transfer students who elected to stay in North Carolina – driving four-hours to Charleston several times to complete the Clinical Skills Lab training in the school’s new PAS facility lab space as well as clinical competency exams with standardized patients. 

 

For PAS clinical rotations, the program required students to complete nine rotations: internal medicine, family medicine, women’s health, pediatrics, mental health, emergency medicine, surgery, adjunct clinical experience and an elective experience. This cohort had a rare opportunity to be placed in clinical experiences with preceptors at site locations that previously partnered with L-R’s PA program, so many of the L-R transfer students were able to complete some clinical experiences near their hometowns. 

Saunders, who worked as a paramedic prior to PA school, completed five of her rotations near her hometown of Hickory, North Carolina, and four in South Carolina. She did two emergency medicine rotations around Hickory and also in Morganton, North Carolina.

“It was exhilarating – the best experience where I got to work on a variety of emergency cases, from inserting central lines, intubation and cardiac arrest patients. For this experience, I felt more like a colleague rather than a student working with a preceptor. I definitely know this is what I want to do,” said Saunders, who awaits a job offer in emergency medicine around the Hickory area. 

Tucker had similar success in his clinical rotation experiences. He completed two psychiatry rotations – the last one working at Charleston MyNDSPACE Mental Health, a mental health education and consulting group, where he hopes to work full time. 

Perhaps the toughest part of the students’ experiences was the challenge of safely developing relationships with fellow students, faculty and staff. Before the pandemic, PAS students would typically see each other during or after class, or they would study, volunteer and socialize together – providing lots of opportunities for them to develop friendships and bond naturally. Not so much during COVID. 

“We all tried our best to stay interactive with each other as classmates,” Tucker explained, referring to Zoom breakaway class and study groups, Facetime calls and some safe in-person small gatherings that were organized. “At times, it didn’t feel as if we were as close as it could have been had it not been for the pandemic. Despite this, COVID drew us closer in a special way so that we could complete the program and go through this experience together.”

Reflecting on their time at MUSC, Saunders and Tucker are both happy and grateful. 

 

“I’ll always feel that MUSC conducted the virtual transition to online learning better than any school could have done. The faculty did their best in the situation, and I felt their didactic  teaching and training helped me prepare well for my clinical experiences,” Saunders said.

Martin, their program director, agreed. “This was one tough, strong group of students. They did well and achieved even when the odds were against them,” she said.

For Saunders, graduation was like coming full circle – closing a loop in her journey. On graduation day, she relished the opportunity to hug former L-R PA professor Joshua Stone, Ph.D., who also transferred to MUSC to join the PAS faculty, in addition to other program faculty for their hard work, dedication and support.

“I will always have that memory and photo of Dr. Stone on my left, a professor that was present when I began my PA journey, and Dr. Martin, on my right, another professor who gave me and others from L-R a chance to continue on our journeys and help us fulfill our dreams. They, and all the MUSC faculty and staff and fellow students made an impact on me, and I’ll always be grateful to them,” Saunders said.