REQUIREMENTS & RECOMMENDATIONS
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Degree Requirements
Applicants must be awarded a bachelor's degree (or higher) from a regionally accredited U.S. institution of higher education prior to enrollment.
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GPA Requirements
A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 and a science GPA of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) are required.
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Prerequisite Coursework
Required Courses (required grade of B- or higher)
- Human Anatomy with lab (4)
- Human Physiology with lab (4)
- Microbiology with lab (4)
- General Chemistry I & II with lab (8)
- Psychology (3)
- Statistics (2)
- Medical Terminology (1)
Recommended Courses (required grade of C or higher)
- Pharmacology
- Organic Chemistry
- Biochemistry
- Technical Writing
- Pathophysiology
- Spanish
- Immunology
- Genetics
Click here for WSU Course EquivalentsThe PA Program reserves the right to change its prerequisites following closure of our admissions cycle on July 15th.
For information about WSU course equivalencies, please see the following resources:
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Terms & Conditions for Prerequisites
Coursework Completion
All prerequisite coursework must be completed at a regionally accredited U.S. institution of higher learning prior to application to the program.
Expiration of Prerequisite Courses
Students with prerequisite coursework taken more than seven years prior to the application deadline are required to take the PA-CAT (Physician Assistant College Admission Test). Additional information about the PA-CAT and reporting your scores is provided below.
Transcripts
Prerequisite coursework must be verifiable through official transcripts. Due to the number of applications received, we are unable to review transcript content for prospective applicants. All course requirements and prerequisites are published on this website.
Pass/Fail, Online Courses
Prerequisite courses must be taken for a letter grade. Online prerequisite science courses are not accepted.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, courses taken in the years 2020 and 2021 as pass/fail or online will be considered by the Admissions Committee on a case-by-case basis.
Substitutions
Students granted admission must fulfill all application requirements; no substitutions for prerequisite coursework will be accepted, including but not limited to the following: advanced placement, international baccalaureate (IB) courses, credit for experiential learning, courses completed as part of a professional degree, and/or college-level examination program (CLEP) test.
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Clinical Healthcare Experience
A minimum of 500 hours of clinical healthcare experience must be accrued at the time of application and recorded as part of the official CASPA application. Experiences in inpatient settings and/or those in positions requiring autonomous, high-level, medical decision-making (as listed below) are scored highest. Hours obtained observing or shadowing, or as part of an educational program will not be counted towards the 500 hours.
Healthcare hours and clinical experience are subject to verification, and the program reserves the right to contact supervisors to confirm reported hours.
Examples of acceptable clinical healthcare experience include, but are not limited to:
Limited-Level
- Phlebotomist
- PT Assistant
- Laboratory Technician
- Pharmacy Tech
- Medical Interpreter
- Research Assistant
- EKG Tech
- Psych Tech
- ED Tech
- Medical Scribe
Moderate-Level
- CNA or CMA
- Dental Hygienist
- Licensed Clinical Social Worker
- Speech Language Pathologist
- EMT
- LPN
- Radiology Tech
- Occupational Therapist
- Ultrasonographer
- Med Tech
- Exercise Physiologist
High-Level
- Paramedic
- RN
- Respiratory Therapist
- International Medical Graduate
- Medic/Corpsman
- Pharmacist
- Athletic Trainer
- Dietician
- Perfusionist
- Midwife
- Physical Therapist
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PA-CAT
To ensure students matriculate into the program with equivalent academic preparation, students whose coursework is older than seven years must either retake prerequisite courses or score, at minimum, in the 3rd quintile on the PA-CAT to demonstrate readiness for the curriculum.
- To learn more about how and where to take the exam, go to the Exam Master PA-CAT website.
- PA-CAT scores are good for two years.
- To report scores, select Weber State University PA Program in your Candidate Score Portal.
- Applicants must complete the PA-CAT by the end of June in order for scores to be reported by the program's application deadline of July 15th.
- Scheduling the PA-CAT exam may take up to three weeks; please plan accordingly.
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The Admissions Committee considers both composite and quintile scores when evaluating performance.