School of PA Medicine Admission Requirements for the MS in Physician Assistant Studies

A bachelor’s degree or higher:

• From a regionally accredited US or Canadian college or university* 
• Must be conferred/received prior to the application deadline of January 15, preferably before submission 
• Must offer grades on a point or letter scale

*Foreign degrees are accepted if found to be equivalent to a US bachelor’s degree or higher; proof of English language proficiency may be required. Applicants with foreign degrees can review our International Applicants page for additional details. 
 
We welcome applicants with degrees from any major or area of study who meet the minimum requirements.

Minimum GPAs are based on CASPA’s calculations. If either GPA falls below the minimum, you will be notified via email that your application has been removed from consideration. There are NO exceptions.

• Overall GPA minimum: 3.0 on a 4.0 scale
• Overall Science GPA minimum: 3.0 on a 4.0 scale

Total Semester Credit Hours: 29 (Semester); 41 (Quarter)

*Science courses must be intended/designated for “science majors.”

All Required Courses MUST: 

• Be taken at a regionally accredited US or Canadian college or university. NO exceptions. 
  • Courses completed while studying abroad can only be used if the courses were transferred to the student's US or Canadian institution and appear on that transcript with a grade. 
• Meet the minimum GPA requirement of a “C” (2.0 on a 4.0 scale) or better and must be recorded on the official transcript.

Outstanding/In-Progress Courses:

Applicants are allowed up to TWO outstanding or in-progress coursework requirements at the time of submission with a plan to complete them by August 1 prior to matriculation, and they MUST maintain the required minimum GPAs for the course, Overall, and Science.

• A plan for completion must be submitted in the Questions section of CASPA for otherwise qualified applications to proceed to Faculty Review. 
• Applicants should plan carefully because it is not always possible to complete coursework over the summer term and meet the August 1 deadline.
• Applicants must take two quarters or semesters of organic chemistry; however, this sequence counts as only one requirement. Thus, an applicant with one other outstanding course could apply with zero credits for organic chemistry and will be considered to have two outstanding requirements even though it is three courses.

Prerequisite Courses CANNOT: 

• Satisfy more than one requirement 
• Be fulfilled from: 
  • Advanced Placement (AP) 
  • International Baccalaureate (IB) 
  • College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) 
  • Military training 
  • Foreign degree coursework (outside the US or Canada) 
  • Coursework with pass/fail grading 
  • On-the-job training

Online vs In-Person:

• Prerequisite courses that require a lab (Anatomy & Physiology I, Anatomy & Physiology II, and Microbiology) MUST be taken in-person (NO online labs). 
• It is highly recommended that coursework is taken in person to best prepare for the rigors of the PA curriculum. Recognizing that option is not available to all, online coursework (except for prerequisites requiring a lab) will be accepted provided they are equivalent to courses taught in a traditional educational setting. 
• COVID pandemic exception: 
  • Prerequisite courses that have S, P/F, or C grades or required labs taught online between March 2020 and December 31, 2021, will be accepted if there is a clear notation on the official transcript regarding a COVID or Global Pandemic Provision. 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. 
  • If you took a lab-based course during the pandemic window but your transcript does not have the pandemic exception notated, we encourage you to reach out to the registrar’s office at your institution and request a letter documenting that the course was only offered online during this time period. You may upload that letter to the Documents section of CASPA.

Time Limits:

•  There is NO time limit on prerequisite coursework.  
• If your science coursework, in particular Anatomy and Physiology, is older than 5 years, we highly recommend retaking or refreshing prior to matriculation.

A minimum of 500 qualifying PCE hours must be completed by the application deadline with a clear plan to complete a minimum of 1,000 qualifying PCE hours by August 1 of the matriculation year.

• PCE hours are direct hand-on paid positions with an exception for work as an EMT or paramedic when emergency services are provided on a volunteer basis. 
• PCE is not synonymous with Health Care Experience (HCE) as HCE is not limited to direct hands-on responsibility by CASPA definition. Qualifying experiences should be entered as Patient Care Experience, or your application may be inadvertently removed from consideration. 
• Applicants are encouraged to be detailed in their description of PCE listed in CASPA. Additionally, a CV/Resume needs to be included with the CASPA application listing the relevant PCE. 
• There is no time limit on PCE. 
• A maximum of 5,000 hours will be scored.

