Physician AssistantFour Year Pre-requisite Plan
Physician Assistant Four Year Plan
Requirements for Physician Assistant programs vary from school to school and can change year by year, students must carefully examine the pre-requisite requirements of the schools they are interested in to be current and accurate when registering for courses at Gustavus.
Consult the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA) website for requirements and admission statistics to the 190+ U.S. Physician Assistant Schools for the most accurate information, Physician Assistant Programs
Full list of PA programs with requirements (healthcare experience hours, standardized exams, prerequisite coursework, GPA, etc.)
Also, PA School Finder offers and additional PA program directory
First Year: Fall
BIO 110 Principles of Biology & BIO 111 Lab
*CHE 110 General Chemistry & CHE 111 General Chemistry Lab OR CHE 105 Foundations of Chemistry I & CHE 106 Foundations of Chemistry I Lab
*Before you can register for CHE 110, you are required to take the Chemistry placement exam. (CHE 105/106 offered Fall only and CHE 107/108 offered Spring only) taking both are equivalent to CHE 110. Find out more about the CHE placement exam, click here.
FTS 100 First Term Seminar (Writing Intensive course- WRIT)
PSY 100 Introductory Psychology (or Spring)
First Year: Spring
BIO 120 Organismal Biology & BIO 121 Lab
CHE 120 Organic Chemistry I & CHE 121 Organic Chemistry I Lab (offered Fall and Spring)
*CHE 107 Foundations of Chemistry II & CHE 108 Foundations of Chemistry II Lab *(CHE 105/106 offered Fall only and CHE 107/108 offered Spring only) taking both are equivalent to CHE 110)
HES 212 Lifespan Development
Second Year: Fall
CHE 220 Organic Chemistry II & CHE 221 Organic Chemistry II Lab (offered Fall only) * this course is a prerequisite course for CHE 270 Biochemistry, common PA prerequisite course requirement
**BIO 250 Cell and Molecular ** required as a prerequisite to genetics, if PA program requires BIO 374 Genetics
Second Year: Spring
CHE 230 Inorganic Chemistry I & CHE 231 Inorganic Chemistry I Lab (offered Spring only) Recommended for PA, and if considering MD/DO required at most programs.
**BIO 260 Evolution, Ecology, & Behavior ,** required as a prerequisite to genetics, if PA program requires BIO 374 Genetics
Third Year: Fall
HES 230 Human Anatomy & Physiology I & HES 231 Human Anatomy & Physiology I Lab (offered Fall only)
CHE 270 Biochemistry & CHE 271 Biochemistry Lab (offered Fall or Spring) *prerequisite CHE 220 Organic Chemistry II
HES 214 Medical Terminology (.25 credit course, Fall or Spring semesters) (or during fourth year)
Third Year: Spring
HES 240 Anatomy & Physiology II & HES 241 Anatomy & Physiology II Lab (offered Spring only)
BIO 218 Fundamentals of Microbiology and BIO 219 Lab OR if biology major, BIO 360 Microbiology & Lab; recommended. BIO 250 and BIO 260 required if planning to take BIO 360 Microbiology)
MCS 142 Introduction to Statistics or equivalent (Fall or Spring semesters)
Fourth Year: Fall
HES 214 Medical Terminology (.25 credit course, Fall and Spring semesters) (or during third year)
PSY 241 Abnormal Psychology (prerequisite PSY-100, Offered annually)
BIO 374 Genetics (Fall semester)
Fourth Year: Spring
Elective Psychology course (Des Moines)
Elective 300 level BIO course requirement (University of Colorado)
Regional PA Pre-requisites recommendations:
Augsburg 3.0 GPA requirement for cumulative and science, recommend 2,000 hours of paid, direct, hands-on clinical patient care. GRE not required, pre-requisites can be in progress at time of application. Strongly recommend a ‘B’ or better in prerequisite courses to be successful in the PA coursework. AP credit not accepted for prerequisite requirements. 3 letters of reccomendation are required to be submitted through CASPA. 1 letter must be from soneone whom you have worked with in a health care setting.
Bethel 3.25 GPA requirement for cumulative and science. 500 direct patient care hours, GRE not required, 5 of 8 pre-requisites completed at time of application. Prerequisite courses required a B- or higher. Note: If you took any courses for Pass/Fail between January 2020 and May 2021, additional documentation may be required. BIO 374 Genetics required.
Des Moines University 2.8 GPA requirement for cumulative and science. 750 direct patient care hours required. GRE is not required, majority of chemistry and biology course completed at time of application, grade of C or higher required in pre-requisite courses. Shadowing a physician assistant is required. AP credit and P/F will not be accepted for prerequisite courses. 3 psychology courses required, 1 of the 3 needs to be PSY 241 Abnormal Psychology. BIO 374 Genetics required.
St. Scholastica 3.0 GPA requirement for cumulative and prerequisite courses, 750 direct patient care hours, GRE is no longer required- scores above national average preferred, grade of C or higher required in prerequisite courses. See website for P/F acceptance.
St. Catherine University 3.2 GPA cumulative. A minimum requirement of 2,000 hours of experience in a health, wellness or patient care setting prior to application. Official scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) not required. her required in pre-requisite courses, 3 courses can be in progress at time of application.
University of South Dakota 3.0 GPA, 500 direct patient care hours required at time of application submission, GRE not required, C or higher required in prerequisite courses. PSY 241 Abnormal Psychology required.
University of Colorado 3.0 GPA requirement for cumulative and prerequisite courses, does not require a set number of patient care hours, GRE not required, C or higher required in prerequisite courses, AP credit not accepted for prerequisite requirements. BIO 374 Genetics required. An additional elective 300 level BIO course requirement.
***As of Aug. 2024 there are approx. 7 PA programs requiring that applicants take the newly-developed Physician Assistant College Admission Test (PA-CAT), for additional information: PA-CAT Physician Assistant College Admissions Test
Highly recommend that you consult the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA) Physician Assistant Programs.
Full list of PA programs with requirements (healthcare experience hours, standardized exams, prerequisite coursework, GPA, etc.)
Also, PA School Finder offers and additional PA program directory
Updated 8/20/2024 HS