Physician Assistant Program
On August 26, 2025, West Virginia Wesleyan College announced the launch of its new Physician Assistant (PA) Program, marking a significant stride in our ongoing commitment to healthcare education and workforce development, while filling a critical gap in rural healthcare delivery.
The College has applied for Accreditation-Provisional from the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). Pending successful achievement of this status at the January 2028 ARC-PA meeting, West Virginia Wesleyan College anticipates welcoming its inaugural PA class in May 2028 to Battlers Knob in Philippi.
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In the News
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Meet Our Director
Deanna Leach, DMSc, PA-C, has been hired as the program’s first director, bringing a clinical background as a physician assistant and serving as associate director of the previous program at the former Alderson Broaddus University. Most recently, Dr. Leach has served as assistant director of the PA program at West Liberty University.
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Accreditation Information
West Virginia Wesleyan College has applied for Accreditation-Provisional from the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). West Virginia Wesleyan College anticipates matriculating its first class in May 2028, pending achieving Accreditation – Provisional status at the January 2028 ARC-PA meeting. Accreditation-Provisional is an accreditation status granted when the plans and resource allocation, if fully implemented as planned, of a proposed program that has not yet enrolled students appear to demonstrate the program’s ability to meet the ARC-PA Standards or when a program holding Accreditation-Provisional status appears to demonstrate continued progress in complying with the Standards as it prepares for the graduation of the first class (cohort) of students. If the West Virginia Wesleyan College Physician Assistant Program does not achieve Accreditation-Provisional status as planned, students will not matriculate and will receive a full refund of tuition and deposits. Please note that this does not include fees paid by applicants to the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA).