Health Professions, Physician Assistant

Admission Requirements

Although admission requirements vary slightly for specific schools, most physician assistant programs schools require the following courses:

  • Biology 114
  • Biology 313 (Cell Biology)
  • Biology 341 and 342 (Human Anatomy and Physiology)
  • Biology 433 Microbiology
  • Biology 434 (Biochemistry)
  • Chemistry 111 (General)
  • Chemistry 112
  • Chemistry 231 (Organic)
  • Math 114 (Statistics)
  • Physics 211 or 121 (General)
  • Physics 212 or 122

Additional course requirements in English, the Humanities and the Social Sciences are usually satisfied by completing Guilford College's Foundations, Exploration and Capstone requirements. As long as students complete the above requirements, they may pursue the undergraduate major of their choice.

Recommendations

First-hand experience within the medical field is essential. This may be accomplished through an internship, summer employment and/or volunteer work. Physician assistant programs are highly variable with respect to how much patient contact experiences is required. For example, Wake Forest requires 1000+ hours direct patient contact. while Medical College of Virginia requires three short-term PA shadowing experiences. It is essential that the student investigate the requirements for programs they might be interested in applying to early in their academic career.

GRE

Many Physician Assistant programs require the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). Information about test dates and application materials can be obtained from www.gre.org.

Application Process

Pre-PA students should complete and submit their applications during the summer between their Junior and Senior years. Many physician assistant schools subscribe to the online CASPA application service. For information about CASPA, see the website at https://portal.caspaonline.org/ or see Anne Glenn FFSC 311.

 

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