PA · Chicago, Illinois · private
Chamberlain University Chicago Physician Assistant Program prerequisites
What Chamberlain Chicago asks for in the 2026-27 cycle, as read from the school's own admissions page. 12 lines differ from the standard PA school set, marked below.
Coursework
- Biology with labrequiredextra here
3 credits · lab
Three semester credit hours from a choose one list, each option carrying a laboratory: "General Biology, with lab; Genetics, with lab; Cell Biology, with lab; Molecular Biology, with lab; Immunology, with lab." An upper-level course such as immunology or genetics answers this line just as well as general biology, so a single course covers it.
- General chemistry with labnot required here
General chemistry is not a prerequisite. Chamberlain's chemistry requirement is a single course, either biochemistry or Organic Chemistry I, and general chemistry appears nowhere on the table, which lists only biology, anatomy and physiology, microbiology, chemistry, statistics and psychology.
- Organic chemistry with labrecommendedextra here
1 semester · 4 credits · lab
One of the two ways to answer Chamberlain's single chemistry line, listed as "Organic Chemistry I, with lab" at 4 semester credit hours. It is an alternative to biochemistry, not an addition to it, and it is the more expensive of the two options by a credit hour.
- Biochemistryrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
Chamberlain runs one chemistry line, satisfied by either course: "Biochemistry, lab preferred" at 3 semester credit hours or "Organic Chemistry I, with lab" at 4. Biochemistry is the lighter route and its laboratory is preferred rather than required. No general chemistry sequence is required to apply, though it is usually the prerequisite for either of these courses at the institution teaching them.
- English or writing-intensivenot required here
No English, composition or writing requirement appears on the prerequisite table.
- Statisticsrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
Three semester credit hours, choose one: "Statistics" or "Biostatistics."
- Psychologyrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
Three semester credit hours, choose one: "General Psychology" or "Developmental Psychology." Unlike several programs on this path, Chamberlain accepts the introductory course.
- Anatomy and physiologyrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
Eight semester credit hours, the heaviest line on the table, taken either as the combined course, "Human Anatomy and Physiology," or split as "Human Anatomy, with lab and Human Physiology, lab optional." The anatomy laboratory is required; the physiology laboratory is not. The 10 year recency rule applies, so an older sequence has to be retaken.
- Microbiologyrequireddiffers
3 credits · lab
Most PA programmes ask for 1 semester · 4 credits · lab.
"Microbiology, with lab," 3 semester credit hours. The only line on the table with no alternative course offered.
- Medical terminologynot required here
Not among the prerequisite courses.
Experience hours
- Patient care experiencerecommendeddiffers
500+ hours
Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours and list it as required.
Chamberlain publishes no patient care hour minimum for the Chicago program, and no hands-on figure at all. The only experience number on the page is a preference for "300+ hours of clinical healthcare experience," which the program does not break into patient care and healthcare buckets, so it is recorded on the healthcare experience line rather than here. Do not read that 300 as a requirement or as a hands-on target.
- Healthcare experiencerecommendeddiffers
300+ hours
Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours.
Not required, but named as one of the criteria that "may have an advantage" in a competitive seat pool: "300+ hours of clinical healthcare experience." Chamberlain does not distinguish patient care experience from healthcare experience anywhere on the page, so the 300 hours is recorded here as the program's single combined figure. It is a preference threshold, not an admission minimum, and it is low enough that it should be read as a floor for consideration rather than a competitive number.
- PA shadowingrecommendeddiffers
16+ hours
Most PA programmes ask for 20+ hours.
Not required, but "16+ hours shadowing a physician assistant" is on the published advantage list, and it must be a PA rather than any clinician. Sixteen hours is two working days, which makes this the cheapest item on that list to clear.
Letters
- Science faculty letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
Not named. The published requirement is only the count, three letters of recommendation.
- PA letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
"Three letters of recommendation" are required and Chamberlain names no writers for them, so a PA letter is a choice rather than a requirement here.
- Supervisor letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
Three letters are required with no writer specified. A work supervisor is a natural choice given the preference for clinical healthcare experience, but the program does not ask for one.
Also on the school’s page
Everything Chamberlain publishes for the Chicago program sits on the program page itself, in the requirement FAQs and the MPAS Admission Requirements block, and it is a short list built almost entirely of choose one options. The framing sentence carries the grade and recency rules for the whole table: "The following courses are required to have been completed within the last 10 years with a grade of C or better for our PA program in Illinois." Academic minimums are a "Bachelor's degree in any major, with a minimum GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale" and "Prerequisite science courses completed in the last 10 years, with a minimum GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale." The GRE is required here, not optional: applicants are asked to submit "Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores from the past 10 years," and no minimum score is published. The PA-CAT is not mentioned. Also required are three letters of recommendation and "Cleared background and fingerprint checks within 120 days prior to the first session of your enrollment start date." There is no advanced placement: "The Chamberlain University, Chicago Master of Physician Assistant Studies Program does not offer Advanced Placement." The most useful thing on the page is the published preference list, since it names exactly what earns an edge: "With limited seats available, applicants who meet the following criteria may have an advantage for our PA school in Chicago: 300+ hours of clinical healthcare experience, 16+ hours shadowing a physician assistant, Military or veterans, Chamberlain students and alumni, Resident of a designated medically underserved area, First generation college students." Note that these are advantages, not thresholds, and that the program publishes no required patient care hour figure at all. Selection ends with an interview: "The most qualified candidates will be invited for an on-campus interview." Accreditation is Accreditation-Provisional, which "does not ensure any subsequent accreditation status."
Check your transcript against this list
Cyclios keeps this list beside your coursework and tells you what Chamberlain Chicago still needs from you.
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