Generally, Physician Assistants are integral members of the health care team in many hospitals and clinical practices. In fact, as the demand for healthcare services grows, physician assistants will be needed to provide care to patients. This is evident with the projection of the employment of PAs as reported by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. It states that the employment of physician assistants is projected to grow 31 percent from 2018 to 2028, much faster than the average for all occupations. So as the need for PAs continues to increase, more programs and schools are opening up across the country. However, as a student who wants to pursue a career as a physician assistant, you need to know PA school prerequisites to take and what healthcare experience you need in order to meet PA school requirements and improve your admissions odds. To help increase your chances of getting admitted, this article will explain these PA program requirements and how to get all prerequisites ready for a physician assistant degree. Here is a breakdown of what to expect: Before we look at these PA school requirements and program prerequisites in their entirety, it’s best you understand who a physician assistant is, what the do, and how to become one.
Who is a Physician Assistant?
A physician assistant is a medical professional who operates under a doctor’s supervision. Also known as PAs, they basically practice medicine on teams with physicians, surgeons, and other healthcare workers. Below are the roles of a PA as outlined by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics:
Taking or reviewing patients’ medical histories.Examining patients.Ordering and interpreting diagnostic tests, such as x rays or blood tests.Diagnosing a patient’s injury or illnessGiving treatment, such as setting broken bones and immunizing patientsEducating and counseling patients and their families—for example, answering questions about how to care for a child with asthmaPrescribing medicine.Assessing and recording a patient’s progress.Researching the latest treatments to ensure the quality of patient care.Conducting or participating in outreach programs, talking to groups about managing diseases, and promoting wellness.
How to Become a Physician Assistant – PA?
Typically to become a physician assistant, you need a master’s degree from an accredited educational program. And earning that degree usually takes at least 2 years of full-time postgraduate study. With this, physician assistant graduate school applicants typically have experience caring directly for patients. Furthermore, all states require physician assistants to be licensed. To become licensed, you must pass the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE) from the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). Basically, a physician assistant who passes the exam may use the credential “Physician Assistant-Certified (PA-C).” However, it is important to note that to keep their certification, physician assistants must complete 100 hours of continuing education every 2 years. The recertification exam is required every 10 years. Now you know what it takes to become a physician assistant, let’s look at the basic requirements to get into a PA school.
What Are The PA School Requirements?
Once you make up your mind to pursue a career in the PA profession, it is best you look into PA programs you want to apply to as early as your freshman year in college. This is because you’ll typically need to complete at least two years of college coursework in basic and behavioral sciences before applying to a PA program. This is quite similar to premedical studies. However, regardless of when you start your preparation for admission into a PA school, you must meet their minimum requirements to be considered for their interview. Although the specific requirements vary among PA schools and programs, they majorly fall into these categories:
How To Get All Prerequisites Ready For Physician Assistant Degree
Here, I will be giving you a breakdown of the above listed PA admission requirements and how to get all the prerequisites ready for your physician assistant degree program.
Degree Requirements For PA Schools
Basically, PA school applicants must complete a bachelor’s degree program in a related field from a US regionally accredited college or university. To determine if a college or university is regionally accredited, visit chea.org. A major in the health sciences will be preferred however, you can still possess an undergraduate degree in a general science field. It is also important to note that most physician assistant schools do not accept foreign degree equivalency evaluations. In other words, all coursework must be completed at a school that is accredited by one of the regional accrediting bodies.
GPA Requirements PA Schools
The GPA requirements differ among PA schools. While some PA programs don’t list minimum GPA requirements, others do. And of those that do, most use a 3.0 GPA as the minimum, although some will have lower or higher PA school requirements.
Generally during the application process, PA schools will look at your GPA in four ways:
So, it’s best you start calculating and tracking your GPA in these categories. Also, note that most schools’ PA program utilizes the GPA’s as calculated by CASPA.
Here is an interesting report on GPA requirements!
According to the 2019 Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) report, the average overall GPA of students who were accepted to PA school was 3.6. Also, accepted students had, on average, a 3.5 science GPA, 3.6 non-science GPA, and 3.5 BCP GPA.
These figures paint a more accurate picture of how competitive admission into the program can be.
However, these numbers are not also to scare you. Remember your GPA isn’t everything as there are other PA school requirements such as GRE scores, healthcare experience, and letters of recommendation.
