Graduate

Physician Assistant Studies

A developing 28-month PA program culminating in a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies degree.

Physician Assistant Studies

Program Tracks Available

On campus

Admission Deadline

October 1, 2023
All applications will be submitted through CASPA, the Central Application Service for Physician Assistants. The application cycle for the Class of 2026 will open in late April 2023.

Degrees Offered

M.S.

School

School of Health Professions

Department

Program Overview
Assumption University is currently in the process of developing a master’s level PA Program in our School of Health Professions. We anticipate enrolling the first cohort in January of 2024.

The Physician Assistant program will prepare its graduates to enter the health care field with the education and skills required to provide compassionate and highly competent care to every patient they serve. Your Assumption PA education will highlight the empathetic component of health care. The understanding that each patient is an individual to be cared for, and not just a disease, is fundamental to our mission.

The Important Role of a PA

PAs are medical professionals who collaborate with physicians as part of the health care team. They conduct physical examinations, diagnose, and treat illness and injury, order and interpret lab and diagnostic tests, perform medical procedures, assist in surgery, provide education and counseling, and make rounds on patients in hospitals and nursing homes. All 50 states and the District of Columbia allow PAs to practice medicine and prescribe medications. PAs work side-by-side with physician team members in all medical specialties.

Why become a PA student at Assumption University?
1. State-of-Art Facilities: brand new, dedicated Health Services Building including dedicated PA classrooms, study spaces, physical examination lab, and medical simulation center. Apple Classroom technology in lecture halls and study spaces work with student issued iPads.
2. Highly dedicated, renowned faculty: subject matter experts from the local community with extensive experience in their field of practice. Core faculty are dedicated to the University Mission.
3. Thirteen Supervised Clinical Practice Experiences: 16 months of clinical rotations, expanding time learning to care for patient at the bedside, including a 10 week primary care rotation, and two electives.
4. Planned overseas rotations: student may participate in a global health experience at an overseas location caring for an underserved population.
5. Holistic Patient Care: foster an approach to medicine that incorporates the care of the body, mind, and soul.
6. Clinical Decision Making: a course dedicated to applying concepts learned in didactic classes supervised by currently practicing providers.
7. Principles of Practice Management & Leadership: A certificate program that prepares graduates to appreciate the complexities of medical practice and supports understanding of leadership traits and roles.
8. Pre-Clinical Patient Care Experiences: students will start hands on patient care during their didactic phase to better prepare them to start clinical rotations.

Program Contact

Kayla M. Cetrone

Director, Physician Assist Admissions, Assessment & Academic, Assistant Professor of Practice, PA Studies

km.cetrone@assumption.edu

ABOUT THE PA PROGRAM

The mission of the PA Program at Assumption University embodies the principles of Catholic social teaching, emphasizing the value and dignity of human life, compassion, and empathy, preparing our graduates to provide exceptional, ethical, patient-centered care with a focus on life-long learning, leadership, and service to individuals, families, and diverse communities. Our educational environment fosters the development of confident, competent graduates who practice medical care in a collaborative environment.
The Assumption University PA Program strives to imbue our graduates with the clinical knowledge and reasoning needed to practice high quality medicine while serving a diverse population through its emphasis on compassion, empathy, and treating the whole person. As a Catholic institution, Assumption University PA students will honor the value and dignity of human life through community service, compassion, and ethical principles as they enter meaningful careers in healthcare.

