Date
11-13-2025
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)
Chair
Maryna Svirska-Otero
Keywords
simulation, practice readiness, healthcare experience hours, physician assistant
Disciplines
Education
Recommended Citation
Yuan, Jeanetta, "Predictive Effects of Prior Mandatory Healthcare Experiences and Didactic Year Simulation Exposure on Physician Assistant Students’ Practice Readiness for Clinical Training: A Quantitative Predictive Correlational Study" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 7602.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/7602
Abstract
The purpose of this non-experimental, quantitative, predictive correlational design study was to assess whether physician assistant (PA) students with simulation exposure during the didactic year of PA school and the number of healthcare experience hours prior to matriculation can predict students’ practice readiness to care for patients during their clinical year of training. This study is important because it directly impacts the requirements needed for PA school and students’ training while in PA school. The sample for this study consisted of 123 PA students from New York City and its metropolitan area, who responded to the recruitment listing and completed the survey. This exceeded the minimum sample size of 68 participants as calculated by a-priori and G*Power calculation. The instrumentation for this study is the Nursing Practice Readiness Scale, which includes 35 items focused on five factors: clinical performance and judgment, professional attitudes, patient-centeredness, self-regulation, and interpersonal relationships collaboration. Data was collected via Qualtrics survey and took no more than 15 mins for participants to complete. The data was analyzed using multiple linear regression in SPSS which demonstrated a statistically significant overall regression model, F(2,120) = 7.99, p < .001, adjusted R² = .103, with a statistical power of 0.8, and α = .05. The null hypothesis was rejected, and Bonferroni correction was applied, resulting in the adjusted α of 0.025. The predictors collectively accounted for approximately 11.8% of the variance in clinical practice readiness (R² = .118) with small to moderate effect size (R = .343). Upon completion of the study, the results, conclusions, and recommendations for future research were presented and discussed.
