title: Physician assistant students' attitudes and behaviors toward cheating and academic integrity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine physician assistant (PA) students' attitudes towards academic integrity. Three integrity factors were assessed: academic environment, personal cheating behaviors, and perceived seriousness of specific cheating behaviors.
  
  
  METHODS
  After receiving local IRB approval, an anonymous online survey was disseminated to PA students at the University of Detroit Mercy. Ninety-four potential participants were contacted through the university's email account. Respondents were directed to an online site to complete the academic integrity survey. This descriptive study was part of a larger study of students in the whole college, including the PA department, in order to determine baseline data prior to instituting a college-wide honor code.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The response rate was 52% (n = 49). The majority of respondents (86%) indicated "never" having seen another student cheat during an exam. Respondents perceived cheating during a test or exam campuswide as occurring "never" (47%) or "very seldom" (42%). All (100%) respondents reported that they had "never" personally turned in work done by another student or purchased from a "paper mill." All participants (100%) responded "never" to not taking vital signs and reporting approximates. A few respondents (8%) reported getting test questions and answers from another student. Respondents' perceptions of the seriousness of cheating behaviors varied. Working with others when asked to do individual work was considered "not cheating" by 14% of respondents; 35% indicated that not taking vital signs and reporting approximates was less serious than cheating.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PA students have a self-reported high level of integrity in general course assignments, tests and exams, and clinical courses. This apparent high level of academic integrity may be a result of admissions practices and of various program practices throughout the curriculum, including an honor agreement acknowledged by PA students that reinforces what is expected of them.
authors.affiliation: University of Detroit Mercy, Michigan, USA. dereczal@udmercy.edu
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dereczyk
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bozimowski
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Thiel
authors.forename: Rose
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Higgins
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D001519:Behavior; D003625:Data Collection; D008192:Deception; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008824:Michigan; D010823:Physician Assistants / Q000193:education*; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult