Online DMSc FAQs

A Doctor of Medical Science degree is the preferred doctorate for PAs who want to advance their careers. It’s more than just adding initials to your name — this degree provides evidence-based tools for clinical improvement, leadership development, and specialized knowledge in health system leadership or education.

PAs are critical to the provision of safe, effective and accessible healthcare in the United States and beyond. Yet, there can be more to being a PA. With a DMSc, you gain skills in:

• Professionalism: Foster a collaborative and inclusive professional environment that promotes the role of a PA in healthcare delivery. 
• Advocacy: Enhance your dedication to patient and population health. 
• Accountability: Commit to your personal well-being and to the growth and resilience of others.
• Scholarly Knowledge: Become proficient in designing research and scholarship and practice analyzing data. 
• Leadership: Enhance your ability to communicate, manage others, problem-solve and think critically. 

Pursuing a DMSc degree is a strategic investment in your career. Here’s why:

• Higher Earnings: A 2023 study by Klein et al. found that PAs with doctoral degrees typically report earnings above the median PA salary.
• Leadership Roles: A DMSc prepares PAs for leadership positions that can unlock more opportunities and increase earning potential. Klein et al. also found that most PA leaders hold doctoral degrees, and those in formal leadership positions earn, on average, $17,000 more annually.
• Academic and Career Advancement: With a DMSc, academic appointments are more accessible, and it’s more likely for educators to advance into leadership positions — and, in so doing, increase their earning potential. According to PAEA’s 2020 Faculty and Directors Report, one-quarter of PA program faculty members and nearly half of program directors held doctoral degrees.

At The College of Idaho, our online DMSc program was designed to meet the unique needs of working PAs, offering a supportive, flexible and affordable pathway to career advancement.

• Expert-Designed Curriculum: Our online curriculum is crafted by PAs for PAs, ensuring you receive an education that’s relevant and prepares you for doctoral-level career advancement.
• Flexible Learning: Complete online, asynchronous coursework delivered by expert faculty who understand the challenges of pursuing doctoral education while working full-time.
• Six Pathways: Focus your studies on one of six DMSc concentrations that span education, leadership, clinical practice, lifestyle medicine and healthcare delivery.
• Personalized Support: From day one, our doctoral-trained PA advisors provide guidance and mentorship as you navigate the program.
• Value for Investment: We offer competitive tuition rates that fund high-quality learning content and technology, engaging and talented faculty, and supportive health programs like TimelyCare.

We offer six unique pathways that align with your career goals in clinical practice, leadership, education or healthcare delivery. 

• Health Professions Education Concentration (18 Months)
• Health System Leadership Concentration (18 Months)
• Lifestyle Medicine and Advanced Clinical Practice (18 Months)
• Early Career PA Accelerated Pathway (12 Months)
• Experienced Educator Accelerated Pathway (12 Months)
• PA Fellow Accelerated Pathway (9 Months)

Created with working PAs in mind, our DMSc program fits your professional journey by offering accelerated and traditional pathways to complete your degree. Both tracks emphasize critical tools for becoming an implementation specialist and allow you to select a concentration that aligns with your goals.

• Traditional Pathway: 18-month program
• Accelerated Pathway: 9-12 month program for early-career, fellow-trained and experienced educator PAs. 

Absolutely! The College of Idaho’s DMSc program was specifically created for full-time working PAs, offering a rigorous and flexible curriculum that accommodates your professional and personal commitments.

• Optimized Timeline: You may be wondering if you have time to go back to school as a working professional. At The College of Idaho, you can graduate with your DMSc degree in two or three semesters, with each semester divided into two 10-week blocks.
• Manageable Course Load: Take two courses per block, totaling four courses per semester. This structure allows for deep learning without overwhelming your schedule. The academic calendar also includes strategic breaks in June, July and from mid-December to early January, giving you the opportunity to rest and enjoy time with your loved ones. 
• Created by Experienced PAs: Our program leaders and faculty understand the demands of working as a PA and earning an advanced degree because they’ve done it themselves. Experience mentorship and an online environment that's both easy to navigate and rich in content.

The College of Idaho’s DMSc program is one of the most affordable Doctor of Medical Science degree programs in the country. To ensure our program is accessible to all PAs, we kept the cost at the forefront when developing the program. And financial aid and scholarship opportunities are available for all graduate students.

Not at The College of Idaho! Our DMSc program creates a sense of community and connection that bridges the geographic distances between you, your classmates and program faculty. We do this by:

• Individualized Support: Every DMSc student is assigned a doctoral-trained PA advisor on the first day of the program. Advisors provide meaningful advice on leveraging coursework to gain real-time career advancement and maintaining a balance between work, life and school endeavors. 
• Centralized Resources: Students won’t navigate the DMSc administrative requirements alone. These include completing the application, enrolling in courses, submitting required payments and eventually qualifying for graduation. Our Program Manager will also provide academic support by monitoring each student’s progress and supporting anyone demonstrating signs of struggle.
• Virtual Student Community: Students can connect with each other in the program through Microsoft Teams and other virtual platforms. Each cohort of students will also elect a liaison to work with program leadership, share student perspectives and advocate for student resources.

