College of Nursing and Allied Health
Department of Physician Assistant Studies

Master of Science, Physician Assistant Program

Admission Requirements:

Admission to the Physician Assistant Studies program is extremely competitive. No more than thirty students will be admitted to a cohort class. Our admission policy emphasizes the selection of students who reflect varied social, cultural, educational and professional backgrounds. In addition to intellectual capacity and personal maturity, students are selected upon demonstrated evidence of their concern for human and societal needs. Communication and interpersonal skills are important assets that are considered by the admission committee.
To apply, students must have:

  • A baccalaureate degree from a nationally accredited college or university with a minimum 2.75 GPA overall (4.0 scale):

  • Taken the Graduate Record Exam (GRE);

  • A satisfactory TOEFL score is 550 for the paper exam, 213 for the computer version or 85 for the web based exam, or higher for applicants from whom English is a second language.  Students must also submit their foreign transcripts to an approved credentials evaluation agency. An official report from the credentials evaluation agency must be received prior to admission to the program.

  • Completed the following prerequisite classes with a 3.0 GPA (on a 4.0 scale) at a nationally accredited institution:
    • Biological Sciences (five biological science courses with at least three semester credits or four quarter credits for each course) are required. Of these five courses, at least one must be in anatomy, one physiology and one in microbiology.
      • In order to fulfill the remaining biological science course prerequisite, the USF PA program recommends courses either in genetics, cell biology, molecular biology, embryology, histology, or immunology. While none of these courses are specifically required, they provide a good foundation for the Physician Assistant program
    • Anatomy and Physiology (8 semester hours or 12 quarter hours) courses with a human emphasis are preferred to courses of a more general nature, and courses with labs are preferred over courses without lab experiences;
    • Two chemistry courses are required either General Chemistry or Organic Chemistry course sequence with lab experiences (8 semester hours or 12 quarter hours);
    • A minimum of one statistics course consisting of at least two semester credit hours or three quarter credits hours are required.

  • A minimum of 250 hours of formal, hands-on clinical experience in a medical setting with exposure to the medical care industry and patient care issues.

  • Students will be having direct contact with patients in a variety of heath care settings and therefore are required to have background review of potential criminal histories and a urine drug screen. to detect common drugs of abuse.



    The PA program additionally recommends courses in computer science, psychology, sociology and research methods.