Health Science Career Resources
Academic preparation for Physician Assistant
REQUIRED PREREQUISITES
| DEGREE AWARDED IN THIS FIELD: |
Certificate of Completion, Associate, Bachelor and Master
degrees |
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| Biology | 20A, 20B, 20C, 20L (With lab 1 year) |
119/L Microbiology |
130/L Human Physiology, 135/L Human Anatomy | |
| Chemistry | General Chemistry (2 quarters) |
Organic chemistry (2 quarters) |
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| Math | Calculus preferred |
Statistics | ||
| English | ENG 1A composition | LIT 1 | ||
| Pyschology | ||||
| Humanities | Art, music, philosophy, religion, or foreign language (1 year) | Intro to Sociology or Intro to Cultural Anthropology | ||
| Direct Patient Care | A minimum of 3,000 hours of direct patient-care experience must be completed by the application deadline.* |
* Examples of accepted clinical direct patient care--care contact including, but not limited to: medical assistant (back office), military medic/corpsman, nurse (LVN or RN), paramedic/EMT (waiting and transportation time not counted), radiology therapist, and respiratory therapist.
* Examples of clinical experiences not acceptable would consist mainly of, but not be limited to: administrative duties, message theraphy, home care, shadowing a doctor etc.
The courses listed above are minimum preparation. Please note that some of these courses, especially the sciences, may have other prerequisites such as mathematics.
SUGGESTED ADDITIONAL PREPARATION
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
BIOCHEMISTRY
PHYSICS
Courses that contribute to professional and cultural background.
For general information, check http://www.aapa.org
For specific requirements, check each school (catalog or web site).
REMEMBER: YOU WILL BE APPLYING TO SCHOOLS APPROXIMATELY 8 TO 12 MONTHS BEFORE MATRICULATION. PLAN ACCORDINGLY.
