Admission Requirements for the MS in Physician Assistant Studies
CASPA Application Deadline: January 15, 2025 Apply Now!
Admission Requirements
Applicants must meet the following admission requirements to be eligible to apply for admission to the PA program. All requirements must be met prior to CASPA application deadline (January 15, 2025, 11:59 p.m. EST).
Note: Meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee an interview.
Applicants must have a) bachelor’s degree or b) an accelerated health professional doctorate (e.g., PharmD) that did not include awarding of a bachelor's degree:
- A bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited US Institution of higher learning.
- An accelerated health professional doctorate (e.g., PharmD) that did not include awarding of a bachelor’s degree.
- If degree was obtained outside the U.S., see the International Applicant page for foreign degree requirements.
Applicants must have the following:
- Minimum Overall (Cumulative) GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale as calculated by CASPA.
- Minimum Overall Science GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale as calculated by CASPA.
No exceptions will be made. Applicants not meeting the GPA requirements will be ineligible for admission and removed from further consideration.
Completed academic prerequisite coursework by application deadline. There is a provision for completion of some prerequisite coursework after the deadline if the applicant can demonstrate a clear plan to complete any outstanding pre-requisite coursework prior to August 1 and maintain the GPA requirements.
Each course must be completed:
- With a minimum grade of a C (2.0 GPA) as calculated by CASPA.
- Pass/Fail grades are not accepted for prerequisite coursework with exception of COVID pandemic exception: noted below.
- At a regionally accredited U.S. college or university.
- Prerequisite courses taken from foreign institutions will not be accepted (no exceptions).
Required Prerequisite Courses and Minimum Credits / Hours
Required Courses | Course Examples | Min. Credits / Hours Semester | Min. Credits / Hours Quarter |
---|---|---|---|
Microbiology with lab | The following courses will meet this requirement: Principles of Microbiology, General Microbiology, Medical Microbiology, Microbiology for Health Professions Not satisfied by Cell/Molecular Biology, Bacteriology |
3 | 5 |
Statistics | The following courses will meet this requirement: General Statistics, Behavioral Statistics, Biostatistics. Not satisfied by calculus |
3 | 5 |
Psychology | The following courses will meet this requirement: Introduction to Psychology, General Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Lifespan Psychology Not satisfied by Sociology or Anthropology. |
3 | 5 |
Human Anatomy with lab* | Combined Anatomy and Physiology courses may be taken provided a minimum of 8 semester hours or 10 quarter hours are completed. A lab must be included with each combined course. The following courses will meet this requirement: Human Anatomy & Physiology, A&P for Health Professions, Gross & Micro Anatomy/Physiology Not satisfied by survey or introductory A&P or any animal A&P courses. |
4 | 5 |
Human Physiology with lab* | Combined Anatomy and Physiology courses may be taken provided a minimum of 8 semester hours or 10 quarter hours are completed. A lab must be included with each combined course. The following courses will meet this requirement: Human Anatomy & Physiology, A&P for Health Professions, Gross & Micro Anatomy/Physiology Not satisfied by survey or introductory A&P or any animal A&P courses. |
4 | 5 |
Genetics | 3 | 5 | |
Biochemistry | Not satisfied by organic chemistry, nutritional biochemistry, metabolic biochemistry, or molecular biology | 3 | 5 |
*Combined Anatomy and Physiology courses may be taken provided a minimum of 8 semester hours or 10 quarter hours are completed.
IMPORTANT:
- A single course cannot satisfy more than one prerequisite.
- Every course must meet the minimum GPA requirement.
- Prerequisite coursework CANNOT be fulfilled with courses from:
- Advanced Placement (AP)
- College-Level Examination Program (CLEP)
- Military training
- A college or university located outside the U.S. or Canada
- Another graduate-level medical program
Prerequisite courses may be taken online, except for those requiring a lab, provided they are equivalent to courses taught in a traditional educational setting. Prerequisite courses that require a lab must be taken in-person. All courses must be from a U.S. regionally accredited institution.
COVID pandemic exception: Prerequisite courses that required labs that were completed between March 2020 and December 31, 2021, will be accepted. If a transcript is clearly marked that a COVID pandemic exception applied to a course after these dates, please contact the program for a case-by-case evaluation.
All applicants must have a minimum of 500 qualifying PCE hours completed by the application deadline and 1,000 qualifying PCE hours completed by August 1.
- The PCE minimum must be completed before the application deadline.
- PCE hours are direct hand-on paid positions with the exception of work as an EMT or paramedic when emergency services are provided on a volunteer basis.
- Hours obtained as a student (for credit) or for certification will not count toward the 1,000-hour minimum requirement.
Further information regarding acceptable types of PCE and how they will be scored can be found under Applicant Selection Criteria.
Three letters of recommendation are required. They must be submitted through the Evaluations section of the CASPA application before the application deadline.
Only three letters will be reviewed. If more than three letters are submitted, you must indicate in the Questions section of our CASPA page, which three you want the admissions committee to review.
Letters of recommendation from friends and family will not be accepted. The following types of references are encouraged, but not required: Professor, Supervisor, Physician Assistant, Healthcare Provider (APRN, MD, DO)
Technical Standards for Enrollment
All accepted students must be able to meet and successfully perform the Technical Standards of the Program.
The School of PA Medicine does not discriminate based on race, age, sex, color, disability, or national or ethnic origin in administering its educational policies, admission policies, employment, promotion and compensation policies, scholarship, and loan programs, or other University-administered programs and will make good faith efforts at providing reasonable accommodation as required. However, the Program reserves the right not to admit or register students who cannot meet the Technical Standards or who would constitute a direct threat to the health and safety of others.
PA Program applicants or students who have questions regarding these technical standards or who believe they may need to request reasonable accommodation in order to meet the standards are encouraged to contact someone from Disability Resources Email: ada@northwestu.edu or Phone: 425-889-5227.
Note: revealing a disability is voluntary; however, such disclosure is necessary before any accommodation(s) may be made in the learning environment or in the PA Program’s procedures. Information regarding disabilities is handled in a confidential manner.