Physician Assistant

UCSB Physician Assistant School Preparation Chart Click Here

SO YOU WANT TO BE A PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT?

A physician assistant is a graduate of an accredited PA educational program who is authorized by the state to practice medicine with the supervision of a licensed physician. PAs are invaluable members of the healthcare team and work in concert with physicians to ensure the highest quality of care for patients. The following is a brief guide to the University of Dubuque's Master in Physician Assistant Studies program requirements.

PREREQUISITES:  THESE ARE GENERAL PREREQUISITE COURSES THAT MANY PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT SCHOOLS REQUIRE FOR ADMISSION; HOWEVER, COURSE REQUIREMENTS OFTEN VARY FROM ONE SCHOOL TO THE NEXT.  ADDITIONALLY, THERE ARE SEVERAL OTHER COURSES THAT ARE NOT REQUIRED BY SOME PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT SCHOOLS BUT ARE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.  WE ENCOURAGE ALL STUDENTS TO VISIT THE WEBSITES OF THE PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS YOU PLAN TO APPLY TO IN ORDER TO FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH EACH SCHOOL'S ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS AND PROCESS.  IF YOU ARE STILL UNSURE WHETHER COURSES YOU'VE TAKEN WILL SATISFY A PARTICULAR SCHOOL'S REQUIREMENTS, PLEASE REACH OUT DIRECTLY TO THE SCHOOL.

Chemistry (Full Year/3 Quarters)

CHEM 1A (3 units) and CHEM 1AL (2 units): General Chem. And Gen. Chem. Lab

CHEM 1B (3 units) and CHEM 1BL (2 units): General Chem. And Gen. Chem. Lab

CHEM 1C (3 units) and CHEM 1CL (2 units): General Chem. And Gen. Chem. Lab

Biological Sciences (Full Year/3 Quarters)

MCDB 1A (4 units): Intro. To Biology I

MCDB 1B (3 units): Intro. To Biology II--Physiology

MCDB 1LL (1.5 units): Intro. To Biology I Lab

EEMB 2 (2 units): Intro. To Biology II—Ecology and Evolution

EEMB 3 (3 units): Intro. To Biology III

EEMB 2LL (1.5 units): Intro. To Biology Lab II

Organic Chemistry (Full Year/3 Quarters)

CHEM 109A (4 units): Organic Chemistry

CHEM 109B (4 units): Organic Chemistry

CHEM 109C (4 units): Organic Chemistry

CHEM 6AL (3 units): Organic Chemistry Lab (Chemistry 109A with a minimum grade of a C-; and Chemistry 109B (may be taken concurrently))

CHEM 6BL (3 units): Organic Chemistry Lab (Chemistry 6AL and 109A with a minimum grade of C-; and Chemistry 109B)

Note: Completing Organic Chemistry is necessary in order to meet prerequisites for Microbiology, if planning to take Microbiology at UCSB.  However, some PA programs may accept a combination of Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry to satisfy part of their Chemistry requirements.  Be sure to check individual program requirements.)

Microbiology (1 Quarter)

MCDB 131/131L (MCDB 101A and either Chemistry 109A-B-C or Chemistry 109A-B and MCDB 110 are prerequisites for MCDB 131.)  Alternatively, students may choose to take Microbiology (BMS 157) at SBCC or another community college, but some programs may prefer prerequisites to be completed at a four-year institution.

Genetics (1 Quarter)

MCDB 101A  (MCDB 1A-B, EEMB 2, CHEM 1A-B-C, all with grade of C or better are prerequisites.) Alternatively, students could take Genetics (no approved SBCC course) at a city college, although some programs may prefer prerequisites to be taken at a four-year institution.

Human Anatomy & Human Physiology w/ lab (3 quarters/2 semesters)

*You will need to take these courses outside of UCSB as UCSB does not offer them with labs.  Students living in the Santa Barbara/Goleta area often choose to take these courses at SBCC (BMS 107 Human Anatomy, BMS 108 Human Physiology).  For information on how to register for these courses, please contact the school's admissions office.

