For consideration for Admission to the PA Program candidates must successfully complete the following courses and other requirements of the Graduate School AND of the PA Program.

FAQ About Prerequisites

General Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree

• A bachelor’s (or higher) degree from a regionally accredited college or university is required (due by program start, not by time of application).
• Official transcripts from all colleges/universities attended (due by program start, not by time of application).
• International students may be required to have transcripts evaluated by a credentialing service.

GRE Scores

• Completing the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is required. There is no minimum score requirement, however, anything below the 25th percentile in any of the three sections is considered a ‘red flag’ by the JMU Admissions Committee; meaning that it may hurt your chances for admission.
• GRE scores are due to the JMU Graduate School by the time of application.  The reporting code is 7442. Note that the GRE Scores must be sent to both CASPA and the JMU Graduate School.
• The applicant may report the best scores from each section of the GRE even if the exam was taken on multiple occasions.
• The GRE requirement is waived for any applicant who has completed a graduate degree.
• Our program has no immediate plans to adopt the Physician Assistant College Admission Test (PA-CAT) as an admission requirement

Letters of Recommendation

• You must submit three (3) required letters of recommendation as part of the CASPA application.  You do not need to submit the letters of recommendation with the Graduate School application.
• Letters are best from prior supervisors/employers, university professors, and/or medical professionals (clinicians) who have observed you working or volunteering in a patient care environment (not simply someone you shadowed briefly). Letters of recommendation from friends or family members are highly discouraged.

Prerequisite Course Requirements

Why is there a time limit for most of the prerequisite courses?

This seven-year time frame is calculated from the date of course completion to the date of PA Program matriculation (not application). For example, a Biochemistry course completed Fall 2020 would count towards the required prerequisite of a student with an anticipated program matriculation of Fall 2027, but a Genetics course completed Spring 2020 would not. This time limit is to assure some degree of current information in these fields.

Exceptions:  By their very nature some working positions require people to maintain an adequate degree of current information in these basic sciences. Candidates employed in such positions should apply and include an explanation for the admissions committee on how they have maintained a degree of current information in these fields. The committee will decide whether to accept the explanation as sufficient enough to meet the prerequisite(s). This kind of exception is typically only granted for someone who has taught the course in a collegiate setting.

Must all prerequisite courses be completed to apply?

No, these prerequisite courses do not all need to be completed prior to applying to the program. They must be completed prior to the first day of the Fall semester as one begins the  PA curriculum (if you are offered a seat).

How are final grades calculated for prerequisite courses?

• If a prerequisite course has been taken multiple times, then all final grades for that individual course will be averaged together to determine the applicant’s overall ‘grade’ for that prerequisite. For example, if an applicant earned a "C" in a 3 credit Biochemistry course the first time it was taken and an "A" in a subsequent 3 credit Biochemistry course, then the overall grade would be a "B", which would satisfy our prerequisite requirement.
• If a prerequisite course has an associated lab component, and both the lecture and lab components are awarded a separate grade, then the two grades will be averaged together to determine the overall grade. For example, if an applicant has an "A" in a 3 credit Human Anatomy course and a "B" in the associated 1 credit lab, then the overall grade would be an "A-."

What else should I know about prerequisite courses?

• All prerequisite courses must be taken from an accredited institution and must be taken “for credit”, i.e., they must generate an official transcript and cannot generate only a certificate.
• Courses taken online or at community colleges are acceptable.
• Courses (including online/virtual offerings) MUST have utilized proctored assessments. The Admissions Committee may request a course syllabus that demonstrates evidence for this.
• Courses must grant a final letter grade (they may not be simply “pass/fail”).
• For all prerequisite courses, it does not necessarily matter what the exact course title is so long as it matches the intent of the requirements. For example, all of the following course titles would fulfill our Biochemistry prerequisite: “Introduction to Biochemistry”, “Foundations of Biochemistry”, “Principles of Biochemistry”, “Concepts of Biochemistry” or “Fundamentals of Biochemistry”.

Further Details about Anatomy & Physiology Coursework:

• Candidates may meet the anatomy and physiology prerequisites by taking a semester course in each topic or by taking the entire sequence of combined anatomy & physiology courses at a single college. The combined courses must cover all of the body systems and regions and must include a laboratory component in anatomy.
• The total credit hours for two semesters of anatomy and physiology should combined be at least 6 credit hours.
• Anatomy must include laboratory work either as a component of the anatomy course or as a separate laboratory course.
• An online lab for Anatomy is acceptable. An in-person lab is preferred only because it will help the successful applicant in the future graduate-level anatomy course within the PA program. However, this is a recommendation, not a requirement.
• If the Anatomy and Physiology course requirements are fulfilled by taking A&P and A&PII, then the minimum grades for each of those courses must be a "B" (3.0).

Direct Patient Care Experience — Prerequisite Requirement

Applicants must complete a minimum of 1,000 hours of direct patient care experience prior to matriculation in the PA Program. Hours may be obtained through one or multiple paid or volunteer experiences.

Direct patient care experience is defined as hands-on clinical interaction with patients in which the applicant provides, assists with, or participates in the delivery of patient care. Examples include obtaining vital signs or histories, performing clinical assessments, providing treatments, administering medications, assisting with procedures, providing wound care, monitoring patients, or providing hands-on patient assistance.

Examples of qualifying roles include EMT, paramedic, registered nurse, patient care technician, certified nursing assistant, medical assistant, surgical technologist, respiratory therapist, athletic trainer, phlebotomist, and similar clinical roles.

Job title alone does not determine whether an experience qualifies. The Admissions Committee evaluates the applicant's actual duties, responsibilities, and level of patient interaction. Applicants should provide a detailed description of their responsibilities in CASPA.

Experiences that generally do not qualify include clinical shadowing, administrative or clerical work, medical scribing without direct patient care responsibilities, laboratory-only positions, patient transport, and non-clinical research.

Hours completed during healthcare training or education (before obtaining the applicable credential) do not count.

The Admissions Committee values experiences involving greater responsibility, autonomy, clinical decision-making, and direct patient interaction. However, qualifying patient care experience at any level may be used toward the 1,000-hour minimum.

Special circumstances: Some roles may include both qualifying and non-qualifying responsibilities (e.g., a medical assistant who also scribes). In these cases, applicants should report only the hours attributable to direct patient care. Unusual or ambiguous experiences may be reviewed individually by the Admissions Committee.

The 1,000-hour minimum must be completed before the student begins the PA program in mid-August (not prior to applying for admission to the PA program).  The 1,000-hour requirement is a minimum eligibility threshold.  However, the Admissions Committee considers quality, responsibility, autonomy, breadth, and recency of clinical experience when evaluating applicant competitiveness for admission.  Applicants who are successful and gaining admittance typically have greater than 1000 hours accumulated.

Questions to Consider:

1. Is the experience direct patient care?

• No → does not counts towards the requirement.
• Yes → potentially counts towards the requirement.

2. Does the applicant actually perform the direct patient care duties?

• No → does not counts towards the requirement.
• Yes → count those specific hours; but do not count administrative/clerical or non-clinical hours.

3. Is the experience atypical or ambiguous?

• No → nothing further needed; count those hours.
• Yes → contact the PA Program to request a review by the Admissions Committee.