Pre-Physician Assistant Preparation at UH Mānoa
Compiled from the American Academy of Physician Assistants website,
NAAHP’s Health Professions Admissions guide, and UHM’s 2011-2012 Catalog.
Physician Assistant programs offered in Hawai'i: None
P.A. Programs
Prerequisites for Admission
What makes a strong candidate?
Entrance Exams
Researching Schools
The Application Process
Additional Information
Downloadable Brochure
Physician Assistants (P.A.s, also called R.P.A.s for Registered, or P.A.-C.s for Certified, or even R.P.A.-C.s) are licensed health professionals who practice medicine as members of a team under the supervision of a physician. P.A.s see many of the same types of patients as physicians and deliver a broad range of medical and surgical services. P.A.s conduct physical exams, diagnose and treat illnesses, order and interpret tests, counsel patients on preventive care, assist in surgery, and (in all states except Indiana) prescribe medication.
The scope of a P.A.’s practice is determined by training, experience, state law, and the supervising physician’s practice. Basically, P.A.s work wherever physicians work, whether in family practice, surgery, a specialty area, or research. A P.A.’s duties and autonomy depend upon the P.A.’s clinical experience and his/her relationship with the supervising physician.
Although P.A.s work under supervision, the supervision can be remote, which means the physician is not necessarily present. P.A.s may be the principal health care providers in rural or inner city clinics, where the physician is present for limited times or only for consultation via telephone or other media. P.A.s may also make house calls, check on patients at nursing care facilities, and conduct hospital rounds on their own.
The P.A. profession began in the 1960s and remains one of the fastest growing occupations. Like physicians, P.A.s serve in all types of communities, from rural to urban, and in a wide variety of settings, from private practice to clinics and hospitals. P.A.s also work in specialized settings such as nursing homes, health maintenance organizations (H.M.O.s), and the armed forces.
Related careers include nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and physicians.
P.A. Programs
Becoming a Master of Science Physician Assistant (M.S.P.A.) requires 4 to 6 ¼ years of education:
Undergraduate course work (~2 to 4 years);
Physician Assistant program (~2 to 2 ¼ years).
Although some of the more than 130 accredited P.A. programs will accept students with only two years of college credits, completing a Bachelor degree is generally expected, strengthens an application, and is highly recommended.
The first year of P.A. programs usually consists of courses in basic medical sciences: anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, biochemistry, microbiology, medical diagnosis, and disease prevention. The second year usually consists of rotations through a variety of specialties geared toward primary care, including obstetrics and gynecology, surgery, orthopedics, emergency medicine, psychiatry, pediatrics, and geriatrics, among others.
Graduation from a program accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education of the Physician Assistant (ARC-P.A.) qualifies P.A.s to sit for the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE) by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) in cooperation with the National Board of Medical Examiners. All PAs must be licensed to practice!
Prerequisites for Admission
More importantly, remember that prerequisite requirements vary from school to school! You must research to create a list of all the prerequisites you will need to apply to the P.A. programs you are interested in attending.
The following UHM courses are commonly required for admission to P.A. programs:
BIOL 171/171Lab and 172/172Lab |
Introductory Biology I and II |
CHEM 161/161Lab and 162/162Lab |
Chemistry (2 semesters) |
MICR 130 and 140 |
Microbiology (1 semester) |
PHYL 141/141Lab and 142/142Lab |
Human Anatomy and Physiology (2 semesters) |
PSYor SOCS 225 |
Statistics (1 semester) |
English 100 and 2XX |
English (2 semesters) |
MATH 140 |
College Math |
Additional requirements may include upper division microbiology and physiology*, computer science (ICS 101); medical terminology (HLTH 110 and 125 at KCC); and physics (PHYS 151/151Lab and 152/152Lab).
Most programs also require substantial health care experience: 6-12 months of full-time, clinical, “hands on,” direct patient care (1000-2000 hours). Consequently, the majority of applicants to P.A. programs come from those already in health care (see examples below).
What makes a strong candidate?
P.A. admissions committees are looking for students who have:
- completed the prerequisites;
- a high overall GPA;
- a high science/math GPA;
- performed well on the GRE or MCAT;
- strong letters of recommendation;
- life experience and maturity; and
- considerable health care experience.
Experience can be divided into two categories:
- Direct patient contact (as a phlebotomist, nurse aide, certified nursing assistant, physical therapy assistant, pharmacy assistant, medical assistant, emergency medical technician, x-ray technician, military corpsman, etc.)
- Health care related experience (as a lifeguard, ski patrol personnel, first aid personnel, laboratory or research staff, etc.)
Successful applicants log their health care experience in terms of months or years, not hours.
Entrance Exams
All accredited P.A. programs require applicants to take either the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). The GRE and MCAT differ significantly; be sure to check which test you need!
