Admissions

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 2020-2021 application cycle:

  1. Acceptance of online labs for prerequisite courses completed in spring 2020, summer 2020, and fall 2020. These will be accepted for any application year.
  2. Acceptance of a Satisfactory grade for prerequisite courses completed in spring 2020.  The preference would be for all applicants to earn a letter grade.  If an applicant’s school has transitioned to a Satisfactory/Fail or Pass/Fail grading option, grades would be accepted as follows:  For students in the Indiana University system, a Satisfactory grade would be accepted although a Passing grade would not be accepted.  For applicants from universities other than Indiana University, either Satisfactory or Passing grades will be accepted, though Satisfactory is preferred if both S and P grades are an option.
  3. No PA Shadowing hours required for the 2020-2021 application cycle.

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 3.0 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.

At the August 1st application deadline, applicants may have one prerequisite course outstanding scheduled for completion in EITHER the fall or spring term.  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 preferred (200-level recommended and preferred)* 

-General Chemistry with lab, 2 semesters

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

-Microbiology with lab

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

-Organic Chemistry with lab

-Introductory Psychology

-Medical Terminology

*For combined Human Anatomy & Physiology classes, a full academic year curriculum at a 200 level or higher is recommended and preferred.

 

No PA shadowing hours required for the 2020-2021 application cycle.
  • 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 1st.  

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

Priority consideration for admission interviews will be given to applications in
“Verified” status before the August 1st application deadline.  All application documents must be received and verified in CASPA before an application is reviewed.  

Invited candidates will participate in a virtual admission interview on either September 28 or September 29, 2020.

Priority consideration for admission interviews will be given to applications in
“Verified” status before the August 1st application deadline.  

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

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.