Admissions

2021–22 Application changes due to COVID-19

In response to the Coronavirus pandemic, the IU PA Admissions Committee is making the following changes to application requirements for the 2021–22 application cycle:

  1. Acceptance of online labs for prerequisite courses completed during 2020 and 2021. These will be accepted for any application year.
  2. Shadowing hours are recommended; however, due to the ongoing pandemic, there will be no minimum number of shadowing hours required.

Application requirements

To be eligible to apply for the Master of Physician Assistant Studies program, you will need:

If you have not yet completed your bachelor’s degree at the time of application but expect to have it completed by the start of the program must complete the Declaration of Intent to Complete Degree Requirements Form. This form will need a signature from an advisor or a school official and uploaded to CASPA.

  • Cumulative GPA of 3.2 on 4.0 scale for all coursework.  

  • Overall science GPA of 3.2 on 4.0 scale for all science coursework. This will include all courses in biology/zoology, inorganic and organic chemistry, biochemistry, physics, and other sciences. For a list of course subjects included in other sciences, click HERE.

  • All undergraduate and graduate coursework is included in the cumulative grade point average.

Applicants may have one (1) prerequisite course outstanding at the time of application (and this includes any in-progress coursework).  The outstanding prerequisite must be completed before the program start date in May.

Record all prerequisite coursework on the Prerequisite Course Completion Form and submit in CASPA in the Documents section.

Prerequisite Courses

-Statistics or Biostatistics must include a study of descriptive and inferential statistics

-Human Anatomy with lab*

-Human Physiology with lab recommended* 

-General Chemistry with lab, 2 semesters

-General Biology I with lab; no plant-based courses

-Microbiology with lab

-Upper-Level Human Biology lab recommended; must be one of the following 
courses: genetics, immunology, molecular biology, or cell biology

-Organic Chemistry I with lab

-Introductory Psychology

-Medical Terminology

*For combined Human Anatomy & Physiology classes, two semesters are required (6 minimum credit hours).

 

Shadowing hours are recommended; however, due to the ongoing pandemic, there will be no minimum number of shadowing hours required.
  • The program requires patient contact hours though there are no minimum hour requirements. 
  • These hours may be paid, volunteer, or shadowing experiences.  The purpose of accruing patient contact hours is to ensure the applicant has adequate exposure to the healthcare system, patients, and the role of a PA. 
  • Each applicant’s patient care experiences will be individually evaluated on the variety and quality of the experiences and the cumulative patient care hours obtained. 
  • Pre-approval for patient care hours will not be provided as all patient care hours will be considered.
  • Record all patient care experiences in the CASPA application in the Experiences section.
Only letters submitted in CASPA will be accepted.
 Submitted via the CASPA application.

The IU Graduate CAS Application accepted until August 1.  

Note: Transcripts should not be uploaded through the IU Graduate CAS. Transcripts should only be uploaded to CASPA.

All application documents must be received and verified in CASPA before an application is reviewed. 

Candidates will be invited for an in-person interview—a requirement for being accepted into the program—on September 27, 2021.

Priority consideration for admission interviews will be given to applications submitted before August 1.

Additional Information

  • A background screening will be required if you are accepted into the program.

  • Applicants who previously matriculated in any physician assistant program in the United States are not eligible for admissions into the IU MPAS program.
  • Personal feedback will not be provided to unsuccessful applicants.