We envision our students to be leaders, significantly impacting their communities in their roles as healthcare professionals. We aim to be distinguished as a premier PA Program in the region, recognized for exceptional PAs in the community. Through the recruitment of a highly qualified pool of applicants that reflect the diversity of the community, we anticipate matriculating and graduating exceptional PA student cohorts.
1. Graduate students who align with Catholic social teaching by demonstrating concern for the value and dignity of human life as well as ethical, compassionate, and empathetic patient care.
2. Graduate students who provide exceptional patient care by applying a high level of medical expertise, clinical reasoning, and professionalism during patient encounters.
3. Through a comprehensive and supportive educational experience, the program will develop PAs well-prepared to enter clinical practice.
4. Provide an educational environment that fosters life-long learning.
5. Promote opportunities for community service throughout their educational experience.
6. Encourage leadership, scholarship, and professional development.
7. Create opportunities that encourage interdisciplinary collaboration among various healthcare professionals and students.
Term One
- Human Gross Anatomy
- Applied Lab Medicine
- Pharmacology
- Human Physiology & Pathophysiology
- Research Methods in Medicine
- Medical Genetics
- Principles of Practice Management and Leadership I
Term Two
- Medicine One
- Medicine Two
- Physical Diagnosis and Clinical Decision Making
- Orthopedic Surgery
- Psychiatry
Term Three
- Medicine Three
- Medicine Four
- Diagnostic Studies
- Electrocardiography
- Clinical Procedures and Clinical Decision Making
- Legal, Ethical, and Religious Aspects of Healthcare
- Public Health and Preventative Medicine
- Professional Practice One
Term Four
- Medicine Five
- Medicine Six
- Pediatrics
- Emergency Medicine
- Surgery
- Clinical Decision Making
- Principles of Practice Management and Leadership II
- Professional Practice Two
Supervised Clinical Practice Experiences (SCPEs)
- Primary Care SCPE
- Inpatient Medicine SCPE
- General Surgery SCPE
- Pediatrics SCPE
- Obstetrics and Gynecology SCPE
- Psychiatry SCPE
- Emergency Medicine SCPE
- Orthopedic Surgery SCPE
- Dermatology SCPE
- Multi-Specialty SCPE
- Elective One SCPE
- Elective Two SCPE
All supervised clinical practice experiences, to include both clinical sites and preceptors, will be coordinated by the PA Program. Students are not required to provide or solicit clinical sites or preceptors. Students may request a specific clinical site or preceptor, however, each site or preceptor must be approved by the Director of Clinical education and must meet all of the requirements of the PA Program. (ARC-PA Standard A3.03)
Class of 2026 (matriculates in January 2024)
- Tuition: $116,000
- Fees: $9,600 (subject to change)
Students must meet the technical standards of the Assumption University PA program with or without reasonable accommodations, consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act upon admission and continue to demonstrate them throughout their participation in the program. The use of a human intermediary to meet these technical standards means that a student’s judgment is guided by another person’s powers of observation and interpretation. Students are, therefore, not permitted to use such intermediaries in meeting the technical standards of the Assumption University PA program. Any student found in violation of technical standards is subject to dismissal.

Please download the below document for additional information.

PA Program Technical Standards
The Assumption University Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies Program has applied for Accreditation-Provisional from the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). The program anticipates matriculating its first class in January 2024, pending achieving Accreditation-Provisional status at the June 2023 ARC-PA meeting. “Accreditation-Provisional” is an accreditation status granted when the plans and resource allocation, if fully implemented as planned, of a proposed program that has not yet enrolled students appear to demonstrate the program’s ability to meet the ARC-PA Standards or when a program holding Accreditation-Provisional status appears to demonstrate continued progress in complying with the Standards as it prepares for graduation of the first class (cohort) of students. If the Assumption University is not granted accreditation, no students will be enrolled in the program, and any deposits paid will be refunded. CASPA application fees will not be refunded. (ARC-PA Standard A3.12a)

Career Paths

Graduate PAs work in virtually every medical specialty. Common practice settings are:

Cardiology

Dermatology

Emergency Medicine

Family Practice

Gastroenterology

Inpatient Internal Medicine (Hospitalist - Including Critical Care)

Outpatient Internal Medicine

Oncology

Orthopedics

Surgery

Urgent Care

Admission Requirements

Admission Practices Favoring Individuals or Groups:
The Assumption University PA Program will extend a guaranteed interview to any applicant who has earned a degree from Assumption University and meets all admissions requirements. An interview does not guarantee admission to the PA Program. All applicants must meet the same admissions requirements, including academic standards, education requirements, and clinical experience.

The Assumption University PA Program will extend a guaranteed interview to any applicant who is currently serving on active duty in, or is an honorably discharged veteran of, the Uniformed Services of the United States and meets all admissions requirements. An interview does not guarantee admission to the PA Program. All applicants must meet the same admissions requirements, including academic standards, education requirements, and clinical experience.

During the initial development of the Assumption University PA Program, Assumption University undergraduates were offered the opportunity to apply to a “dual degree” program and, if specific requirements were met, were guaranteed admission to the Assumption University PA Program. Students currently enrolled in the “dual degree” program may matriculate, provided they continue to meet all requirements that were previously established at the time of their acceptance to Assumption University; this will reduce the number of available seats in the first cohort. Admission to the “dual degree” program was discontinued in 2020.