Physics (Full Year/3 Quarters)

PHYSICS 6A (3 units) and PHYSICS 6AL (1 units): Introductory Physics w/Lab

PHYSICS 6B (3 units) and PHYSICS 6BL (1 units): Introductory Physics w/Lab

PHYSICS 6C (3 units) and PHYSICS 6CL (1 units): Introductory Physics w/Lab

Note: Students who complete the PHYSICS 1 series will need to take PHYSICS 1-2-3-4-5 and PHYSICS 3L-4L-5L to satisfy a full year of Physics with labs.  If your major only requires you to complete through PHYSICS 4 and PHYSICS 4L, then you may enroll in PHYSICS 6AL to satisfy the final lab requirement.

If allowed by your major, we encourage students to complete the Physics 6 series instead.

Note:  Mathematics 2A or 3A or 34A or AP Math AB Exam score of 3 or higher are required for Physics 6A.  Math courses may be taken concurrently with Physics 6A.

*Not required by all PA programs but may be required for specific majors, such as Biological Science and Biopsychology.

Math*

Please review the "Math Guidelines for Pre-Health Students"

English/Writing (2 - 3 Courses)

A combination of 3 UCSB courses taken in the Writing or English departments should fulfill the full year of English requirement for most California PA schools.  Courses that satisfy GE Areas A-1 and A-2 will satisfy the English requirement.  Click here for information on these courses.

Also, courses that satisfy the GE Special Subject Area Writing requirement should not be considered sufficient to satisfy the full year of English requirement.

Remember, it is your responsibility to check the admissions requirements at each physician assistant school you hope to apply to in order to make sure that the courses you take at UCSB and elsewhere will satisfy each program's specific requirements.

Social/Behavioral Sciences & Humanities (2 Courses)

(Highly Recommended; May be required by some programs.)

PSY 1 and SOC 1

Highly recommended:Prerequisite courses listed are minimum requirements; however, most successful applicants will have exceeded the minimum requirements by taking additional upper division science courses. Examples of appropriate courses include but are not limited to:

 *MCDB 101A - Molec. Genetics I (May be required by some programs.)

MCDB 103 - Cell Biology

MCDB 131 - Gen. Microbiology

If you choose not to major in one of the natural sciences, you may wish to include one or two additional science electives in your program of study if your schedule permits.

*Math requirements may vary by school so be sure to research individual prerequisites.

Sample Pre-Physician Assistant Course Schedule, Years 1 & 2 (To be used as a guide and is not intended to be strictly adhered to by all pre-PA students!)

Fall Quarter

Winter Quarter

Spring Quarter

Year 1

Chem 1A + 1AL

Math or Statistics (See above)

GE or Elective

Chem 1B + 1BL

Math or Stats (See above)

GE or Elective

GE or Elective (if you feel you can handle another course)

Chem 1C + 1CL

Math or Stats (See above)

GE or Elective

GE or Elective

Year 2

MCDB 1A

Chem 109A

GE or Elective

GE or Elective?

MCDB 1B

EEMB 2

MCDB 1LL

Chem 109B

Chem 6AL (May be taken later.)

EEMB 3

EEMB 2LL

Chem 109C

Chem 6BL (May be taken later.)

GE or Elective

*Intro. Biology Labs:  Beginning in Fall 2019, the Biology Program restructured its introductory labs, changing from three, 1 unit labs--MCDB 1AL, MCDB 1BL/EEMB 2L, and EEMB 3L--to two, 1.5 unit labs--MCDB 1LL and EEMB 2LL.  Most students will take MCDB 1LL in winter quarter and EEMB 2LL in spring quarter.  Although taken over two quarters rather than three, these will count as a full year of introductory biology labs.  Students who have completed part of the previous lab series, please contact the Biology department advisors for information on how to complete the rest of the series.