The following are approved lists of PCE based on their scoring category, with the most weight given to higher quality, more weight to moderate quality, and the least weight to low quality:

High Quality

• Advanced EMT / AEMT 
• Anesthesiologist Assistant (AA) 
• Chiropractor 
• CT/MRI Technologist 
• Dentist 
• Foreign Medical Doctor 
• Military Medic / Corpsman 
• Occupational Therapist (OT) 
• Paramedic 
• Pharmacist 
• Physical Therapist (PT) 
• Psychologist 
• Radiology Technician 
• Registered Nutritionist/Dietician 
• Respiratory Therapist (RT) 
• Registered Nurse (RN/APRN) 
• Substance Dependency Counselor 
• Ultrasound Technician 
• Certified Lactation Consultant 
• Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) 
• Athletic Trainer

Moderate Quality

• Basic EMT 
• Certified Clinical Exercise Physiologist (CEP) 
• Dental Hygienist 
• ER/ED Tech 
• Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) 
• LVN/LPN 
• Medical Assistant (MA) 
• Medical Radiation Tech (x-ray) 
• Medical Research w/Human Subjects 
• Mental Health Assistant 
• Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) 
• Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA) 
• Scrub/Surgical Technician 
• Surgical First Assistant 
• Ophthalmic Technician 
• Interoperative Neuromonitor 
• Genetics Counselor 
• Acupuncturist 
• Clinical Scientist 
• Telemetry Tech 
• TMS Tech 
• Recreational Therapist 
• Ski Patrol 
• Medical Lab Specialist/Scientist 
• Speech Language Therapist 
• ICU Tech 
• Speech Language Pathologist Assistant (SLPA) 
• Optometric Technician 
• Dental Assistant

Low Quality

• Behavior Interventionist 
• Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) 
• ECG/EKG Technician 
• Home Health Aide 
• Medical Scribe 
• Nerve Conduction Technologist 
• Patient Care Technician 
• Pharmacy Technician 
• Phlebotomist 
• Perioperative Assistant 
• Perioperative Support Tech 
• Research Coordinator (low patient interaction) 
• Medical Massage 
• Physical Therapy Aide 
• 911 Diversion Specialist 
• Rehab Aide 
• Medical Lab Technician 
• Optician 
• Parent Consultant/Assistant Case Supervisor 
• Patient Access Coordinator

PCE not listed above or below must be approved by the NU School of PA Medicine program prior to submitting the application in CASPA to ensure the experience will qualify. If the experience is not prior-approved, the application risks not meeting the minimum requirements for admission.

Experiences that will NOT fulfill the PCE requirement include:

• Medical Billing
• Medical Records
• Transcriptionist
• Scheduler
• Receptionist
• Front Office Medical Assistant
• Caregiver/Caretaker
• Personal Care Attendant
• Intern/Externship
• Research for Academic Credit
• Clinical Student/Rotations
• Shadowing
• Bench Lab Work
• Non-Clinical Research/Data Collection
• Transporter
• Interpreter
• Veterinary Technician
• Non-patient care health related experience
• Volunteering

PCE not listed above must be approved by the NU School of PA Medicine program prior to submitting the application in CASPA to ensure the experience will qualify. If the experience is not prior-approved, the application risks not meeting the minimum requirements for admission.

Three letters of recommendation are required. Only three will be reviewed.  

• If you submit more than three, you must indicate which three you want reviewed in the Questions section of CASPA or only the first three will be reviewed.
• LORs must be submitted through the Evaluations section of the CASPA application before the application deadline.
• Your application can be verified with only two letters submitted, so it is up to the applicant to ensure that all three are submitted before the deadline. Applications do not move into the Evaluation stage until three LORs have been received. We recommend requesting letters early and following up with evaluators.
• Letters from friends and family will NOT be considered.
• Letters from supervisors and medical providers (e.g. PA, MD, DO, NP) who know you well are highly recommended.