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Concordia University St. Paul DigitalCommons@CSP Concordia University Portland Graduate CUP Ed. Dissertations Research Spring 4-7-2020 Lived Experiences with Inauthenticity of the Physician Assistant Program Admission Essay: A Phenomenological Study Pollyanna Kabara Concordia University - Portland, pollyanna.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.edu/cup_commons_grad_edd Part of the Education Commons, and the Medical Education Commons Recommended Citation Kabara, P. Lived Experiences with Inauthenticity of the Physician Assistant Program Admission Essay: A Phenomenological Study (Thesis, Concordia University, St.

Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.edu/cup_commons_grad_edd/459 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Concordia University Portland Graduate Research at DigitalCommons@CSP. It has been accepted for inclusion in CUP Ed. Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@CSP. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@csp.

Concordia University - Portland CU Commons Ed. Dissertations Graduate Theses & Dissertations Spring 4-7-2020 Lived Experiences with Inauthenticity of the Physician Assistant Program Admission Essay: A Phenomenological Study Pollyanna Kabara Concordia University - Portland Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.edu/edudissertations Part of the Education Commons, and the Medical Education Commons CU Commons Citation Kabara, Pollyanna, "Lived Experiences with Inauthenticity of the Physician Assistant Program Admission Essay: A Phenomenological Study" (2020).edu/edudissertations/443 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Theses & Dissertations at CU Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Ed. Dissertations by an authorized administrator of CU Commons.

For more information, please contact libraryadmin@cu-portland. Concordia University–Portland College of Education Doctorate of Education Program WE, THE UNDERSIGNED MEMBERS OF THE DISSERTATION COMMITTEE CERTIFY THAT WE HAVE READ AND APPROVE THE DISSERTATION OF Pollyanna Marie Kabara CANDIDATE FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF EDUCATION Chad Becker, Ph., Faculty Chair Dissertation Committee Kallen Dace, Ed., Content Specialist Joshua Johnson, Ed., Content Reader Lived Experiences with Inauthenticity of the Physician Assistant Program Admission Essay: A Phenomenological Study Pollyanna Marie Kabara Concordia University–Portland College of Education Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the College of Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in Higher Education Chad Becker, Ph., Faculty Chair Dissertation Committee Kallen Dace, Ed., Content Specialist Joshua Johnson, Ed., Content Reader Concordia University–Portland 2020 Abstract Inauthenticity occurs in the physician assistant program admission process when students plagiarize content of the admission essay. This qualitative research study focused on the experiences of physician assistant admission committee members with the admission process, including the experiences of physician assistant admission committee members with the authenticity of the admission process. The experience with the components of the admission process were discussed through eight interviews with physician assistant admission committee members from accredited physician assistant programs in the United States.

Phenomenology was the research method used to evaluate the experience the admission committee members have had with the components of the admission process, as well as their experience with the authenticity of the admission process. I identified four themes when I analyzed the data. The first theme demonstrated that admission committee members place importance on noncognitive components of the admission process. The second theme recognized that the admission process of physician assistant programs is an evolving process that is consistently reviewed and revised.

The third theme identified that some physician assistant programs have made changes to the admission process due to concerns of inauthenticity of admission materials. The fourth theme presented implementation of an on-campus writing sample in order to compare the quality of the writing of the on-campus writing sample to that of the admission essay. Keywords: admission, inauthenticity, authenticity, physician assistant ii Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my family. The unwavering support of my husband and our three children is a true blessing.

I am thankful for their patience and support. I look forward to having more free time to spend together now that I have completed my dissertation! iii Acknowledgements Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:9 I am appreciative of the support I have received from family and friends over the past few years during my doctoral studies journey.

I thank God for providing me with this incredible opportunity! His love for me has provided me with the stamina needed to successfully complete my doctoral studies. I thank my husband, Dave, for his love and support. I am blessed to have a partner who demonstrates sacrificial love. I thank our three children, Isabel, Li, and Adam, for being my cheerleaders! I enjoyed all of the nights we spent working on our homework together! I thank my parents for their love and support, and for building the foundation of my desire to be a life-long learner.

I thank my brother, sister, and brother-in-law for their love and support. I enjoyed sharing my journey with them. I thank my Concordia University family, including my amazing students, for their encouragement. My vocation of being the program director of Concordia University Wisconsin’s physician assistant program is an incredible blessing and privilege.

I thank my friends for their belief in me. I thank my friend and colleague, Sandra Gardner, for her compassionate encouragement. I enjoyed sharing our doctoral journey together! Thank you to my dissertation chair, Dr. Chad Becker, and to my dissertation committee members, Dr.

