Prerequisites to Admission

For consideration for Admission to the PA Program candidates must successfully complete the following courses and other requirements of the Graduate School AND of the PA Program.

Requirements:

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• A bachelor or higher degree from a regionally accredited college or university.
• Overall grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher is preferred.
• Satisfactory test scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). (The code is 5392)
• Official transcripts from all colleges or universities attended.

Additional Prerequisite Requirements:

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• These program prerequisites must be accomplished prior to beginning the PA curriculum in August, not prior to applying for admission to the program, by the 1st of October.
• Successfully complete the following prerequisite course work at the "C", 2.0 level or better, prior to beginning the PA curriculum.

Within the last seven years:

• Human or mammalian physiology – a one semester course
• Human or mammalian anatomy – a one semester course

• Anatomy must include hands on, not virtual laboratory work, either as a component of the anatomy course, or as a
• separate laboratory course.
• Biochemistry – a one semester course (Organic chemistry and courses combining general or organic chemistry with biochemistry in a single course do not meet this requirement.)
• Genetics – a one semester course
• Microbiology – a one semester course

Within any number of years:

• Medical Terminology

These time periods are to assure some degree of current information in these fields. We realize that some students will have earned an academic degree within the last seven years for which these specific courses may have been taken earlier. If the degree date is within the seven year time period, the timing of the prerequisite coursework will be acceptable. Likewise, by their very nature some working positions require people to maintain an adequate degree of current information in these basic sciences. Candidates employed in such positions should apply and include an explanation to assure the admissions committee how they have maintained a degree of current information in these fields.   The committee will decide whether or not to accept the explanation as sufficient to meet the prerequisites.

A minimum of 1,000 hours of direct patient contact health care experience is required. These hours may come from one experience or a combination of experiences and may be voluntary or paid work. Experiences having higher levels of training and responsibility are more desirable. Examples of health care professions that require direct patient contact include nurse, EMT or paramedic, corpsman, patient care technician, nurse's aide, surgical assistant, clinic/medical assistant, respiratory technologist, radiology technologist, medical technologist, mental health worker, and clinical research assistant. Other professions and experiences not listed may also qualify as direct patient care.

Healthcare related professions that generally do not include hands-on patient contact include transporter, CPR or ACLS instructor, lifeguard, non-clinical research assistant, candy striper, unit clerk, and others. Although desirable for other reasons, PA shadowing and student/intern experience does not count toward the required 1,000 hours of patient care experience. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding your healthcare experience.

Many communications between students and the program are carried out through email. Course assignments and testing are frequently done via computer systems. Students are expected to possess basic computer skills – word processing, emailing, utilizing the internet. Students will need the computer hardware to access the internet and email during the clinical year. During the classroom component of the program they may use either their own computer or a university computer laboratory.

Candidates may meet the anatomy and physiology prerequisites by taking a semester course in each topic or by taking the entire sequence of combined anatomy & physiology courses at a single college.  The combined courses must cover all of the body systems and regions and must include a laboratory component in anatomy.

*Candidates whose prior education is through international schools, please consult the “International Student Applications” section of the Graduate School Catalog for additional features of the application process.  The Graduate School Catalog is accessible through the Graduate School website (www.jmu.edu/grad).