Managing clinical placements, evaluations, and reporting can be one of the most complex and time-consuming parts of running a physician assistant (PA) program. For years, the team at St. John’s University was managing this process manually—relying on spreadsheets, email threads, and a lot of hands-on coordination. But, in their recent transition to CORE ELMS, the program saw what they described as a “watershed moment.”
As the moderator of a recent webinar featuring Dan Podd, Associate Professor and Clinical Coordinator at St. John’s University, I had the chance to hear firsthand how this shift has helped them simplify scheduling, take a more accurate approach to evaluations, and improve data access for accreditation and compliance.
In listening to Dan’s experience and reflecting on what’s worked for other programs I’ve supported, here are a few takeaways I think are most helpful for PA programs looking to make a similar shift.
From Manual Scheduling to SmartMatch
Before CORE, the scheduling process at St. John’s was entirely manual. Dan collected student preferences (location, language proficiency, etc.) through surveys, and then matched them to available rotation sites by hand. The process could take weeks for each cycle—time he and his team could have spent on higher-impact work.
With CORE ELMS, they now use a tool called SmartMatch to automate those placements. Here’s how it works:
- Preceptors receive a structured, automated email asking for their rotation availability.
- They respond via a simple form, selecting dates, number of students, and eligible rotation types.
- Dan is able to quickly resend availability requests to any preceptors who haven’t responded.
- Once data is in, CORE runs a match between student availability and site capacity—cutting weeks of work down to a few clicks.
This automation has dramatically reduced administrative load, improved visibility, and helped eliminate scheduling errors.
“Scheduling used to take weeks. With CORE, I can run a SmartMatch and generate a rotation schedule in minutes.” — Dan Podd, Clinical Coordinator, St. John’s University PA Program
Smarter Evaluation Workflows: Student-Initiated through Case Logs
One common challenge in PA clinical education is ensuring that evaluations actually get to the right preceptors, especially when students are scheduled to a site, but not assigned to a specific preceptor in advance. Sound familiar?
To solve this, St. John’s implemented a student-initiated evaluation model using CORE’s Field Encounter (case log) tool.
Here’s what that looks like:
- At the end of a rotation, students identify the actual preceptor who worked with them.
- They submit a simple case log form that triggers an evaluation to that specific preceptor.
- Only vetted preceptors can be selected—ensuring clean data and avoiding evaluation misfires.
This approach avoids sending evaluations to the wrong people, reduces unnecessary emails to non-involved preceptors, and gives students a sense of ownership in the process.
“It’s not just about saving time—it’s about accuracy. We only ask for feedback from the preceptors who actually worked with our students.” — Dan Podd
Easier, More Accurate Reporting
One of the biggest gains for the St. John’s team has been in reporting and accreditation prep.
CORE ELMS helps them:
- Track preceptor compliance (licenses, CVs, board certs) through automated document collection and expiration alerts.
- Pull real-time data on student case logs, evaluation completion, and hours tracking.
- Monitor progress toward clinical requirements and rotation exposure.
- Trend evaluation data by site for ongoing performance analysis.
Instead of spending time chasing paperwork and building reports from scratch, the team can now focus on what the data is telling them, and prepare for ARC-PA reviews with more confidence and less stress.
“If you can think of a report you might need, CORE probably already has it.” — Dan Podd
"Is CORE Worth It? “100% Do It Yesterday.”
When asked if CORE was worth the investment, Dan didn’t hesitate:
“100%—do it yesterday. The time savings alone have been tremendous. And beyond that, it’s helped us create a more structured, compliant, and scalable clinical program.”
His advice to other PA programs? Don’t wait. The benefits come quickly, especially with the support of a dedicated client success manager to guide onboarding and configuration.
Want to Learn More?
If your program is ready to streamline clinical education, CORE ELMS is built to handle the complexity of PA rotations (among other program types) without adding administrative overhead.
Schedule a personalized demo to see how CORE can support your program
Kaleigh Larson
Author
