President Kevin Alexander, O.D., Ph.D. welcomed the incoming physician assistant and optometry students to Marshall B. Ketchum University on August 15. “This year’s incoming class is history in the making as we welcome the first cohort of physician assistant students," announced Dr. Alexander. Marshall B. Ketchum University is proud to be the first PA program in Orange County.
Demographic shifts and technological advances are causing many educators and health professionals around the world to call for new models for educating health professionals that better reflects the diseases and societies these students will be serving. (Institute of Medicine Report, May 13, 2013)
From our roots in Los Angeles in 1904 to our move to Fullerton in 1973, Marshall B. Ketchum University is focused on the team-based care model to prepare students for the future of health care delivery. Dr. Alexander noted that, “Our PA and Optometry students will take classes together, learn clinical skills together and develop patient care plans together because the key is interprofessional health care education.”
As a graduate professional University, MBKU’s vision is to seek to reimagine the future of health care education. Interdisciplinary teams will learn together to deliver safe, effective, and timely care that is culturally and linguistically appropriate within and across all settings. MBKU’s critical mission is to educate caring, inspired health care professionals who are prepared to deliver collaborative, patient-centric health care in an interprofessional environment.
President Alexander reminded students that with all the changes in health care due to a rapidly growing aging population and the need for more non-physicians to provide care; training health care professionals in teams to work in teams is exactly what Marshall B. Ketchum University is all about. Join us today by supporting our growing university at www.ketchum.edu/givenow.
Marshall B. Ketchum University
About Us
Rooted in a tradition of excellence in Optometry, Marshall B. Ketchum University's (MBKU's), vision is to reimagine the future of health care education by educating caring, inspired health care professionals who are prepared to deliver collaborative, patient-centric health care in an interprofessional environment.
MBKU's Vision: To reimagine the future of health care education.
MBKU's Mission: To educate caring, inspired health care professionals who are prepared to deliver collaborative, patient-centric health care in an interprofessional environment.
MBKU's Core Values: Excellence, Integrity, Innovation, Compassion and Respect.
History
Marshall B. Ketchum University is now home to the Southern California College of Optometry and the School of Physician Assistant Studies. Named after the founder of the optometric institution in 1904, the change to a university structure addresses the growing demand for highly skilled health care professionals. MBKU will provide a diversity of health care education opportunities in an environment fully focused on medical professionalism, combining advanced clinical training with innovative teaching methods. The University confers a four-year, professional degree, Doctor of Optometry (O.D.) and a Master of Science in Vision Science (M.S.) degree. MBKU's School of Physician Assistant Studies expects to award a Master of Medical Sciences (MMS) degree. MBKU has recently announced plans to establish a College of Pharmacy.
The University's superior 110-year-old optometric clinical education program provides patient care experiences in community optometric clinics; exposure to the delivery of optometric care in multi-disciplinary settings; and experiences in practices serving a wide variety of ethnic and socio-economic patient groups. Marshall B. Ketchum University owns and operates two premier eye and vision care centers – University Eye Center at Fullerton located on its campus in Fullerton, CA, and University Eye Center at Los Angeles located on Broadway at Martin Luther King Boulevard near downtown Los Angeles.
Accreditations
Marshall B. Ketchum University: Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).
Southern California College of Optometry: Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (ACOE) of the American Optometric Association.
School of Physician Assistant Studies: The ARC-PA has granted Accreditation-Provisional status to the Marshall B. Ketchum University Physician Assistant Program.
Accreditation-Provisional is an accreditation status. The status indicates that the plans and resource allocation for the proposed program appear to demonstrate the program's ability to meet the ARC-PA Standards, if fully implemented as planned. Accreditation-Provisional does not ensure any subsequent accreditation status. It is limited to no more than five years from matriculation of the first class.