Case Study: Samuel Merritt University – Physician Assistant Program

Background

Samuel Merritt University (SMU) in Oakland, California offers a 27‑month Master of Physician Assistant (MPA) program. The program focuses on critical thinking, communication skills and patient‑centred care to prepare graduates for careers as medical providers committed to community service and leadership. SMU embraces inclusion, collaboration and innovation; its goal is to transform healthcare through innovative learning and produce graduates capable of making healthcare delivery the best it can be. The program’s mission statement emphasises preparing interdependent medical providers who demonstrate community commitment, manifest critical and creative thinking, utilise effective communication skills and possess the educational foundation for continued growth in a changing world.

Partnership with MomentMD. In 2025 MomentMD announced a partnership with SMU’s Physician Assistant Program. The company noted that its telehealth platform would give SMU students seamless access to qualified preceptors, help them achieve their clinical hours, develop real world skills and graduate on time. This collaboration sought to address the national shortage of clinical sites and preceptors and to expand learning opportunities for students.

Challenges

1. Preceptor and clinical‑site shortages. Nationwide, physician assistant programs face persistent shortages of clinical sites; 95 % of PA program directors report concerns and more than half pay for access. SMU’s program, which requires rotations across multiple specialties, competes for a limited pool of preceptors in California and across states. Without guaranteed placements, students risk delayed graduation and programs risk accreditation probation.
2. Scheduling and licensing complexity. Coordinating eight required rotations plus electives for each student is administratively demanding. Placements often depend on state licensure and preceptor availability. Students frequently balance coursework and need flexible rotation times.
3. Ensuring training across diverse specialties. SMU’s curriculum requires exposure to behavioural medicine, women’s health, pediatrics and other specialties. Securing placements in each area, especially behavioural medicine and women’s health, has traditionally been difficult because local sites have limited capacity and clinicians are over committed.
4. Maintaining quality and accreditation. As an accredited program, SMU must verify that each clinical encounter meets educational standards and that preceptors are qualified. Tracking evaluations, hours and licensure across multiple external sites creates administrative burden.

Our Solution

Planning the entire clinical year with MomentMD. SMU partnered with MomentMD to redesign its clinical‑year scheduling. MomentMD’s telemedicine precepting program places students under the supervision of qualified preceptors, facilitates synchronous video encounters with real patients and confirms rotation placements up to 12 months in advance. This long range scheduling allowed SMU to map each student’s entire clinical year, eliminating last‑minute scrambling.

From psychiatry to women’s health and pediatrics. The partnership rolled out gradually. In its first year, SMU used MomentMD’s virtual platform to cover the behavioural medicine (psychiatry) rotation, leveraging qualified mental health preceptors nationwide. Students conducted telepsychiatry visits, practised interviewing, risk assessment and documentation and logged hours regardless of geographic location. Encouraged by the success, SMU expanded the collaboration the following year to women’s health and pediatrics. MomentMD’s program already emphasises these specialties; its top covered rotations include mental health, women’s health and pediatrics, so SMU students seamlessly transitioned to virtual women’s health and pediatric clinics without needing new site contracts.

Structured schedules and flexibility. MomentMD evaluates each program’s rotation goals and creates a set schedule for each student, specifying weekly encounter numbers, while offering 24/7 availability to accommodate busy students. For SMU, this meant evening and weekend rotations could be offered, enabling students to balance coursework and clinical rotations. Webinars delivered during the didactic year built a telemedicine foundation, and the platform’s quality checks ensured encounters met educational standards. All documentation, evaluations and licensure tracking occur within MomentMD, reducing administrative workload.

Integrating technology and training. Beyond scheduling, the platform provides documentation tools and AI, didactic‑year webinars and 24/7 access to board‑certified specialists. Students learn to conduct remote physical exams, use digital stethoscopes and otoscopes and obtain immediate feedback from preceptors. Faculty can review recorded encounters to mentor students and ensure compliance.

Results & Impact

• Guaranteed placements and on‑time graduation. By planning the entire clinical year a year in advance, SMU ensured every student secured a preceptor for psychiatry, women’s health and pediatrics. There were no delays to graduation; students completed required hours without scrambling for last minute sites.
• Expanded clinical capacity. Telemedicine precepting allowed SMU to tap into a national network of mental‑health, OB‑GYN and pediatric providers, increasing the number of available slots and reducing competition for local preceptors. Students interacted with diverse patient populations across multiple states, enhancing cultural competence.
• Improved learning experience. Students gained hands‑on experience with telehealth tools, documentation platforms and AI‑assisted diagnostics. In psychiatry they practised therapeutic interviewing and crisis management; in women’s health and pediatrics they learned to counsel patients on prenatal care, contraception, child development and common paediatric illnesses. The platform’s 24/7 schedule allowed students to integrate rotations around jobs and family obligations, increasing satisfaction.
• Reduced administrative burden. MomentMD’s scheduling and documentation features enabled faculty to monitor students’ progress, ensure preceptors met accreditation standards and verify licensure. By consolidating rotation logistics on a single platform, SMU staff spent less time searching for sites and more time mentoring students.
• Alignment with SMU’s mission. Telemedicine rotations supported SMU’s commitment to community service and leadership. Students provided care to underserved populations via virtual visits while honing communication and critical‑thinking skills. The experience prepared graduates to be change agents who can deliver innovative healthcare solutions.

Lessons Learned & Next Steps

• Telehealth as a core competency. SMU’s experience shows that telemedicine can be integrated throughout the clinical year, not just as a stop‑gap solution. Students who trained virtually demonstrated confidence and readiness for practice, suggesting that future clinicians will need telehealth skills to meet patient expectations.
• Advance planning prevents delays. Securing rotations 12 months in advance ensures students meet accreditation requirements and eliminates the risk of last‑minute cancellations. Early planning also allows schools to adjust schedules in response to students’ needs and program priorities.
• Start with one specialty and scale. Piloting psychiatry first enabled SMU to refine its telehealth curriculum and address technology issues. Once the model proved effective, expanding to women’s health and pediatrics was straightforward because MomentMD covers these specialties.
• Next steps. SMU plans to expand telehealth rotations into family medicine, geriatrics and emergency medicine, further aligning with its curriculum requirements. The university is exploring integration of AI‑assisted diagnostic tools to complement telehealth. Faculty hope to publish outcome data on telemedicine rotations and to collaborate with other programs to advocate for national policies that recognise virtual preceptorships.

Through its partnership with MomentMD, Samuel Merritt University reimagined clinical education by planning the entire clinical year with telemedicine. The initiative demonstrates that with innovative scheduling, technology enabled training and a focus on mission driven values, PA programs can overcome preceptor shortages, expand access and prepare graduates for the future of healthcare.