Direct Entry Physician Assistant Program Requirements

Students who are directly admitted into the Master's of Physician Assistant Studies program as first-year students will meet with their Pre-PA advisor to discuss, plan, evaluate, plan and assess their readiness for the graduate program. Students progressing to the professional phase of the program may not have any course failures or grades of incomplete, and no outstanding academic integrity or professionalism at the time of progression. Prior to beginning the Master's of Physician Assistant Studies program, students meet with a faculty member from the Department of Physician Assistant Studies for a final academic review. The student must meet all academic, curricular, professional, health and immunization, background check and technical standards requirements of the Master's of Physician Assistant Studies program to matriculate into the program.

Requirements

Students must demonstrate that they have completed the following requirements to progress into the graduate PA program:

  • Bachelor's degree with an overall GPA of at least 3.25
  • All prerequisite courses with a GPA of at least 3.25
  • All science prerequisite courses with a GPA of at least a 3.25
  • All prerequisite coursework with a grade of B or higher
  • A minimum of 500 hours of patient care experience must be completed, documented and verifiable at the time of application. 700 hours must be completed by the January 15th deadline and a minimum of 1,000 hours of documented and verifiable patient care experience is to be completed by the time of matriculation. Shadowing or observation is not accepted as patient care experience or used towards your required hours.
  • Three letters of reference. One reference needs to be completed by a clinician. It is recommended (but not required) to have a reference from a professor.
  • Ensure the technical standards can be met
  • At the end of each academic year, you must meet with either the Graduate Admissions Coordinator, PA Department Chair, or a PA faculty member

Prerequisites

The following prerequisite courses must be successfully completed within 10 years in order to be considered for admissions to the Masters in Physician Assistant Studies program:

  • Cellular and Molecular Biology/Lab (Clarkson course: BY160/BY162); 5 credits
  • Human Anatomy and Physiology I/Lab (Clarkson course: BY471/BY473); 5 credits
  • Human Anatomy and Physiology II/Lab (Clarkson course: BY472/BY474); 5 credits
  • General Chemistry I/Lab (Clarkson course options: CM131 or CM103/105); 4 or 5 credits
  • General Chemistry II/Lab (Clarkson course options: CM132 or CM104/106); 4 or 5 credits
  • Statistics (Clarkson course options: STAT282, STAT284, STAT318, STAT383); 3 credits
  • General Psychology (Clarkson course: PY151); 3 credits
  • Medical Microbiology (Clarkson course BY448); 3 credits
  • Genetics (Clarkson course: BY214); 3 credits
  • Humanities/Social Sciences (several course options); 3 credits

Please note: Advanced Placement (AP) credit or a pass/fail course is not accepted for the required prerequisite courses.