Physician Assistant

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Native American Physician Assistant Track (NAPA)

The purpose of The Native American Physician Assistant (NAPA) Track is to increase the number of American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian Physician Assistants who serve in tribal communities.

The NAPA track begins with a special pre-program orientation, “For the Community’s Good,” which is an introduction to local Indian communities and health facilities for NAPA clinical rotations.

The first 14 months of the program are spent in the classroom. During the clinical component of the program, NAPA students complete several rotations at Tribal Clinics, Indian Health Service hospitals, rural and/or underserved facilities in Arizona or other sites which serve indigenous communities.  The NAPA track helps students maintain their ties with their home communities, facilitate potential rotations in their home communities, and make new contacts with local tribal communities.

The Department of Physician Assistant Studies believes that NAPA graduates will significantly improve primary health care services in underserved American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian communities.

Successful NAPA Track applicants will:

• Fulfill all admission requirements to the ASHS PA program (see the PA program “Admission Requirements”)
• Be of American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian descent
• Demonstrate involvement in their Native community
• Express a desire and plan to work as a Physician Assistant within American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian communities upon graduation