PA Admissions

Graduate Admissions

Please visit the program page within Graduate Admissions.

Admissions Requirements

The Slippery Rock University PA program participates with the Centralized Application System for Physician Assistants (CASPA). All applications to the Physician Assistant program must be made through CASPA. Please read and review the program admission requirements prior to starting the application process to ensure you meet the admission requirements of the program. Please contact Pa.Program@sru.edu for admission questions.

To complete your application to the program please use the CASPA website.

Applications are accepted from May 1 to December 1. The CASPA application must be e-submitted, completed, and verified by December 1.

For questions on completing the CASPA application please refer to the CASPA website.

Admission Requirements

REQUIREMENTS:

May 1, 2023-Dec. 1, 2023 Admissions Cycle (Cohort of 2026)

The Cohort of 2026 will begin classes on May 28, 2024.

Education Requirements

A minimum baccalaureate degree or completion of the first three years of the Pre-Physician Assistant SRU 3+2.
A minimum CASPA calculated GPA of at least 3.25 on a 4.0 scale at the time of application and (if admitted) a final program-calculated GPA to matriculate into the program for the following areas:
- Cumulative GPA - 3.25
- Prerequisite GPA - 3.25
- Science GPA - 3.25 (Click Here for list of Courses included)
Official transcripts from any college/university where credits have been earned (at the time of application and (if admitted) before matriculation into the program.
Successful completion of the following prerequisites (a grade of "C" or better is required for all prerequisite courses. Courses that are marked with + must have been taken within the last five years):
- Biology
  - General Biology with lab (3-4 credits)
  - A&P I with lab (3-4 credits)+
  - A&P II with lab (3-4 credits)+
  - Medical Microbiology or Microbiology with lab (3-4 credits)
  - Genetics (3-4 credits; lab recommended, not required)
  - Highly Recommended: one upper-level biology or biochemistry course with or without lab in addition to the required biology courses listed above.
- Chemistry
  - General Chemistry I with lab (3-4 credits)
  - General Chemistry II with lab (3-4 credits)
  - Organic Chemistry I (3-4 credits, lab recommended but not required)
- Math
  - Inferential statistics course (3 credits, any statistics course with inferential statistics embedded)
- Psychology
  - Psychology course (3 credits, introductory, developmental, or abnormal psychology)
- English
  - College writing or composition course (3 credits)
  - College literature course (3 credits)
- Medical Terminology (at least 1 credit)+
  - If you are a non-native English speaker, regardless of citizenship, the Medical Terminology course must have been taught in English.

Educational Requirements - Additional Information
- Online courses are not accepted (except Medical Terminology). The PA program will review pre-requisites that were scheduled to be face-to-face but were converted to online due to COVID-19 on a case-by-case basis.
- AP/IB courses are only accepted for English pre-requisite. Only scores of 3 and above will be accepted. (GPA will be calculated based on the following scale: AP Score 3=2.0; AP Score 4=3.0; AP Score 5=4.0). AP Scores must be sent directly to the program.
- All Anatomy and Physiology+ courses and Medical Terminology+ must be taken within the past 5 years. Courses are marked with a + to designate the 5-year requirement.
- According to University policy, students enrolled in the PA 3+2 or 4+2 programs are allowed to take courses at other universities. However, the view is that it is best, based on course content and preparation, that the students take the courses at SRU.
- Case-by-case consideration by the program of a P/F or S grade in a course will be based upon receipt of a letter from the course instructor stating the students earned a letter grade.
- The program does not make exceptions for any prerequisite course or admission requirements based on experience.

Service, Clinical Shadowing, & Health/Patient Care Experience

These must be completed prior to matriculation into the program. However, it is strongly recommended that hours are completed before an on-campus interview.

Completion of 100 hours or more of community service and/or service-learning satisfied through any purposeful VOLUNTEER activity or event that benefits the community (within the last five years).
Completion of 50 hours or more of clinical shadowing. Of these hours, at least 25 MUST be with more than one PA and in more than one area of medicine. The remaining clinical hours can be with an NP, MD, DO, or PA. (within the last five years).
Completion of 300 hours or more of health care experience or patient care experience hours within the last five years. Please refer to the CASPA website for the complete definition of what is included in these experiences.

Recommendations

Letters of Recommendation: Submit three letters of recommendation, including one (1) from a former college/university instructor, one (1) from a supervisor of a required healthcare experience or patient care experience, and one (1) character reference that can directly attest to the applicant's character.

Essay

An essay detailing why the applicant wants to be a Physician Assistant.
(Essays have a 5000-character limit = approx. 625 words. Characters include spaces, carriage returns, numbers, letters, etc.)

Interview

Completion of a successful interview.

Additional Information

Offers of Admission & Required Deposit - Applicants who are offered and accept admission will be required to submit a deposit of $500 within 2 weeks of notification of their acceptance to the program to hold a seat in the upcoming class.

Note: All admission requirements must be completed before matriculation.

For the cohort of 2025 (Admission Cycle May 1, 2022-December 1, 2022) all requirements and documents must be submitted by May 19, 2023.
For the cohort of 2026 (Admission Cycle May 1, 2023-December 1, 2023) all requirements and documents must be submitted by May 17, 2024.

Enrolled Students Immunization & Health Insurance - Students who matriculate into the program will be required to provide serologic immunity verification (titers) in accordance with CDC guidelines and maintain health insurance throughout the entirety of the program.

