Required Prerequisite Courses
Prerequisite courses completed seven or more years prior to the anticipated entrance date to the physician assistant program will be reviewed for approval on an individual basis.
A candidate must have completed a Bachelors degree from an accredited undergraduate college or university. Undergraduate credits must include the following "pre-physician assistant” (pre-professional) courses completed with a 2.0 ( C ) or better. An applicant need not have completed all prerequisites prior to filing an application, but must be able to complete all outstanding prerequisites prior to enrolling. In order to fairly evaluate a candidate, no more than two prerequisite courses should be taken in the semester prior to the start of the program in August.
A total of 33 semester credits is required in the following areas:
Four Semester Credits in each of the following courses:
- Anatomy and Physiology I (or Anatomy) with laboratory
- Anatomy and Physiology II (or Physiology) with laboratory
- Chemistry I with laboratory
- Chemistry II (or Organic Chemistry) with laboratory
- Biology I with laboratory
- Biology II (or Genetics or Microbiology) with laboratory
Three Semester Credits in each of the following courses:
- Intro to Psychology or General Psychology
- Mathematics or Statistics
- English Composition
To better prepare you for the basic and clinical science courses in the program, we encourage - but do not require – courses in organic chemistry, genetics, microbiology, developmental psychology, abnormal psychology, statistics, immunology, cell biology, and/or biochemistry.
Advanced Placement or Transfer Credit
The PA program does not award advanced placement or transfer credit. In some instances, when a student enters the program with an advanced degree in a scientific area (e.g., a Ph.D. in anatomy), on an individual basis he/she may be allowed to take a challenge exam and be granted course credit.
Entering students may not receive advanced placement credit or transfer credit for any clinical rotations or preceptorships. The PA program does not award credit for experiential learning.