Program Description

The School of Health Professions' nationally ranked physician assistant (PA) program builds a strong foundation in the medical sciences and offers tremendous opportunities for a wide range of clinical rotations in medical and surgical specialties. The 33-month PA program provides students with an opportunity to develop their analytical skills, which is particularly important in today's health care environment where PAs are delegated increasing levels of responsibility. Guided by a diversified faculty who are educators, clinicians, and scientists, our students become not only technically competent but well-prepared to deliver high-quality humanistic patient care to a diverse population.

There are two routes of entry into the PA program. In the traditional route of entry, students apply through CASPA, a centralized application system. Traditional applicants must earn a bachelor's degree prior to the start of the program. The CASPA application opens at the end of April every year, and our deadline for complete and verified applications is September 1.

The majority of students follow the traditional curriculum, resulting in a Master of Science (M.S.) with a focus in Physician Assistant Studies. An alternative option is to pursue a dual degree with the School of Public Health: the master of science/master of public health (M.S./M.P.H.). Applicants who are interested in this path must apply to the PA program and the M.P.H. program separately and gain admission to both programs. The M.P.H. program uses SOPHAS, a centralized application system. Applicants should contact the M.P.H. program to determine if they are required to submit GRE scores. This is a four-year program. Students who are accepted into this dual-degree track would attend the PA program and the M.P.H. program concurrently as part-time students during the first two years of enrollment. During the third and fourth years, these students attend the PA program full time while they complete their clinical rotations/fieldwork for both the M.S. and M.P.H. degrees.

The bachelor of arts or bachelor of science/master of science (B.A./M.S. or B.S./M.S.) 3+3 program is another alternate route of entry. This is not a direct entry from high school. The first three years are spent as an undergraduate at one of our partner schools, and the last three years are spent in graduate school in the PA program. Students who attend one of our partner schools can apply to the 3+3 program in the spring of their sophomore year. The Admissions Committee provides 3+3 applicants with their decision prior to the start of the applicant's junior year. Those who are accepted into the 3+3 program have the following contingencies: they must maintain a minimum grade-point average of 3.2, complete all degree requirements for the undergraduate major by the end of junior year, and complete all of the PA program's prerequisite course requirements by the end of junior year. Interested students must apply to an undergraduate program at one of our partner schools and then apply to the 3+3 program in their sophomore year. Prospective applicants should refer to the program website for the most up-to-date information regarding program partnerships.