GRE Overview: The GRE is administered year-round, appointments are scheduled on a first-come, first-serve basis, and is available only in computer-based format. The test requires just under 4 hours to complete and assesses your skills in Verbal Reasoning, Analytical Writing, and Quantitative Reasoning.
GRE Scoring: Scores for the Verbal and Quantitative sections each yield a scaled score of 130 to 170, in 1-point increments. The Analytical Writing section is scored on a scale of 0 to 6 in half-point increments.
MCAT Overview: The MCAT assesses your knowledge and skills in Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences, Verbal Reasoning, and Writing. The test requires ~5 hours to complete, and entails ~144 multiple choice questions plus two 30-minute essays. The MCAT is administered in a computer-based format, and is offered twenty times each year.
MCAT Scoring: Writing samples are scored by letter grades ranging from J to T, with T being the highest; the other three sections are each scored 1-15, for a possible total of 45.
Preparation: Your most important preparations for both the GRE and the MCAT are your undergraduate courses, not only the prerequisites for P.A. programs, but all of your courses, many of which sharpen your writing and verbal reasoning skills. Remember that your verbal reasoning (MCAT) and Analytical Writing (GRE) scores are not only the most accurate predictor of how well you will do in the P.A. program, but also the most difficult score to improve.
Click Here for the GRE Breakdown
Click Here for the MCAT Breakdown
Researching Schools
There are now over 130+ public and private P.A. programs in the U.S., each one unique in its mission, philosophy, criteria, and strengths.
Although there are resources that “rank” schools (The Gourman Report, U.S. News & World Report, The Princeton Review, etc.), the rankings are rarely pertinent for individual applicant or specific programs. More important is whether there is a good match between applicant and school.
To find schools that are good a fit for you (PAC peer advisors can help with this process):
- Assess your individual strengths and weaknesses, your professional interests, learning style, and personality;
- Start with a list of all schools you would consider attending, which usually includes all 130+ schools;
- Using the P.A. Program Directory (please see the “additional information” section at the end), create your “Long List” by omitting the schools that do not match your professional interests, learning style, and personality (PAC offers a list of 7 factors to consider, found here: Choosing a School Handout);
- Once you have your MCAT or GRE scores, create your “Short List” by categorizing the schools into ‘Reach’, ‘Match’, and ‘Safety’, ranking the schools by preference, and finally choosing how many schools to apply to.
If possible, visit the schools to see their facilities, talk to Admissions Directors, and chat with students.
The Application Process
The application cycle begins in early summer each year, and you should plan on applying in the summer before your senior year, one full year before you plan to enter a P.A. program. The application cycle usually closes at the end of March.
There are generally three steps in applying to most P.A. programs: the primary application, the secondary application, and the interview.
1. Primary applications must be filed with the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA). Once your application is complete, CASPA forwards it to whichever schools you have designated.
2. Secondary applications are specific to individual P.A. programs and are sent to applicants after schools receive the CASPA application. Some but not all schools screen applicants before requesting secondary applications. Secondary applications commonly request additional information, essays, and letters of recommendation.
3. Interviews: After reviewing applicants’ primary and secondary applications, P.A. programs invite promising applicants to interview. Applicants are responsible for all costs of interviewing, including airfare, lodging, professional attire, and meals.
Note: A majority of P.A. programs participate in CASPA, but to apply to those that don’t, contact the schools directly to request their individual applications. For their schools, the application process consists of only steps 2 and 3.
CASPA’s Admissions Code of Cooperation: Although the application process varies from school to school, CASPA has established “traffic rules” to ensure fairness for all concerned. The rules, available at www.paeaonline.org/index.php?ht=a/GetDocument Action/i/3534, stipulate both schools’ and applicants’ rights and responsibilities in the application process. Before applying, all applicants should be familiar with these.
Tips:
- The more you know about a school, the better your chances of being accepted.
- Most application questions can be answered by reading the P.A. Programs Directory.
- Contact individual schools’ Admissions Offices to find out how they handle:
- Advanced Placement (AP) credits
- International Baccalaureate (IB) credits
- College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) credits
- Military credits
- courses taken at a community college
- non-U.S. coursework
- courses taken for credit/no credit instead of a grade
- residency issues
- time limits on prerequisite science courses
Additional Information
UH Mānoa’s Pre-Health/Pre-Law Advising Center (PAC) has reference books, lists of volunteer opportunities, academic planning worksheets, and one-on-one advising by peers who can help you prepare for and apply to P.A. programs.
| UHM's Pre-Medical Association (PMA) | www.hawaii.edu/premed premed@hawaii.edu |
| Physician Assistant Education Association (Linked to the P.A. Programs Directory) |
www.paeaonline.org |
| American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) | www.aapa.org |
| Association of Physician Assistant Programs (APAP) | www.apap.org |
| Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA) | https://portal.caspaonline.org/ |
| Graduate Record Examimation (GRE) | www.gre.org |
| Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) | https://www.amc.org/students/applying/mcat/ |
Physician Assistants in American Medicine |
available in PAC |