About Us

Learn more about the South East School of Physician Associates

The South East School of Physician Associates (SESPA) officially launched in 2022 following the merge of the Kent, Surrey and Sussex School and the Thames Valley and Wessex School.

Vision and objectives of SESPA

Vision: To enable and support delivery of excellent healthcare by Physician Associates across the South East, through the education, training, development, employment, deployment, and retention of the profession.

Objectives:

  • Education & Training: Equal access to support and development for SE PA current and future workforce
  • Development: Increased visible leadership development and opportunities for PAs
  • Employment: Employers equipped with the knowledge, skills and understanding to help employ, develop and retain PAs as part of the MDT
  • Deployment: PAs deployed across the patient pathway with increasing opportunities to explore new areas of clinical practice.
  • Future workforce: System-led partnership approach towards supply and demand

We support 6 universities across the region with approximately 200 graduates each year.

  • Brighton and Sussex Medical School
  • Buckinghamshire New University
  • Canterbury Christ Church University
  • University of Portsmouth
  • University of Reading
  • University of Surrey

The University of Reading additionally offers the second integrated undergraduate Masters of Physician Associate Studies MPAS course in the UK.

SESPA has two hub sites; TVW – Thames Valley & Wessex, and KSS – Kent, Surrey & Sussex.

Launch Event

Our school launch was held in Guildford on 20th October 2022, which was a huge success with over a 150 people attending; there were speakers from General Medical Council (GMC), the Faculty of Physician Associates (FPA) and many more!  During the event we had a visual minutes creator capturing the buzz of the day and you can see the amazing outcome of this below, along with some of the SESPA team.