Physician Assistant
Physician Assistants are licensed medical care providers who evaluate, diagnose and treat patients with physician supervision. Like physicians, PAs can prescribe medication, perform procedures, assist in surgeries, educate their patients, interpret laboratory tests, and conduct research. While PA education is primary care focused, PAs can practice medicine in a variety of specialty areas including general and subspecialty surgery.
Graduate programs for PA training are typically 26 to 27 months long, including clinical rotations, and most lead to a master’s degree. Nationally there are 159 accredited programs. Read More.
ACADEMIC PREPARATION
Pre-requisites vary from program to program, so students are strongly advised to review school-specific requirements to inform their planning.
The most common required coursework includes:
| SUBJECT AREA | UVM COURSES |
|---|---|
Biology |
BIOL 1 & 2 OR |
General Chemistry |
CHEM 31 & 32 |
Anatomy & Physiology |
ANPS 19 & 20 |
| Microbiology | MMG 101 |
| English | Choose a writing/composition course |
Additional required or recommended courses may include:
| SUBJECT AREA | UVM COURSES |
|---|---|
Calculus |
MATH 19, 20 or 21, 22 |
Statistics |
STAT 111 or 141 |
Organic Chemistry |
CHEM 141, 142 |
| Biochemistry | BIOC 212 |
| Psychology | PSYCH 1 at minimum |
GET REQUIRED EXPERIENCE
Given the relatively short training period for PAs, schools expect that candidates have already gained direct patient care experience prior to enrollment, ideally through full-time employment. Students are encouraged to plan working for one or two years after graduation before applying to PA programs. While programs specify requirements of 500 to 2000 clinical hours, the average number of clinical hours of a competitive PA applicant is about 3600. Some employment options that provide direct patient care experience include: medical assistant, orderly, licensed nurse assistant, and home health aide.
APPLICATION PROCESS & TIMING
Application procedures, requirements and deadlines can vary from program to program, so be sure to check school-specific policies. Some schools require an entrance exam, most commonly the GRE. Plan to take the exam by May in the year of application.
139 of the 160 programs subscribe to the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA). A complete listing of participating programs can be found on the CASPA Website.
CASPA allows for three letters of recommendation. While schools may vary in their requirements, candidates should generally plan on providing two academic letters, and one clinical letter that can speak to their potential as a health care provider.
Candidates can begin working on their application by mid-April, and CASPA begins forwarding applications to the schools in early June. Plan to apply early in the cycle, and no later than four weeks prior to your earliest deadline.
Check out the CASPA Facebook Page for application cycle information and related questions.
FINANCIAL AID
Last modified April 02 2013 02:40 PM