Hawaii Pacific University Physician Assistant Program prerequisites

2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

"Biology (general or human) with lab OR One semester of general or human biology with lab AND one semester of additional biology coursework with lab", 8 credits. This sits beside the separate anatomy and physiology courses rather than inside them.

2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

The two-semester sequence with lab. Around a fifth of programs want only one semester or skip general chemistry entirely and start at organic or biochemistry.

3 credits

Three credits of organic chemistry, listed without a laboratory, alongside the separate 3 credit biochemistry requirement. Both are required here, not an either or.

1 semester · 3 credits

Roughly half the programs that ask for an upper chemistry accept either biochemistry or organic chemistry for the same single line, so one course often covers both entries on this list.

Not on HPU's published prerequisite table, which names only science courses plus psychology and statistics.

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.

1 semester · 3 credits

General psychology. Many programs fold it into a broader social or behavioural science block that sociology or anthropology also satisfies.

2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

HPU splits the sequence into two named courses, human anatomy with lab at 4 credits and human physiology with lab at 4 credits. A combined A&P I and II sequence covers the same 8 credits. Ten year recency applies.

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.

Not on HPU's published prerequisite table.

500+ hours

"Applicants must be able to document a minimum of 500 hours of direct, hands-on healthcare experience in the U.S. prior to application." The program calls it healthcare experience but defines it as direct and hands-on, being directly engaged in a patient's care as part of a healthcare team, so it is recorded here rather than under healthcare experience. Independent consulting does not qualify.

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.

20+ hours

Not required. The program says shadowing is "encouraged as one way to gain knowledge about the role of the PA," and publishes no hours figure.

The academic letter here is a "collegiate academic reference," with no science discipline attached.

1 letter

"At least one recommendation should come from a collegiate academic reference able to speak of the applicant's scholastic aptitude." No discipline is named, so any professor answers this.

HPU names no PA letter. It asks for two letters, a health care experience supervisor and a collegiate academic reference; a PA who supervised your clinical work can write the first, but the writer's credential is not what the program specifies.

1 letter

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

"At least one recommendation should come from a health care experience supervisor knowledgeable of the applicant's performance in the clinical setting." Two letters total are required.