PA · River Forest, Illinois · private

Dominican University Physician Assistant Program prerequisites

What Dominican IL asks for in the 2026-27 cycle, as read from the school's own admissions page. 13 lines differ from the standard PA school set, marked below.

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Coursework

General chemistry with labrequireddiffers
7 credits · lab
Most PA programmes ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab.
General Chemistry I and II together, 7 credit hours, with a 1 credit laboratory that must be completed in person. Seven rather than the usual eight, because the laboratory is counted as a single credit across the sequence.
Organic chemistry with labrequiredextra here
1 semester · 4 credits · lab
Organic chemistry, 4 credit hours including a 1 credit laboratory that must be completed in person. Required in addition to biochemistry rather than as an alternative to it.
Biochemistryrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
Three credit hours, lecture only, no laboratory. Required alongside organic chemistry rather than in place of it.
English or writing-intensivenot required here
No English, composition or writing course appears on the prerequisite table, which lists anatomy and physiology, biochemistry, microbiology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, genetics, medical terminology, statistics and psychology.
Statisticsrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
Three credit hours. Biostatistics, behavioral statistics and epidemiology are all accepted for this line.
Psychologyrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
Three credit hours, and Dominican is flexible about which one: general, developmental or abnormal psychology all count.
Geneticsrequiredextra here
1 semester · 3 credits
Genetics, 3 credit hours, no laboratory. It must be an "Upper-level course requiring a biology prerequisite," so an introductory survey of heredity will not clear the line.
Anatomy and physiologyrequireddiffers
6 credits · lab
Most PA programmes ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab.
Six to seven credit hours, including a 1 credit human anatomy laboratory that must be taken in person. Dominican accepts either "Combined Anatomy/Physiology courses" or separate anatomy and physiology courses. The seven year science recency window applies, so an A&P sequence taken eight years ago has to be retaken.
Microbiologyrequired
1 semester · 4 credits · lab
Four credit hours including a 1 credit laboratory taken in person, and the course must sit within a biology department. A microbiology course housed in an allied health or nursing department is the common failure here.
Medical terminologyrequireddiffers
1 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 credits and list it as recommended.
Required here rather than recommended, 1 credit hour, and it must be a college credit course. A free online certificate or terminology learned on the job does not satisfy it.

Experience hours

Patient care experiencerecommendeddiffers
500+ hours
Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours and list it as required.
No separate hands-on minimum is published; the 750 hour floor is stated against healthcare experience. Hands-on work is what separates applicants above the floor: "Applicants are considered competitive who have significantly greater than 750 hours of volunteer or work experience that resulted in demonstrable direct hands-on patient care or direct patient contact." That is a description of a competitive file, not a threshold, and it is not recorded as a minimum.
Healthcare experiencerequireddiffers
750+ hours
Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours and list it as recommended.
"A minimum of 750 hours of work or volunteer experience in a healthcare setting is required," newly in force from the 2026-2027 cycle. The hours are recorded on this line rather than on patient care because Dominican sets the floor against a healthcare setting broadly and reserves hands-on work for its description of a competitive applicant. Hours must be documented with supervisor contact information and supporting attestation forms in the CASPA application, so keep names and dates as you go.
PA shadowingrecommendeddiffers
45+ hours
Most PA programmes ask for 20+ hours.
"A minimum of 45 hours of PA Shadowing is preferred at the time of CASPA application submission." It must be a PA: "It is preferred that applicants demonstrate their knowledge and awareness of the Physician Assistant profession through direct observation of a Physician Assistant only." Shadowing hours do not count toward the 750 hour healthcare experience requirement, so budget them separately.

Letters

Science faculty letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
Dominican requires a professor letter but does not require it to be a science professor, asking only for someone who "can attest to the applicant's academic preparedness." A science instructor is a natural choice, not a requirement.
Faculty letter (any discipline)requiredextra here
1 letter
One of the three required letters is from a "Professor: A person who can attest to the applicant's academic preparedness." Dominican does not restrict the discipline, so any professor who taught you answers this line.
PA letterrequireddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum and list it as recommended.
The third required letter is from a "Physician Assistant: A certified, practicing PA" who can attest to the applicant's commitment to and preparedness for the profession. Certified and practicing are both load bearing, and this letter is the reason to start shadowing early enough to build the relationship.
Supervisor letterrequireddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum and list it as recommended.
One of the three required letters is from a "Supervisor: A person who can attest to the applicant's intrapersonal attributes and interpersonal communication abilities."

Also on the school’s page

Dominican publishes a full prerequisite table with credit hours and separate laboratory credits, which makes it easy to plan against and unforgiving of near misses. "A minimum GPA of 3.00 is required for both Overall Total GPA and Overall Total Science GPA," restated on the admission page as "Both overall total GPA and overall science GPA each must be at least 3.0." Every prerequisite needs a C or higher and a C minus is rejected outright. The science recency window is seven years, measured "Within the past seven years from the new cohort's start date," which is tighter than the ten year window many programs use. Three coursework rules catch applicants out: "No AP credit will be accepted for any prerequisite courses," online lecture courses are permitted but "laboratory courses must be completed in person," and while up to two courses may be pending at application, "all courses must be completed by September 1." Community college credit is accepted from regionally accredited institutions. On testing, the GRE is not required: "Although we no longer require the GRE, scores above the 50th percentile will be viewed favorably." The PA-CAT is not mentioned anywhere. The three required letters are prescribed by role rather than left open, and one of them must be from a practicing PA, so the shadowing relationship has to be built early enough to ask.

School

dom.edu/admission/graduate/health-sciences-programs/mmspas

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