Note: The COVID-19 series is strongly recommended by the program. Clinical sites for clinical education experiences (didactic and clinical) may require that students are fully vaccinated to participate in educational opportunities at the site.

Students will not be permitted to participate in clinical education experiences and rotations if health paperwork, immunizations (including updates and specific clinical site requirements), and proof of health insurance are not completed for clinical experiences. This will result in delayed graduation.

Enrolled Students Criminal Background Checks & Screening - Criminal background checks, including fingerprinting, child abuse clearance, and drug screening are required to matriculate into the program, participate at clinical sites, and progress through the program. Students are financially responsible for this process and this will be repeated annually or more frequently as required by clinical sites. Adverse results at any time can prevent a student from matriculating into the program, progressing through the program, or placement at clinical sites. Results, including felony and misdemeanor convictions, can limit the ability for clinical training experience, national certification, or licensure.

Technical Standards

Slippery Rock University Physician Assistant Program Technical Standards

A candidate for the Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies degree at Slippery Rock University must demonstrate the ability to acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to complete the core educational requirements. The following abilities and characteristics, defined as technical standards, are requirements for admission, retention, promotion, and graduation.

The technical standards are not intended to deter any candidate from applying, for whom reasonable accommodation will allow the successful completion of the program. All students are asked to attest to their ability to meet the technical standards on a yearly basis.

Observation: Students should be able to obtain information from demonstrations and experiments in the basic sciences. Students should be able to assess a patient and evaluate findings accurately. These skills require the use of vision, hearing, and touch or the functional equivalent.

Communication: Students should be able to communicate with patients in order to elicit information, detect and succinctly and effectively document changes in mood and activity. Students must be able to be able to perceive and appropriately respond to the patient in order to establish a therapeutic relationship and to communicate in person and in writing via English. Students must be able to establish rapport and maintain sensitive, interpersonal relationships with individuals, families, and groups from a variety of social, emotional, cultural and intellectual backgrounds.

Motor: Students should, after a defined period of time, possess the capacity to perform a physical examination including diagnostic maneuvers. Students should be able to execute all motor movements with the strength and dexterity required to provide both general and emergent care to patients at a level consistent with currently accepted standards of medical practice. Such actions require coordination of both gross and fine muscular movements balance and equilibrium sufficient to safely provide this level of care.

Intellectual; Conceptual; Integrative and Quantitative: Students should be able to assimilate detailed and complex information presented in both didactic and clinical coursework, and engage in problem solving. As such, all students must be able to: measure, calculate, analyze, and synthesize subjective and objective data, comprehend three-dimensional relationships and understand the spatial relationships of structures, making decisions about patient care through the thoughtful deliberation and integration of all these elements, with the knowledge of the foundational biomedical and clinical sciences. Students must be able to read and search the medical literature independently, and apply findings to the diagnosis and treatment of patients. In addition, students should be able to adapt to different learning environments and modalities.

Social and Behavioral: Students must exhibit sufficient maturity and emotional stability to enable full utilization of their intellectual abilities, which includes, but is not limited to, the exercise of good judgment and the prompt completion of responsibilities associated with the diagnosis and care of patients. Students must exhibit integrity, honesty, professionalism, compassion, and are expected to display a spirit of cooperation and teamwork. Students should be able to tolerate physically taxing workloads and to function effectively under stress. They should be able to adapt to changing environments, to display flexibility and learn to function in the face of uncertainties inherent in the clinical problems of many patients. Students must accept responsibility for learning and exercising good judgment and are expected to contribute to collaborative, constructive learning environments; accept constructive feedback from others; and take personal responsibility for making appropriate positive changes.

Ethics and professionalism: Students should maintain and display ethical and moral behaviors commensurate with the role of a physician assistant in all interactions including physical and virtual platforms with patients, faculty, staff, students and the public. The student is expected to understand the legal and ethical aspects of the practice of medicine and function within the law and ethical standards of the medical profession at all times.

All students must meet the technical standards delineated above with or without accommodation. The Slippery Rock University Physician Assistant program recognizes the value that comes from a diverse learning student body, including students with disabilities.

Students who, after review of the technical standards, determine that they require an accommodation to engage in the program fully, should contact the ODS office to discuss their accommodations needs confidentially. All requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Given the clinical nature of the program, additional time may be needed to implement accommodations. Accommodations are never retroactive; therefore, timely requests are essential.

During any time in the program, if a student may require further discussion regarding accommodations to meet the technical standards they may be referred to the Office of Disability Services as outlined above.

Slippery Rock University
Office of Disability Services (ODS)

Dr. Natalie Burick
Natalie.Burick@sru.edu
724.738.4877
Office of Disability Services

Preference for Admission

Preference is given to applicants who possess a higher cumulative GPA, science GPA, and pre-requisite GPA. Preference is also given to SRU 3+2 students, SRU graduates, other PASSHE school graduates, and veterans.

The program does not offer advanced placement, nor does the program allow individual substitutions for program courses.

International Students

International applicants and applicants with international degrees must have their transcripts evaluated for degree and grade equivalency to that of a regionally accredited US institution.

Regardless of citizenship, if you are a non-native English speaker, you are required to submit scores that show proficiency in the English language. SRU accepts several methods of English Proficiency. If applicable, the English Proficiency requirement must be completed and the score received by the application deadline.

Additional information for international applicants is available through the International Admissions page.

Should you have questions, please contact graduate.intl@sru.edu

Physician Assistant Studies

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