Admissions Requirements

First-Time-in-College Student Requirements

• Submitted application
• Official high school transcripts
  • A minimum class average of 85, with successful completion of high school graduation requirements and three years of math.
  • Math and science subjects must have a minimum grade of 83 (B).
  • One year each of high school biology/living environment and chemistry.
  • Applicants with higher GPAs and more rigorous courses will be considered more competitive candidates.
• Three letters of recommendation
• Admissions essay addressing all of the following questions (essays should not exceed 750 words):
  • Why have you chosen the physician assistant profession over other healthcare professions?
  • Describe what makes you distinctly qualified to pursue the physician assistant professional degree at D’Youville.
  • Identify the methods you used to research the physician assistant profession.
  • Provide examples of how you found the physician assistant profession to be different from other healthcare professions.
• Compliance with technical standards of the profession as noted in the application.
• Documentation of completed hours of direct patient interaction, through volunteer or employment activities, by the start of the Physician Assistant, M.S. curriculum (third year of study).
  • Completion and documentation of a minimum of 120 direct patient interaction (DPI) hours at the time of application. Hours may be earned through volunteer or employment activities.
  • DPI hours can include but are not limited to: Medical Assistant (MA), Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), Patient Care Technician (PCT), Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), and Medical Scribe.

Not required (but used in a holistic review for admission if provided; may make an applicant more competitive):

• Standardized SAT/ACT test scores.

Transfer Admission (Undergraduate) Required Review Criteria

Admission to the Physician Assistant program is offered to a select group of undergraduate transfer students who meet the following criteria. Applications and all required documents must be submitted and verified by CASPA by October 1. Please be aware that verification of applications can take up to 4 weeks.

• Cumulative GPA and science GPA of 3.00 or higher on a 4.0 scale for competitive applicants
• Undergraduate transfer students who completed a majority of prior academic work at a 4-year school and/or were pursuing a healthcare degree will be considered more competitive candidates.
• Applicants with higher GPAs and more rigorous courses will be considered more competitive candidates.
• Official transcripts from ALL previously attended colleges/universities.
• Earned grade of B- or better in all science courses (which can only be transferred in for direct credit to the program if they are less than six years old at the time of acceptance). Specific upper-level science courses must be taken within 18 months; please see the D’Youville course catalog regarding coursework, including:
  • Human Gross Anatomy – 6 credits
  • Pathophysiology – 3 credits
  • Biochemistry – 3 credits
• Three letters of recommendation.
• Admissions essay specifically addressing why the student wants to pursue a career as a Physician Assistant.
• Compliance with technical standards of the profession as noted in the application.

Not required (but used in a holistic review for admission if provided; may make an applicant more competitive):

• Documentation of completed hours of direct patient interaction through volunteer or employment activities.
• Documentation of direct patient interaction (DPI) is strongly encouraged. While there are no current minimum requirements, candidates who have completed more DPI hours will be considered more competitive.

Graduate Student Requirements

Admission to the Physician Assistant program is offered to a select group of graduate students who meet the following criteria. Applications and all required documents must be submitted and verified by CASPA by October 1. Please be aware that verification of applications can take up to 4-weeks.

• A baccalaureate degree or higher from a regionally accredited college or university, with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 and a minimum science GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, as calculated by CASPA at the time of application.
  • Graduate applicants who completed a majority of prior academic work at a four-year school and/or earned a baccalaureate degree in a science or other healthcare field will be considered more competitive candidates.
  • Applicants with higher GPAs and more rigorous courses will be considered more competitive candidates.
• Official transcripts from ALL previously attended colleges/universities.
• Earned grade of B- or better in all science courses.
  • Introductory and survey courses are not accepted to fulfill the required science prerequisites.
  • Applicants must earn a grade of B- or better in each of the following required subjects:
    • Human Anatomy & Physiology (I & II) including laboratory - 8 semester hours*
    • General or Developmental Psychology - 3 semester hours.
    • General Inorganic Chemistry (I & II) including laboratory - 8 semester hours.
    • Organic Chemistry including laboratory - 3 semester hours.
    • Microbiology including laboratory - 3 semester hours.
    • Statistics - 3 semester hours.
    • English (including 3 semester hours of English Composition) - 6 semester hours.
    • Bioethics - 3 semester hours.
    • Medical Terminology - 1 semester hour.
  • *Applicants who take the combination class of Human Anatomy & Physiology I (A&P I), then must complete the sequence by taking Human Anatomy & Physiology II (A&P II).
• Three letters of recommendation.
• Admissions essay specifically addressing the topic of why the student wants to pursue a career as a Physician Assistant.
• Compliance with technical standards of the profession as noted in the application.
• Documentation of completed hours of direct patient interaction either through volunteer activities or employment activities.
  • Completion and documentation of a minimum of 120 direct patient interaction (DPI) hours at the time of application. Hours may be earned through volunteer activities or employment activities.
    • DPI hours can include but are not limited to the following experiences: Medical Assistant (MA), Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), Patient Care Technician (PCT), Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Medical Scribe.

Commitment to Social Justice/Community Engagement

The program seeks to enroll students who demonstrate a commitment to social justice and community engagement and will consider evidence of such a commitment in the applicant’s submitted materials. Applicants with a demonstrated commitment will be considered more competitive.

Advanced Placement

The D’Youville PA program’s curriculum is administered in a sequential fashion with each subsequent semester of coursework building upon the previous one. Consequently, the program does not consider applicants for advanced placement.

Interview and Acceptance

Following a review of application materials, select applicants are invited for an interview by the PA department faculty. Not all applicants who meet the minimum application requirements will be invited for an interview.

Preference for Specified Individuals or Groups

The program does not maintain admission and enrollment practices that favor specified individuals or groups (e.g., military experience) except for those specified in the admission requirements listed above.

Maximum Cohort Size

The total number of students enrolled in each cohort may not exceed 55, regardless of admission pathway (FTIC, transfer, or graduate entry).