Kallen Dace, and Dr. I appreciate your guidance through my doctoral journey. Finally, I am thankful that I believed in myself, and that I have achieved one of my personal goals. I pray God continues to bless me with research opportunities that inspire me to remain curious, and to seek innovative ways to educate the next generation of physician assistant students.

iv Table of Contents Abstract. iv List of Tables. xi Chapter 1: Introduction .1 Introduction to the Problem .1 Background, Context, History, and Conceptual Framework for the Problem .2 Conceptual framework for the problem .2 Statement of the Problem .3 Purpose of the Study .4 Rationale, Relevance, and Significance of the Study .4 Definition of Terms.5 Assumptions, Delimitations, and Limitations .10 Chapter 2: Literature Review .11 Introduction to the Literature Review .17 Competitive nature of the admission process .19 Review of the Literature and Methodological Literature .20 Academic and nonacademic components of the admission process .20 Discipline specific admission criteria .26 Multiple mini-interviews .28 Personal statement essay .28 Evolution of the admission process .30 Authenticity concerns in the higher education admission processes .31 Review of Methodological Issues .34 Synthesis of Previous Research .34 Inauthenticity of the admission essay .35 vi Critique of Previous Research .39 Limited sample size .39 Location of the research study .40 Inauthenticity of personal statement essays .41 Differing health care disciplines .42 Unique and focused research studies .47 Introduction to the Methodology .49 Purpose and Design of the Study .49 Research Population and Sampling Method .55 Identification of Attributes .58 Data Analysis Procedures .59 Limitations and Delimitations of the Research Design .66 Conflict of interest assessment.66 Ethical issues in the study .69 Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Results .70 Introduction to Data Analysis and Results.70 Description of the Sample .73 Research Methodology and Analysis.76 Chunking and coding. Error! Bookmark not defined.

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Error! Bookmark not defined. Summary of the Findings .80 Theme 1: Importance of noncognitive components of the admission process .88 viii Theme 2: Revision of the admission process .88 Theme 3: Impact of inauthentic admission materials on the admission process .89 Theme 4: Implementation of on-campus writing sample .89 Presentation of Data and Results .89 Theme 1: Importance of noncognitive components of the admission process .90 Theme 2: Revision of the admission process .93 Theme 3: Impact of inauthentic admission materials on the admission process .99 Theme 4: Implementation of on-campus writing sample .103 Chapter 5: Discussion and Conclusion .105 Introduction to Discussion and Conclusion .105 Summary of the Results .105 Discussion of the Results .105 Discussion of the Results in Relation to the Literature.109 Theme 1: Importance is placed on noncognitive components of the admission process.112 Theme 2: Revision of the admission process .115 Theme 3: Impact of inauthentic admission materials on the admission process .116 Theme 4: Implementation of on-campus writing sample .119 Implication of the Results for Practice, Policy, and Theory .122 Implications for practice .122 Implications for policy .123 ix Implications for theory .125 Recommendations for Further Research .133 Appendix A: Email to Program Directors .148 Appendix B: Initial Contact Letter to Admission Committee Members .149 Appendix C: Informed Consent Agreement .151 Appendix D: Interview Protocol .153 Appendix E: Thank You Letter to Participants After Transcription.158 Appendix F: Thank You Letter with Attached PDF of Dissertation .159 Appendix G: Statement of Original Work .160 x List of Tables Table 1. Noncognitive Components Included in Each Participant’s Admission Process. Common Themes and Brief Description of the Themes .81 xi Chapter 1: Introduction Introduction to the Problem The admission essay is an essential component of the admission process for graduate programs (White, Brownell, Lemay, & Lockyer, 2012).

For applicants to medical programs, the admission essay allows the applicant to portray their suitability for the medical field and provides admission committee members with a screening tool to select applicants to be invited for an interview (Wright, 2015). In physician assistant program admissions, specifically, committee members utilize the essay as one component of the admission selection process. Applicants are aware of the significance of the admission essay and strive to write an essay that stands out among those submitted by the other applicants. Applicants who do not have strong writing skills may use an editing service as they write their admission essay.

Some professional editing services truly edit the original work of the applicant; through this process, an applicant can improve elements of the essay while the content remains authentic. However, some “editing” services market pre-written admission essays for review or purchase to graduate school applicants (Papadakis & Wofsy, 2010). Applicants who use these services submit essays that they did not write, and that may include falsified information. Applicants may also write their own essay, but embellish their past experiences and qualifications for the program.

Embellishment and plagiarism of the admission essay skew the ability of the essay portion of the admissions process to reflect the indented information (Kumwenda, Dowell, & Husbands, 2013). In this study, I explore the experiences of physician assistant program admission committee members (also referred to as “committee members”) with the admission process, and with inauthenticity of the admission essay. I research the lived- 1 experiences admission committee members have with the admission essay, as well as with the other components of the admission process. Background, Context, History, and Conceptual Framework for the Problem Health profession graduate training programs typically have four specific phases: screening, scoping, selection, and evaluation (Zimmermann, von Davier, & Heinimann, 2017).

The typical admission process for physician assistant programs contains the following components, which fit into these four general categories: successful completion of required admission components, completion of the on-line Central Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA), selection for admission interview, face-to-face interview process, final selection of interviewed applicants. The committee members review the applications in CASPA, and select candidates for the interview process. After the interview process, the committee members determine which applicants will be offered a spot in the physician assistant program. The selection process takes into consideration the applicants’ ability to be successful in the physician assistant program and as a health care provider.

The admission committee members use the components of the admission process to attempt to determine how well each applicant will perform and succeed in the program (Zimmermann et al. The information that I gather through my research has the potential to assist committee members by presenting research findings pertaining to the lived experiences of committee members with inauthenticity of the admission essay. Admission committee members may find the lived experiences of their colleagues useful when evaluating their own admission processes. Conceptual framework for the problem.