A Message from the Program Director, Robert E. McKenna, DMSc, MPH, PA-C
Welcome to the Doctor of Medical Science program at Marshall B. Ketchum University! I have the privilege of serving as the founding Director for this innovative program. After several years in clinical practice, more than three decades as a leader in biopharmaceutical field medical affairs, and another decade as a PA educator and health services researcher, I am passionate about providing PAs the tools and training needed to attain positions of greater responsibility beyond our traditional one-on-one patient care roles. One of the most effective ways PAs can advocate for our profession and the patients we serve is through advanced education that provides us with a greater voice in how healthcare delivery systems operate, how future PAs are educated, and the ability to generate scholarship that provides evidence of our effectiveness.
If you are ready to excel as a PA, have an impact beyond the clinic that influences how healthcare is delivered and how future PAs are trained, and to take your place as a true peer among our doctorally trained colleagues in other fields, I invite you to explore the MBKU Doctor of Medical Science program.
I look forward to your inclusion in a program to further demonstrates how PAs Go Beyond!
Founded in 1904, MBKU is a private, non-profit institution with a legacy of clinical and academic excellence and a pioneering reputation in the emerging field of interprofessional education.
Our School of PA Studies program was the first accredited PA program in Orange County, California and the success of our graduates provided the inspiration to launch the DMSc Program. Here are some other things students may like to know about MBKU’s Doctor of Medical Science program.
Mission Statement
Our mission is to empower Physician Associates to advance U.S. healthcare as effective and visionary healthcare leaders and PA educators committed to excellence, lifelong learning, and scholarly pursuit.
Our Values
Our mission is accomplished through an innovative, asynchronous online curriculum designed to prepare our graduates to transform PA education and healthcare administration and leadership. The graduates will foster a patient-centered approach to healthcare and PA education across diverse communities. We strive to inspire a culture of competence, accountability, and compassion, ensuring our graduates are equipped to champion the future of healthcare with integrity and respect, consistent with the values of the MBKU Doctor of Medical Science program.
- Integrity: We embrace integrity and professionalism by modeling honesty, thoughtfulness, accountability, and consistency in our words and actions.
- Compassion: We honor the dignity of students, colleagues, patients and their families and recognize empathy for others and compassion to be a cornerstone of professionalism.
- Respect: We strive to demonstrate respect to all by advocating the virtue of inclusion while embracing the differences within communities where we serve, work and teach.
- Service: We are committed to serving humanity and to the welfare of others.
- Excellence: We recognize the pursuit of excellence as an ongoing standard of quality for the PA profession.
- Lifelong Learning, Scholarship, and Research: We embrace lifelong learning as an essential component of proficient leadership and teaching and recognize its role in ongoing evidence-based practice, and advocacy of the PA profession through scholarship, research, and professional example.
Accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College & University Commission (WSCUC) is pending.