This option is designed for those students with a completed bachelor's degree or near completion of a degree that will be finished prior to admission.
Application criteria
- Individuals must submit an application to the Philadelphia University Physician Assistant Studies Program through the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants by October 1 of the year prior to desired matriculation.
- Applicants must have or be near the completion of a bachelor’s degree that will be completed in entirety prior to matriculating.
- Applicants must have 200 hours of documented patient contact experience in a paid or volunteer capacity prior to applying to the program.
- Applicants must submit three (3) letters of reference preferably from health care providers, supervisors and professors who truly know you.
- Applicants must have a CASPA calculated cumulative GPA and science GPA of 3.25.
- Applicants must have completed all prerequisite courses within the last 7 years with a grade of C or better or have a definitive plan for completion of prerequisite courses prior to beginning the program. If courses are older than 7 years a waiver may be requested.
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Applicants completing their coursework at a foreign institution must submit their transcripts through an approved service for evaluation to CASPA.
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Applicants must successfully complete an interview and be offered a seat in the program.
Required prerequisite courses include:
| Chemistry I with Lab | 4 credits |
| Chemistry II with Lab | 4 credits |
| Biology I with lab | 4 credits |
| Biology II with lab | 4 credits |
| Anatomy and Physiology I | 4 credits |
| Anatomy and Physiology II | 4 credits |
| Microbiology | 4 credits |
| College Writing | 3 credits |
| Statistics or Mathematics | 3 credits |
| Introduction to Psychology | 3 credits |
| Medical Terminology | 1 credit |
Recommended courses include:
- Abnormal and Developmental Psychology
- Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Genetics
International students must submit an official transcript evaluation from World Education Services (WES) directly to CASPA. For more information on WES, please visit www.wes.org
International Students applying for admission to Graduate programs must fulfill one of the following.
TOEFL
- Internet-based 79
- Computer based 213
- Paper based 550
IELTS requirements for admission are as follows:
- 6.5 overall band score
Those international students who are taking ELS courses will need to complete level 112.
Advanced Standing
It is unusual for the Physician Assistant Program to grant advanced standing. All Professional Phase courses must be satisfactorily completed as described in the Progression Criteria. The Program will evaluate students with previous courses from another accredited PA or medical program on an individual basis. Students requesting advanced placement credit would be required to submit course descriptions and syllabi to the Program. On rare occasions students may be able to take course examinations and other assignments in lieu of taking the entire course. The Program does not give advanced standing for any component of the clinical phase.
Advanced Placement and CLEP Credit
AP examination credit can be utilized to fulfill undergraduate prerequisite coursework only if the credit is documented on the college transcript of the granting institution. CLEP credit is acceptable only for non-science prerequisite coursework.
