Frostburg State University Physician Assistant Program prerequisites

1 semester · 4 credits · lab

Most PA programmes ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab.

One 4 credit general chemistry course with lab, not the two semester sequence. Ten year window, and unusually it "May be completed as advanced placement (AP) courses in high school with credit reported on the transcripts in CASPA."

4 credits · lab

Most PA programmes ask for 1 semester · 3 credits.

One line in the table covers both: "Organic Chemistry or Biochemistry (recommended)," 4 credits with lab. Either course satisfies the requirement and the program marks biochemistry as the preferred of the two. Ten year window, C or better.

No English or writing course appears in the eight course prerequisite table. The written work assessed is the personal statement, the supplemental mission statement and the writing sample on interview day.

1 semester · 3 credits

Three credits, within 10 years, C or better, and like general chemistry it may be satisfied by advanced placement credit reported on the CASPA transcripts.

1 semester · 3 credits

Introductory psychology does not answer this one. The table asks for "Psychology - Developmental, or Abnormal, or similar course beyond introductory behavioral or social science level," 3 credits, within 10 years, C or better.

No published minimum

"Genetics is recommended, though not required." It sits outside the eight course prerequisite table.

2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

Anatomy and Physiology I and II, 4 credits each with a lab component. One of the three prerequisites held to the tighter window: completed within 5 years of application, extendable to 10 by Waiver for applicants who have stayed clinically active. Grade of C or better, and the labs cannot generally be online.

3 credits · lab

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

Listed as 3 to 4 credits with a lab component. Also inside the 5 year science window, waivable to 10 years for clinically active applicants. C or better.

1 credits

Most PA programmes ask for 1 credits and list it as recommended.

Required here rather than recommended: 1 to 3 credits, within 10 years, C or better. It is a non-science prerequisite, so it may be the one course still outstanding at application provided it is finished by February 1. It is also the single course exempted from the COVID-19 pass or fail allowance: P/F grades are accepted for prerequisites where no graded option existed, "except for Medical Terminology."

500+ hours

Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours and list it as required.

There is no separate patient care minimum. Patient care appears instead among the thirteen preferential criteria, defined narrowly as "direct patient care responsibility requiring advanced education, certification, or licensure in a healthcare (or related) setting. Examples include, but are not limited to: EMT, Paramedic, Respiratory Therapist, Nurse, Physical or Occupational Therapist, Hospital Corpsman, Medic, Chiropractor, Athletic Trainer, Dietician, or Exercise Physiologist." Hours in a credentialed role like these strengthen the application; the 500 hour requirement itself is recorded on the healthcare experience line.

500+ hours

Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours and list it as recommended.

Frostburg puts its hours floor on this line and defines it in patient care terms: "Healthcare experience (HCE) ≥ 500 hours, direct patient care (paid or unpaid)." Hours must be entered in CASPA and cannot be changed afterward: "Note that experience hours cannot be updated once the CASPA application has been completed." Two further experience types are minimum requirements without hour figures, leadership experience and volunteer experience.

8+ hours

Most PA programmes ask for 20+ hours and list it as recommended.

A required minimum rather than a suggestion, and a low one: "PA shadowing experience ≥ 8 hours." It must be entered as its own experience type in CASPA alongside healthcare, leadership and volunteer experience.

Frostburg asks for exactly two letters, one from a PA and one from a supervisor, both "based on professional relationships." A professor's letter does not satisfy either slot.

1 letter

Most PA programmes publish no minimum and list it as recommended.

Two letters only, both professional, and both writers are specified: "One (1) from a PA" and one from a supervisor. Letters must be "based on professional relationships and submitted within the CASPA application" and "need to describe the specific applicant's potential for success in PA school, the profession, and beyond."

1 letter

Most PA programmes publish no minimum and list it as recommended.

"One (1) from a supervisor," the second of the two required professional letters. Getting letters to CASPA is explicitly the applicant's responsibility.