PA · San Rafael, California · private

Dominican University of California Physician Assistant Program prerequisites

What Dominican CA asks for in the 2026-27 cycle, as read from the school's own admissions page. 9 lines differ from the standard PA school set, marked below.

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Coursework

Biology with labrequiredextra here
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
A full majors sequence separate from anatomy and physiology: biological sciences, "2 semesters = 8 semester units or 12 quarter units" with lab, sequenced for majors. A non-majors survey will not answer it. Subject to the ten year window rather than the seven year one.
General chemistry with labrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
"2 semesters = 8 semester units or 12 quarter units" with lab, and Dominican specifies the level: the sequence must be the one sequenced for majors.
Biochemistrynot required here
The chemistry requirement is the two semester majors sequence with lab and nothing beyond it. Neither biochemistry nor organic chemistry appears among the prerequisites.
English or writing-intensivenot required here
No English composition or writing course is listed. The non science prerequisites here are college algebra, statistics and general psychology.
Statisticsrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
Statistics, not calculus. The exception is regional: several Oklahoma and Texas programs require college algebra instead and do not count statistics, so check those individually.
College mathematicsrequiredextra here
1 semester · 3 credits
"College Algebra or higher: 1 semester = 3 semester units or 4-5 quarter units." A second math course beyond statistics, which Dominican requires separately, so statistics does not clear this line.
Psychologyrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
"General Psychology: 1 semester = 3 semester units or 4-5 quarter units." The introductory course is named specifically, so abnormal or developmental psychology is not offered as a substitute.
Anatomy and physiologyrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
Two separate one semester courses, each with lab: human anatomy "1 semester = 4 semester units or 5-6 quarter units" and human physiology on identical terms. These two carry the program's tighter window, "must be completed within 7 years," while everything else gets ten. A sequence taken eight years ago fails here even though the rest of your prerequisites still stand.
Microbiologyrequired
1 semester · 4 credits · lab
Named by nearly every program, usually 3 or 4 credits. A minority accept it without the lab, so read the school's own line before dropping one.
Medical terminologynot required here
Medical terminology is not among Dominican's listed prerequisites.

Experience hours

Patient care experiencerequired
500+ hours
Half the baseline planning floor in number and stricter in kind: "A minimum of 500 paid direct-patient contact hours" in hands-on roles. The word paid is doing real work here, because volunteer patient care does not count toward this minimum at Dominican the way it does at programs that accept paid or volunteer time interchangeably.
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 shadowingrequireddiffers
8+ hours
Most PA programmes ask for 20+ hours and list it as recommended.
Required rather than recommended, and the number is small: "A minimum of eight hours shadowing or working with a Physician Assistant." It must be a PA specifically, and working alongside one counts as fully as observing.

Letters

Science faculty letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
Dominican names "instructors" without naming a discipline, so a science professor satisfies the academic half of the letter ask without being specifically required. Clinical recommendations are the ones the program says it prefers.
PA letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
No letter is required by writer type. Dominican asks for "Three Letters of Recommendation" from instructors or employers, with clinical recommendations preferred, so a PA letter is favored without being mandatory.
Supervisor letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
An employer is one of the two accepted writer types alongside an instructor, and the required 500 paid patient care hours mean most applicants have one to ask. Neither type is individually required across the three letters.

Also on the school’s page

Dominican runs two recency windows rather than one, which is the detail most likely to catch a career changer out. Human anatomy and human physiology "must be completed within 7 years"; every other prerequisite must be completed within 10 years of the application deadline. The grade bar is above the usual C: all prerequisites require a grade of "B-" or higher. Both GPA floors are stated as requirements, not preferences: 3.0 or higher overall and 3.0 or higher across the last 30 science hours. The GRE is optional and the program still publishes its code for anyone sending scores, "recommended but not required, code: 2587"; no PA-CAT is named. Applications run through CASPA on a rolling basis between May 1 and October 1, and a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution is required. Non-native English speakers without a U.S. or Canadian degree need a TOEFL of "600 or above on the paper-based test; 100 or above on the internet-based test." The personal statement is expected to be written in real time by the applicant.

School

dominican.edu/academics/hns2/department-of-health-sciences/physician-assistant-studies

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