So if you’re below the average GPA, don’t panic just ensure you meet the minimum GPA requirement of your school. You’ll definitely stand a chance to impress PA programs with the other aspects of your application.
GRE Requirements For PA Schools
Most PA schools require that applicants must meet the GRE requirement by submitting scores from the GRE General Test (verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing sections). Still from the PAEA report, over half of PA schools require the GRE. Although few schools offer you the choice of the GRE or the MCAT, none specifically require the MCAT. So, it would be in your best interest to take the GRE test—and do well. Also, GRE is a lenient aspect of your PA school application. The reason being that you can take the GRE up to five times within twelve months, and you only need to wait twenty-one days in between test attempts. Not to worry – your PA school won’t know that you took the GRE multiple times. This is because ETS allows you to only send the scores you want to chosen schools. Therefore, retaking the GRE to improve your score is in your best interest. Now, what is the required GRE score for PA schools? Note that just like other PA school requirements, GRE score varies among programs. From the earlier stated 2019 PAEA report, the average GRE score of accepted students was 306 —combined verbal reasoning and quantitative reasoning. On the other hand, the average analytical writing score was 4.1. Here is an advice to you as an intending student. Ensure you take the GRE well ahead of the PA school application deadlines. This will help you fit in a few re-takes to try to get your score above the average. Furthermore, consider investing in GRE prep resources to maximize your highest score.
Prerequisite Coursework For PA Programs
Just like the bachelor’s degree requirement, the prerequisite coursework of PA schools must be completed at a US regionally accredited College or University. Although the physician assistant prerequisite coursework varies among PA schools, the majority of PA programs have the following prerequisites: Also, most PA schools require you to take the following non-science prereqs: The above are the minimum PA school requirements held by the majority of programs. However, completing these courses alone will not only limit your options but also decrease your competitiveness as an applicant. Especially, knowing how competitive admission to the program can be. This being the case, it is advisable you take additional coursework to fulfill the stricter requirements of more selective PA schools. Although this will require a more rigorous undergraduate curriculum, the extra effort will increase your program options as well as your chances of getting accepted into a PA school.
Additional Prerequisite Coursework For PA Programs
Here are some additional coursework you can take in your undergrad:
PA School Healthcare Experience Requirements
Most PA schools require that students have some years of experience in a healthcare setting before entering a program. This is one of the most important and daunting(for applicants) PA school requirements. Reason being that a strong GPA and high GRE score won’t get you in the door of a competitive PA program if you don’t have any related healthcare experience. In fact, a lot of PA schools will designate a minimum number of healthcare hours required for applicants, and the designated amount varies widely. For instance, the University of Florida encourages applicants to complete one year (2000 hours) Direct Patient Care (DPC) experience before their intended matriculation (enrollment date) On the other hand, the University of Iowa, one of the top-ranked PA programs by U.S. News, requires 1,000 hours of direct patient care experience. That is to say, other schools require may 1,000 hours, 2,000 hours or even more. Regardless, some PA schools including the top-ranked ones, don’t require healthcare experience hours at all. Also, others will say hours are preferred, but not required. Determining the number of experience hours can get confusing. So, this and more make this PA school requirement daunting for applicants. The CASPA application categorizes professional experience in distinct ways, so we’ll explore them individually and look at the average hours earned in each category by accepted students ( as seen on the PAEA report).
Patient Care Experience
This basically covers experiences where you have responsibility for a patient’s care. It includes performing procedures, developing treatment plans, directing a patient’s treatment, etc. Typically, most students earn these hours while working as an EMT/paramedic, physical therapy aide, CNA, phlebotomist, dental hygienist, LVN, or RN. However, note that some programs may specify that only paid patient care experience will satisfy this PA school requirement. From the PAEA report, the average hours earned by accepted students: 3,020.
Healthcare Experience
This category covers both paid and unpaid work in a healthcare setting where you’re interacting with patients but not directly responsible for their care. Although used interchangeably with patient care, it is quite different. Patient care experience is any time you’re working hands-on with patients. Everything else can be counted as a healthcare experience. This includes cleaning patients, delivering food, taking vitals, administering medication, or working as a scribe. From the PAEA report, the average hours earned by accepted students: 1,024.
Shadowing
This covers experiences where you officially shadow a healthcare professional, preferably a physician assistant. From the PAEA report, the average hours earned by accepted students: 143.
