Healthcase and Higher Ed: University of Manitoba's Physician Assistant Program
The Master of Physician Assistant Studies Program at the University of Manitoba is a competitive graduate program historically composed of mostly white, female, higher-income students.
As program director, Ian Jones* and his team were eager to build a class more reflective of the wider province, and especially—in keeping with the University’s strategic commitment to help redress the legacy of Canada’s residential schools—to create a more equitable playing field for First Nations applicants.
Initially, Ian sought out implicit bias courses but, in his judgment, they hadn't worked. He doubted their effectiveness in solving problems of a complex, multi-layered system.
A brief search led him to the Equity Sequence®. In it, he found something different: a practical tool he could apply to work out concrete solutions.
Using the practice to spark innovative thinking, the MPAS team transformed their entire process—recruitment, admissions, and curriculum—showing how this practice can be used to influence more equitable decisions and behaviours.
As Ian states:
“The Sequence® had me pause and actually ask, who are the people we’re trying to serve? And why aren’t they involved in helping set up the system?”
Equity Sequence® led them to question a host of assumptions, which led in turn to a set of tangible, measurable changes, including:
Shifting from a 4-year science to a BA degree requirement, after questioning if the science degree was TRULY a necessity in producing a qualified clinician, and whether it stood as an unnecessary barrier to students from rural communities
Placing more weight on the last 60 credit hours, upon asking if the 4-year GPA might disadvantage students who got off to a slow start but ended up academically strong
Questioning the very nature of what makes a good Physician Assistant—whether real-life experiences interacting with a community might not be as crucial as book knowledge in turning out community-centered health practitioners
As a result of these changes, admissions saw an increase in both racial (45%, up from 10%) and gender (40/60%, vs. the previous 10/90%) diversity.
While the program continues to work to increase representation of the Indigenous population, new cohorts have had more community awareness, advocacy, and service experience. National Exams results have also improved. And the employment rate for graduates has been 100%.
***
* Ian has since joined the University of Manitoba Medical School faculty as an Associate Professor.