Program Overview

The U.S. Army/Baylor University General Surgery Physician Assistant Residency and Doctoral Program was started in 2005 to meet the increasing demand for trauma surgery and critical care capability on the battlefield and in support of combat operations. Hard learned lessons through the last 20+ years of conflict have shown the monumental improvement in mortality and functional quality of life for our injured warfighters when they receive high quality care far forward. 

The Army has been a leader in enhancing physician directed specialty care with the use of physician assistants who have received post graduate specialty training. Our program is unique within the country, in that it includes both a clinical fellowship for surgical clinical experience, and a terminal academic research degree. Graduates of the DSc GSPA program are anticipated to go onto utilization assignments in direct support of operational elements far forward with frequent deployments.

Less than 2% of all PA’s nationwide seek further formal advanced training and attain a terminal academic degree[1] The Baylor University-US Army/Air Force/Navy Doctor of Science in Physician Assistant Studies-General Surgery (DSc GSPA) residency program is an 18-month curriculum consisting of didactic sections, clinical rotations, and completion of a Doctoral research requirement. Unlike other advanced training programs where the focus is only on the clinical aspect or only on the research aspect, the DSc. GSPA program incorporates both domains simultaneously.

The unique nature of our program is intended to produce high functioning clinicians from our clinical fellowship, while also working towards a university qualified terminal research degree. Our course includes approximately 4,800 clinical training hours and over 750 didactic/simulation and hands-on training hours. Over the course of 18 months, candidates also learn to develop, implement, and conduct post-graduate scientific research; culminating in the formal defense of their Doctoral dissertation.

Creating excellent clinician-scientists is the priority  for our program, though we also focus on the tactical relevance of graduates, as seen by the emphasis in the course requirements within the clinical track of the program. Graduates will have completed two, four-week rotations in trauma surgery, surgical intensive care, burn intensive care/surgery, acute care surgery, and general surgery along with one, four-week rotation in neurosurgery and interventional radiology with vascular surgery as elective. This totals 12 dedicated months of relevant trauma/critical care training alongside physician learners completing the San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium (SAUSHEC) General Surgery Residency.

For more information, contact Maj Jesse Gronsky, General Surgery Physician Assistant Program Director, at jesse.gronsky.mil@health.mil.

1. National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). 2022 Statistical Profile of Board Certified PAs. Available from: https://www.nccpa.net/resources/nccpa-research/