Volunteering
This basically consists of volunteer work you complete in a non-healthcare setting like fundraising for charity, tutoring, building homes with Habitat for Humanity, etc. So here, if you’ve gone on a medical mission trip or something similar, you can include those hours as healthcare or patient care experience instead. From the PAEA report, the average hours earned by accepted students: 488.
Research
This is a major PA program requirement but it does look good on your application. It incudes your experience conducting scientific or medical research. There are no average hours here.
Leadership Experience
This covers any leadership roles you’ve held within an organization. This may not necessarily medical-related. Your leadership experience is basically an opportunity to show your preferred PA schools your potential to make an impact on others as a physician assistant. There are no average hours here.
Teaching Experience
This covers instances where you’ve been in charge of instructing others. It includes being a teaching assistant or tutor. There are no average hours here.Average hours not provided.
Letters of Recommendation
This is one of the major prerequisite for a physical assistant program. The number needed however vary among schools. For instance, the University of South Florida requires three letters of recommendation for their PA program. These letters should be from Physicians, Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, Research Mentors, Professors, Volunteer Coordinators/Supervisors who had direct interaction with the applicant and can attest to his/her qualities, strengthens and suitability for a career as a Physician Assistant. Furthermore, at least one letter of recommendation must be from an individual who supervised the applicant in a clinical setting. Also note that as an applicant, you must ensure that none of your letters come from a peer or family member. On the other hand, when you submit your PA school applications through CASPA, you’ll be asked to add three to five recommenders under the Evaluations section. The CASPA system will then email an evaluation request to each recommender directly. To make sure this PA school requirement is satisfied in a strong way, follow these guidelines:
Select your ideal recommenders
It will do you more good if these individuals have known you for a while in a professional capacity and have witnessed you interact with patients. The ideal choices are mostly professionals who actively practice medicine (a recommendation can also come from a science professor).
Ask your recommenders for permission to receive an evaluation request.
You also need to be considerate and give your recommenders plenty of time to prepare a thorough evaluation. Contact them ahead of time (maybe a month or two) before you plan to submit your PA school application. If they agree to write a recommendation for you, confirm the best email address to use and then inform them of the CASPA evaluation process.
Send recommenders information to prepare them
Before adding your recommenders to your CASPA application (which will require the evaluation request to be sent), email your recommenders an updated resume. In your resume make sure you include a list of the programs you’re applying to and any specific achievements you’d like to remind them of as they write your evaluation. Also bear in mind that they are quite busy, so, you show them gratitude by making their job as easy as possible with your email.
PA School Essay/Personal Statement Requirements
Your essay is a way of tooting your own horn and you will want to make every word count. Basically, the CASPA Personal Statement of at least 5,000-character is your chance to impress your application readers and secure yourself an interview. Regardless of the fact that there is no definite prompt, you’re expected to explain your motivation or desire to become a physician assistant. The PA school essay requirement is the best opportunity to share your unique story and communicate why you should be considered for the PA program.
Tips For Writing A PA School Essay/Personal Statement Requirements
Here some tips to help you while writing your PA school essay/personal statement:
Resources For Physician Assistants
Here are some resources for prospective physician assistants. They include associations you can join as a PA in the USA, PA accrediting and certification bodies. Do well to click on each of them to learn more about them. A physician assistant is a medical professional who operates under a doctor’s supervision. Also known as PAs, they basically practice medicine on teams with physicians, surgeons, and other healthcare workers. Typically to become a physician assistant, you need a master’s degree from an accredited educational program.Upon graduation, from an ARC-PA-accredited physician assistant master’s program, future PAs qualify to take the PANCE as well as earn licensure from their state to practice. The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) is an independent accrediting body authorized to accredit qualified PA educational programs leading to the professional credential, Physician Assistant (PA).
- A bachelor’s degree in a relevant area such as health science or nursing.2. A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.25 and a minimum 3.25 GPA in science-related courses.3. A minimum score of 300 on the GRE.
Conclusion
As one who wants to pursue a career in the PA profession, you must meet the requirements and prerequisites of physician assistant schools to get admitted into the school. From the bachelor’s degree requirements to the GPA, GRE scores, letter of recommendation, and so on. In fact, all PA school admission requirements must be met for you to get an invite to an interview. So as a prospective PA student, it’s of essence you start your preparation on time to be among the few persons who secure a spot in this highly competitive program. I hope this article on physical assistant prerequisites helps you in your decision making. Good Luck And Success!!!
