Master of Physician Assistant Studies

The Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPA) program emphasizes primary care medicine, particularly family medicine. It also offers elective clinical rotations in selected medical subspecialties. Students who complete the program are eligible to take the National Certifying Examination for Primary Care Physician Assistants, which they must complete successfully in order to register as physician assistants in the United States.

Applicants must:

be citizens or permanent residents of the United States,
hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution in the United States (the degree does not have to be completed at the time of admission, but must be conferred prior to the start of the program)1,
have a minimum cumulative g.p.a. of 3.00 on a 4.00 scale,
have a minimum overall science g.p.a. of 3.20 on a 4.00 scale or a science g.p.a. of at least 3.20 on a 4.00 scale on the most recent 40 s.h. of college-level, science-based coursework (science courses are subject to department approval),
have completed the prerequisite courses no more than 10 years before they apply and all courses must be taken for letter grades (see Prerequisite Science Courses below),
have taken the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test no more than 10 years before they apply (must score at the 25th percentile or higher in each of the individual sectionsquantitative, verbal, and analytical) or the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) no more than 10 years before they apply (no minimum MCAT score is required at this time),
have completed a minimum of 1,000 hours of direct patient health care experience by December 31 of the application year (hours subject to departmental approval and applicants can be awarded between 0-100 percent of hours completed),
submit three letters of recommendation (one must be from a collegiate academic reference and one must be from a health care supervisor (shadowing experience does not count, but may be used for the third recommendation letter),
meet the admission requirements of the Graduate College (see the Manual of Rules and Regulations on the Graduate College website),
have taken the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) if English is not their native language (only the internet-based test is accepted and applicants must have a total score of at least 93 with a speaking score of at least 26) or have an acceptable score on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or the Duolingo English Test (DET)2, and