Don’t wait! At The College of Idaho, we recommend pursuing your Doctor of Medical Science degree shortly after becoming a PA. We even offer a dedicated pathway for early-career PAs who graduated from an accredited PA program within the past two years. This track supports you in developing your professional identity, healthcare delivery system acumen and career trajectory. 

Here’s why getting started early is beneficial: 

• Accelerated Timeline: Earn your DMSc degree online in just 12 months. 
• Advanced Standing: Receive 12 credit hours of advanced standing for your recent coursework and supervised clinical practice experiences.
• Cohort-Based Learning: Start your journey with other students who want to advance their PA practice. Provide peer support to one another and enjoy collaborating on projects and joint courses.

Whether you're looking to inspire the next generation of healthcare providers or drive systemic improvements from a leadership role, a DMSc degree opens the doors for career opportunities beyond clinical practice. The College of Idaho offers concentrations in education and leadership that can help you transform your career path and transition into a new area in the profession.

Health Professions Education Track

PAs entering academia for the first time are often experts in their clinical fields but may lack formal training in education. With courses in adult learning theory, instructional content delivery methods, curricular design and evaluation, academic leadership strategies and transformative student engagement, our Health Professions Education track bridges this gap.

Earning a DMSc makes you a competitive candidate for academic positions. For established PA educators, it enhances your potential for promotion into professorial tracks or leadership roles at colleges and universities. According to the 2020 PAEA Faculty Report, 25% of PA faculty and nearly 50% of program directors hold a doctoral degree — a credential increasingly essential for academic advancement.

>Health System Leadership Track

Leadership roles empower you as a PA to drive change, mentor others, and increase autonomy and earning potential. Leadership requires doctoral-level thinking, which you can acquire through our DMSc curriculum. Led by PAs who hold leadership positions within major health systems — and even in non-healthcare industries — our program prepares you to lead with confidence, competence, empathy and ingenuity.

According to a 2023 AAPA report, most employers do not provide leadership training that focuses on the unique aspects of PAs in healthcare management. The College of Idaho’s Health System Leadership track addresses this need through courses in healthcare policy, quality improvement, patient safety and healthcare administration skills, equipping you for management roles without needing an MBA.

The College of Idaho’s first cohort of Doctor of Medical Science students began the program in September 2024. Our online DMSc program was created by a group of talented academic leaders who have experience developing educational programs at other institutions. This group consists of two doctoral-trained PAs who lead the program and designed the curriculum alongside six other PAs who are subject matter experts and influencers in the field.

Despite being relatively new to the DMSc field, The College of Idaho is an established and respected educational institution with a track record of academic excellence and unparalleled student support. For more than a century, we have produced graduates who are leaders in business, science, medicine, law, education, the arts and government. Alumni include three former governors, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, an Academy Award-winning musician, the co-discoverer of vitamin B-12 and the co-founder of Patagonia Outerwear.

Additionally, The College of Idaho has been instrumental in PA education for over a decade through our Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) degree. This program operates through a unique collaboration with Idaho State University and is the only MPAS program in the state of Idaho.

Founded in 1891, The College of Idaho is the state’s oldest four-year institution of higher learning and a private liberal arts college dedicated to preparing students for fulfilling and impactful lives. With accreditation by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities since 1922 and a legacy of teacher education approved by the Idaho State Department of Education since 1913, the College maintains a long-standing tradition of academic excellence. 

The College of Idaho is located in Caldwell, Idaho, just 30 minutes from the vibrant city of Boise, and features a beautiful residential campus with historic academic buildings, modern facilities and award-winning spaces like the Cruzen-Murray Library. Students enjoy access to outdoor recreation, cultural events and career opportunities in one of the country’s fastest-growing regions. Whether students are online or on campus, The College of Idaho fosters meaningful connections with faculty and a commitment to leadership, service and academic exploration.

“Yote” is short for The College of Idaho’s longtime mascot, the Coyote, Canis latrans. The coyote is known for its scrappy and resilient nature, managing to be remarkably successful despite facing extermination efforts and thriving even in the midst of pressure and adversity. The Yote Family (YoteFam, for short) proudly embodies the key traits of coyotes: tenacious, clever, vocal, adventurous, social, resourceful, curious and focused. 

One of our long-serving faculty members put it this way: “The Coyote is perhaps the most fitting mascot of the plucky, durable, liberal arts school that trains its pack to develop creative, innovative, tough-minded solutions in a world of rapidly changing challenges.”