Physician Assistant

A physician assistant is a medical professional who diagnoses illness, develops and manages treatment plans, prescribes medications, and often serves as a patient’s principal health care provider.

Clemson University prepares students for application to a two-year physician assistant degree program. Many students apply one or two years following the completion of a bachelor’s degree. This is not a major. Therefore, you must choose a degree-granting major (and minor, if appropriate). PA schools do not discriminate among the different disciplines from which you may choose, meaning that you can and should choose the curriculum that interests you most and excel. Be sure to accommodate prerequisite courses for your PA schools of interest.

What is Competitive?

Admissions criteria vary by institution and should be verified individually. According to data from Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants, a competitive applicant for admission to PA programs has an average grade point average of 3.59. A competitive applicant will score at or above the 50th–60th percentile on the Graduate Records Examinations and have an average of 500–1,500 completed patient-care hours.

Core Preparation Courses

Requirements vary by institution and should be verified. Students planning to pursue a physician assistant degree should expect to take the following courses:

• Introductory Biology: BIOL 1030 and BIOL 1050; and BIOL 1040 and BIOL 1060, or BIOL 1100 and BIOL 1110.
• Introductory Chemistry: CH 1010 and CH 1020.
• Organic Chemistry: CH 2230 and 2270, and CH 2240 and CH 2280.
• Anatomy and Physiology: BIOL 2220 and BIOL 2230, or BIOL 3150 and BIOL 3160.
• Physics: PHYS 1220 and PHYS 1240, and PHYS 2210 and PHYS 2230; or PHYS 2070 and PHYS 2090, and PHYS 2080 and PHYS 2100.
• Microbiology: MICR 3050.
• Sociology: SOC 2010.
• Psychology: PSYC 2010.
• Calculus: MATH 1020 or MATH 1060.
• Economics: ECON 2000 or ECON 2110 or ECON 2120.
• Statistics: STAT 2300.
• Composition: ENGL 1030.
• Literature: ENGL 2000-level coursework.
• Communications: COMM 1500 or COMM 2500
• Liberal arts electives: See specific school requirements.