Strong first-generation presence defines Creighton’s new PA cohorts
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Naomie Kabre was looking for a university that would not only prepare her for a career as a physician assistant, but one that was passionate about helping others.
She found this at Creighton.
“I always believed that loving what you do is crucial in life as you gain personal values and, in the meantime, you are serving others,” Kabre says. A health sciences education, especially a Creighton health sciences education, lends itself to personal gratification stemming from a life of service.
Kabre will join Creighton’s Omaha campus this August as a member of its incoming Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) program in Omaha. The Omaha program was established in 2019, with the Phoenix program following in 2023. Both are a challenging 28-month course of study that draws some of the brightest students from across the U.S. for an interprofessional, broad-based medical education that fosters the personal and professional development of its students and prepares them for the demands of practice, including achieving a first-time PANCE pass rate that exceeds the national average.
And its academic rigor is coupled with the other hallmarks of a Creighton education – service to others, tending to the whole person and seeing the inherent value in all people as children of God.
For Stephane Vandermeulen, MA, MPAS, PA-C, associate professor, chair of the School of Medicine’s Department of Health Professions and director of the Physician Assistant Program on Creighton’s Omaha campus, these Jesuit values are human values, “and nowhere is humanism more present than in those who choose to serve humanity through healthcare as their chosen professional calling,” she says. “Our students learn to treat patients through the lens of cura personalis. They care for more than just a patient’s ailment or injury; they treat the whole patient.”
We prepare students to enter the workforce with the skills and competence to work collaboratively with our physician counterparts and other health professionals to deliver the highest level of care to patients.
— Physician Assistant Program Director Stephane VanderMeulen, MA, MPAS, PA-C
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Creighton’s Jesuit, Catholic values resonated with Phoenix native Cynthia Avalos-Rodríguez. They mirrored her own values and are one of the reasons she applied to the University’s MPAS program in Phoenix. “Creighton’s mission matched with my own mission and faith, most of all,” Avalos-Rodríguez says.
When she applied, she was amazed by the personal interest faculty members took in the applicants, and they weren’t even Creighton students yet, she marveled. It was then that she knew she wanted to be in an academic environment that placed the students – who they were as individuals – at the center.
Avalos-Rodríguez is excited to build community within Creighton, to get to know her classmates and share the next few years with them as they grow and learn. She saw this closeness modeled by those already in the program and wanted it for herself.
Active in her local parish, Avalos-Rodríguez was also drawn to Creighton’s commitment to serving communities near and far. She saw a University Instagram post of PA students working in Mexico and thought, “I want to be part of that.”
As a bilingual healthcare provider, Avalos-Rodríguez hopes to break through language and cultural barriers that exists for many members of the Latino community and re-establish trust between patients and medical professionals. She wants her patients to speak freely with her, and she wants to be an attentive listener, to hear what they are going through. This, she believes, will build trust.
Fellow Phoenix classmate Matthew Correa likewise feels a responsibility to those who experience inequalities in healthcare. “Growing up in Nogales, Arizona, with close ties to Nogales, Sonora, I witnessed firsthand the healthcare disparities that Hispanic families on both sides of the border face,” he says. “These experiences ignited a profound sense of purpose and responsibility within me to uplift my community through healthcare advocacy and service.”
As with Kabre and Avalos-Rodríguez, Correa was drawn to Creighton’s academic excellence, commitment to service and emphasis on holistic, patient-centered care. “Being part of this program means that I am taking a significant step toward fulfilling my lifelong dream of becoming a healthcare provider who can bridge gaps in healthcare access and provide compassionate, culturally sensitive care,” he says. It’s a way to honor his upbringing.
When we built this program, we intentionally designed a holistic admissions process that allows every applicant to be reviewed on all their merits, not only their academic performance. We look for students who bring a wide array of experiences and backgrounds to the program.
— Physician Assistant Program Director Stephane VanderMeulen, MA, MPAS, PA-C
All three future physician assistants are first-generation students.
For Kabre, education is advancement, and admission into the MPAS program is a dream, one she worked hard to achieve. “If you are brave enough to have a dream, you are brave enough to work for the accomplishment of that dream,” she espouses. Attaining an advanced degree is especially important to her mother, who did not have access in West Africa to the kinds of opportunity her daughter now enjoys. “My mom is a strong advocate for women being educated. She is my biggest supporter because she does not want me to live like her with the regret of not being educated,” Kabre shares.
For Avalos-Rodríguez, becoming a PA is a way to model tenacity to her three younger siblings. “Being a first gen comes with a lot of responsibility,” she says. “I want my siblings to find something they love, and then go at it 100 miles per hour, to put in the hard work and effort to achieve.”
For Correa, his academic journey is inextricably tied to his Hispanic heritage and experiences, which, he says, “have profoundly shaped” his path. “I am driven by a deep sense of purpose to make a meaningful impact in healthcare and advocate for health equity. All this would not be possible without my mother's strong will and determination for me to pursue higher education, as well as the empathy and patience instilled in me by my father," he says.
It is for such a passionate talent pool that Creighton’s recruitment efforts seek to increase diversity within the PA workforce. Judging from the 31% first-generation student composition of the combined cohorts, the University’s recruitment efforts are a success.
“When we built these programs, we intentionally designed holistic admissions processes that allow every applicant to be reviewed on all their merits, not only their academic performance. We look for students who bring a wide array of experiences and backgrounds to the program,” says VanderMeulen.
Being attentive to diversity doesn’t only benefit those from underrepresented communities. It enhances the education of all members of the cohort. “We value diversity because we have intentionally created a culture in which students aren’t just learning WITH each other, they’re learning FROM each other,” VanderMeulen maintains.
Come August 2, Kabre, Avalos-Rodríguez and Correa will join their 77 other MPAS program classmates at the 2024 White Coat Ceremonies to usher in their next academic adventure as Creighton students. Then, in two and a half years, they will graduate and enter the workforce as Creighton physician assistants, competent medical professionals and compassionate human beings.
We value diversity because we have intentionally created a culture in which students aren’t just learning WITH each other, they’re learning FROM each other.
— Physician Assistant Program Director Stephane VanderMeulen, MA, MPAS, PA-C