ARC-PA Standard A3.13a

Admissions Requirements (Education, Experience, and Academic Standards):

Application: must be completed via the Central Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA)
Supplemental Application (completed as part of the CASPA application)
A bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution
A minimum overall GPA of 3.0 (as calculated by CASPA)
A minimum pre-requisite GPA of 3.0 (as calculated by the PA Program)
TOEFL within two years for international applicants
A minimum of 2000 hours of direct patient care

Completion of the following courses with a minimum overall GPA of 3.0 and a “C” or better in each individual class:

Biology: 8 Semester Hours (must include labs)
Chemistry: 8 Semester Hours (must include labs)
Biochemistry, Organic Chemistry, or Cell/Molecular Biology (must have one of these courses, biochemistry encouraged): 4 Semester Hours
Human Anatomy: 4 Semester Hours (must include lab)
Human Physiology: 4 Semester Hours (must include lab)
Microbiology: 3 Semester Hours (lab encouraged)
Genetics: 3 Semester Hours
Psychology: 3 Semester Hours
Statistics: 3 Semester Hours
*Classes do not expire and will be accepted regardless of when they were taken. The program does recommend that Anatomy and Physiology be repeated if it was taken more than 10 years ago.

Ideal Candidates: Our PA Program mission, vision, and goals reflect our commitment to caring for the whole patient. We aim to help decrease health care disparities and increase health care access to currently underserved populations. We intend to admit and enroll future PAs who have demonstrated commitment to this philosophy.

Practices for Advanced Placement:
The Assumption University PA Program does not accept any Advanced Placement (AP) or CLEP coursework to fulfill prerequisite requirements. All prerequisite coursework must be completed at a regionally accredited college or university. The PA Program does not provide Advanced Placement in the PA Program based on any coursework completed prior to matriculation in the Assumption University PA Program. (ARC-PA Standard A3.13c)

Admissions Requirements

Application: must be completed via the Central Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA)
Supplemental Application
A bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution
A minimum overall GPA of 3.0
A minimum prerequisite GPA of 3.0
A TOEFL minimum score of 100 within two years for international applicants
A minimum of 2000 hours of direct patient care
Completion of the following courses with a minimum overall GPA of 3.0 and a “C” or better in each individual class (Credit hours pending):
- Biology: 8 Semester Hours (must include lab)
- Chemistry: 8 Semester Hours (must include lab)
- Biochemistry, Organic Chemistry, or Cell/Molecular Biology (must have one of these courses, biochemistry encouraged)
- Anatomy: 4 Semester Hours (must include lab)
- Physiology: 4 Semester Hours (must include lab)
- Microbiology: 3 Semester Hours (lab encouraged)
- Genetics: 3 Semester Hours
- Psychology: 3 Semester Hours
- Statistics: 3 Semester Hours
Ideal Candidates:
- Our PA Program mission, vision, and goals reflect our commitment to caring for the whole patient. We aim to help decrease health care disparities and increase health care access to currently underserved populations. We intend to admit and enroll future PAs who have demonstrated commitment to this philosophy.

The New Catrambone Health Sciences Building

The new, 41,000-square foot building features four classrooms, one for 32 students, two for 48 and a large-tiered classroom for 50. Each classroom is fully equipped with a recording system for simulations used during debriefings.

The physician assistant floor features a practice lab with 11 exam tables for teaching how to properly diagnosis a condition. Two simulation labs, comparable to the nursing floor, complement four Objective Structured Clinical Examination rooms where live ‘patient-actors’ dictate a script of medical maladies to teach students how to take a medical history, diagnose a patient and perform a physical exam. The clinical lab space serves as a learning environment for clinical procedures, such as suturing and interventional skills.

Learn More

Graduate Research Symposium

Assumption University Graduate School Annual Symposium showcases research, innovative projects, successful case study, and creative work of graduate students and recent alums from every graduate program. We offer all graduate students in every program an opportunity to present their excellent work on diverse topics.

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Veterans at Assumption

Assumption University recognizes that servicemen and women have demonstrated great courage and made tremendous sacrifices in service to our nation and its people. The University has introduced a number of programs and services to assist veterans during the application process and while veterans are attending Assumption. We also have a lounge designated only for our veteran students. Assumption University is committed to maintaining recognition as a Military Friendly institution. We strive to eliminate barriers to success for our Service Members, Veterans, and their qualified dependents.

Welcoming Veterans

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Physician Assistant Studies

A developing 28-month PA program culminating in a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies degree.