Note:  Students who began the introductory lab sequence and completed MCDB 1AL but who were unable to complete the remaining lab courses in that sequence due to their discontinuation will complete EEMB 2LL, which the Biology Department deems as satisfactory completion of the lab sequence and which professional school programs should also view as having successfully satisfied a "full-year" of laboratory work.

Note that prerequisite requirements for PA programs may vary significantly from school to school, especially in regards to the Genetics, O. Chem., Physics, and Biochmistry courses.  While most of these courses are required as part of the required prep for many of UCSB's science majors, we encourage students to thoroughly research the requirements at each school they are interested in applying to later to ensure they are taking the appropriate courses.  This is especially important for those pursuing in a non-science major.

EXAM AND GPA:

Most programs require the GRE; however, some may also accept the MCAT. GRE scores of 150 or higher in both the Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning sections and MCAT total scores of 492 or higher will be viewed favorably. Applicants whose GRE scores are more than five years old must retake the exam and submit more recent scores, and applicants whose MCAT scores are more than three years old must retake the exam and submit more recent scores.  Official GRE scores should be sent directly by ETS once the application is submitted to CASPA.

Grade Point Average (GPA):  Minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.5 and science prerequisite grade point average of 2.7 on a 4.0 scale. However, a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 and in the science prerequisite courses is typically expected for favorable consideration

Transcript Review and Grade Trends:  Admission committees conisder a number of factors incluidng and beyond the final grades earned in courses.  For example, admission committees will review and consider the number of courses/units taken each quarter, whether courses were taken P/NP, retaken, and were withdrawn from, resulting in a W on the official transcript.  To learn more about what your official transcripts communicate to admissions committees, please review the AAMC's Anatomy of an Applicant Guide.  (A link to the guide can be found in the first paragraph in the Current Students section of our website.)

TIMELINE

**Students should note that there is no set path or timeline that dictates when students have to take their admission test or apply to professional school.  Professional schools DO NOT penalize studenst for not applying at a particular time.  The timeline above is only a guide, and students should plan to meet with a pre-health advisor to discuss their individual goals and needs

Freshman Year

Visit Career Services to explore interest in health professions and learn more about your personal skills and interests.

Start taking intro sciences (Chem 1A+1AL).

Think about possible majors (Study what you love).

Connect with a Pre-Health Staff or Peer Advisor

Consider volunteer opportunities (campus and community) 2nd quarter.

Start clinical experience (Shadowing, EMT, etc.) during breaks and summer.

Go to your professors' office hours.

Explore student organizations.

Sophomore Year

Continue with next sequence of science courses (Fall: MCDB 1A; Winter: MCDB 1B, EEMB 2, MCDB 1LL; Spring: EEMB 3, EEMB 2LL)

Stay involved in extracurricular activities (Medical, volunteer, etc).

Begin to think about becoming an officer in your organizations or explore other leadership opportunities.

Begin research on professional schools, their requirements, and assess your competitiveness.

Investigate GRE preparation options.

BOTTOM LINE: Keep working on the things you established your first year!!

Junior Year (If not taking a Gap Year.) **If taking a Gap Year, then taking the GRE and completing the application can wait until senior year)

Talk toyour staff pre-health advisor member to narrow program options and assess competitiveness.

Identify at least 3 individuals to write letters of recommendation.

Keep working on the things you have established thus far.

Schedule a mock interview with Career Services.

CLAS offers GRE preparation workshops.

**Register for the GRE, if taking.

**Study for GRE and take it.

**Complete Application (CASPA).

Senior Year (If no Gap Year)

Submit Application(s) if you haven't already.

Wait to be contacted for interview from pharmacy schools.

Continue with activities and professional experiences/shadowing.

Talk with an advisor about an alternate path if necessary.

Finish degree requirements and GRADUATE!

If Taking 1 or more Gap Years:

Schedule a mock interview with Career Services.

**Register for the GRE, if taking.

**Study for GRE and take it.

**Complete Application (CASPA).

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) Click Here

PAEA Program Directory Click Here

Central Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA) Click Here

GRE Information/Dates Click Here

CHECK OUT THE PRE-PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT FAQ!