FAQ’s

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1. What are my application requirements?
2. What is health care experience?
3. Who is an appropriate reference?
4. What if I have foreign transcripts?
5. Who must take the GRE?
6. What if I have a U. S. graduate degree already?
7. What is an acceptable score on the GRE?
8. What type of bachelor degree is preferred?
9. How will my courses transfer?
10. When do I have to have all my prerequisites completed?
11. How recent do my pre-requisite courses need to be?
12. Who can provide me with individual admissions counseling?
13. Where can I find information on financial aid?
14. Will I be able to work/ be employed while I’m in PA School?
15. May I work for the University or the PA Program while I am in PA school?
16. How do I find out more about PAs?
17. Where are you located?

 

 

 

 
 

Question 1
Applicants must have a baccalaureate degree from a nationally accredited college or university with a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA and minimum 3.0 GPA in prerequisite classes on 4.0 scale. Applicants must have taken the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) within the last 5 years and have a minimum of 250 hours of formal, hands-on clinical experience in a medical setting.

Applications for this program are accepted only through CASPA. You can find out more about applying through CASPA by visiting the American Academy of Physician Assistants home page at: www.aapa.org Consult the USF Application information pamphlet and the USF web page for more specific details.

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Question 2
A minimum of 250 hours of direct patient care experience demonstrating personal maturity and knowledge of healthcare systems. The applicant should show leadership or increasing levels of responsibility. The work may be paid or volunteer, full or part time. At minimum it should be service and health system related.

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Question 3
A supervisor, co-worker or academic advisor – anyone who can evaluate your professional skills. Do not submit a reference from someone you have shadowed for a short time, a family member or friend. The program would prefer a reference from a PA or physician who is familiar with PA practice but only if they can provide a professional reference.
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Question 4
Transcripts from foreign universities must be accompanied by an evaluation from an accredited evaluating company. Foreign students for whom English is a second language must submit a minimum TOEFL score of 550 (paper exam), 213 (computer-based exam), or 85 (web-based exam).

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Question 5
All applicants must submit official GRE scores unless they have completed a graduate degree from an accredited U.S. university or college. To schedule the GRE exam visit the GRE web site at http://www.gre.org.

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Question 6
You will not need to submit GRE scores. Request your official graduate transcripts be sent. Your graduate GPA will be used in place of your GRE score to evaluate your ability in a graduate program. Only those applicants who have completed a degree may submit their graduate GPA in place of their GRE.

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Question 7
Competitive applicants score at least 1000 combined (OLD version) or 300 combined (NEW version) on verbal and quantitative portions and at least 4.0 on the analytical writing portion

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Question 8
There is no preference. We do recommend if you are just starting to take classes that you consider a medical/health or science related degree.

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Question 9
The PA program does not offer advanced placement and/or transfer of credit from other programs.

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Question 10
All prerequisites should be completed prior to application. However, applications submitted prior to completion of prerequisite coursework will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

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Question 11
Prerequisite course work must have been completed within five years prior to admission to the PA program.

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Question 12
You may email Laura Grimes, PA Program Director at: lgrimes@stfrancis.edu. She may also be reached by phone at (505) 266-5565 ext. 132.

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Question 13
For more information on financial aid, log on to the university’s Financial Aid homepage at https://www.stfrancis.edu/finaid

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Question 14
Due to the rigors of the curriculum, the University of St. Francis Physician Assistant Program strongly discourages outside employment. A limited number of on-campus work study positions may be available during the didactic phase. However, students are not required to work for the program.

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Question 15
Students may not serve or perform as staff members of the program unless they are part of a specific USF approved federal, state, or USF work-study program. Work-study students will not be permitted to have access to confidential student records or student information and/or testing materials. At no time is a student to be substituted for a faculty member or clinician. Students are not to be employed while on their clinical learning rotations by preceptors or health care facilities.

Students are not required to work for the program.

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Question 16
More information can be found at the American
Academy of Physician Assistants web site, http://www.aapa.org/

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Question 17
The Physician Assistant program is located in beautiful Albuquerque, New Mexico

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