Cyclios

PA · Mount Pleasant, Michigan · public

Central Michigan University Physician Assistant Program prerequisites

What Central Michigan asks for in the 2026-27 cycle, as read from the school's own admissions page. 8 lines differ from the standard PA school set, marked below.

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Coursework

  • General chemistry with labnot required here

    General chemistry is not on CMU's prerequisite table. Biochemistry is the only chemistry the program names.

  • Biochemistryrequired

    1 semester · 3 credits

    "Biochemistry (with or without lab)", CHM 421 or CHM 520. Required, not one half of an organic chemistry alternative: organic chemistry appears nowhere on CMU's prerequisite table.

  • English or writing-intensivenot required here

    No English or composition credit appears on CMU's prerequisite table.

  • Statisticsnot required here

    Statistics is not on CMU's prerequisite table.

  • Psychologyrequired

    1 semester · 3 credits

    Not introductory psychology. CMU names "Developmental psychology (from birth through old age)", CMU equivalent PSY 220, so a general psychology course does not answer this line.

  • Advanced biologyrequiredextra here

    1 semester · 3 credits

    CMU requires pathophysiology outright, listed with the CMU equivalent HSC 411. No credit figure is published; three credits is the ordinary size of that course and is a planning estimate, not the program's number.

  • Anatomy and physiologyrequired

    2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

    Two separate lines on CMU's table, "Anatomy lecture and lab" (BIO 337 or HSC 214) and "Physiology lecture and lab" (BIO 392 or HSC 302), so both halves need the laboratory. The page names courses rather than credit hours, so no credit minimum is recorded. Six year recency applies.

  • Microbiologyrequireddiffers

    1 semester · 4 credits

    Most PA programmes ask for 1 semester · 4 credits · lab.

    "Microbiology (with or without lab)", BIO 208 or BIO 320. The laboratory is explicitly optional here, unlike at most programs.

  • Medical terminologynot required here

    Medical terminology is not on CMU's prerequisite table and the program does not mention it.

Experience hours

  • Patient care experiencerequired

    500+ hours

    "A minimum of 500 hours of paid experience involving direct patient care hours is required. Hours that exceed the minimum requirement will be scored accordingly." The hours must be paid, and "the level of health care experience based on degree or license will also be considered in scoring." CMU links a separate list of qualified direct patient care hours.

  • Healthcare experiencerecommended

    500+ hours

    Many programs publish one combined healthcare figure instead of splitting patient care from healthcare exposure; where they do, the number lands here. Median published minimum is 500 hours.

  • PA shadowingrecommended

    20+ hours

    "Shadowing experience is not required but recommended." No number is published, so none is recorded.

Letters

  • Science faculty letterrecommended

    No published minimum

    Only a handful of programs require a science faculty letter by name. An academic letter is welcome nearly everywhere and mandatory almost nowhere.

  • PA letternot required here

    CMU asks for "Three letters of recommendation" and names no required writer, so a PA letter is one option among many rather than a requirement.

  • Supervisor letternot required here

    Same three letter ask with no writer specified. A patient care supervisor is a natural choice given the 500 paid hour floor, but CMU does not require one.

Also on the school’s page

CMU publishes a short, unusual prerequisite table naming six courses by CMU equivalent rather than by credit hours: anatomy lecture and lab, physiology lecture and lab, pathophysiology, microbiology with or without lab, biochemistry with or without lab, and developmental psychology from birth through old age. General chemistry, organic chemistry, statistics and English are not on that list. Grades and recency: "A minimum 3.0 grade point average for every prerequisite course" and "All prerequisite courses must be completed within six years prior to the time of the application. Classes older than that must be retaken." A waiver of the six year rule or the grade rule may be requested where the applicant documents continuous employment applying the course content, or earned a B or better in a more advanced course in the same subject within the last six years. "Credit/no credit will not be accepted for any prerequisite course requirement" and "Knowledge-based testing does not satisfy any of the prerequisites." Up to two prerequisites may be outstanding at application but must be completed successfully by December 31 in the year of application. Overall bar: "A minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0", with preference to applicants carrying higher overall, science, prerequisite and last 60 credit hour GPAs; CMU students and alumni at 3.50 or higher who meet everything else are offered an interview automatically. Three letters of recommendation are required and the page names no required writer. The CASPA application must be verified by September 1, and a 50 dollar supplemental fee is payable to CMU, waived for CASPA fee waiver recipients. On exams, neither the admission requirements page nor the application requirements page names a GRE or PA-CAT requirement.

School

cmich.edu/academics/colleges/herbert-h-grace-a-dow-college-of-health-professions/departments/school-rehabilitation-medical-sciences/physician-assistant

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