PA · Nashville, Tennessee · private

Meharry Medical College Physician Assistant Program prerequisites

What Meharry asks for in the 2026-27 cycle, as read from the school's own admissions page. 10 lines differ from the standard PA school set, marked below.

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Coursework

Biology with labrequiredextra here
6 credits
"General Biology I, 3 credit hours" and "General Biology II, 3 credit hours." Meharry marks the anatomy and chemistry rows "with lab" and does not mark these, so the general biology sequence is listed without a lab requirement.
General chemistry with labrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
"General (Inorganic) Chemistry I, with lab, 4 credit hours" and "General (Inorganic) Chemistry II, with lab, 4 credit hours." The full two semester sequence with laboratory.
Biochemistrynot required here
Not on Meharry's prerequisite list, which stops at the two semester general chemistry sequence.
English or writing-intensivenot required here
No English or writing course appears in Meharry's prerequisite table.
Statisticsnot required here
No statistics course appears in Meharry's ten row prerequisite table.
Psychologyrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
"General Psychology, 3 credit hours." Abnormal or developmental psychology is accepted in its place.
Geneticsrequiredextra here
1 semester · 3 credits
"Genetics, 3 credit hours." A genetics course is required outright here, which is uncommon among PA programs.
Anatomy and physiologyrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
Two rows, each with lab: "Human Physiology or Anatomy and Physiology I, with lab, 4 credit hours" and "Human Anatomy or Anatomy and Physiology II, with lab, 4 credit hours." A separate human anatomy and human physiology pair satisfies the sequence. This is the one prerequisite with an expiry: "Anatomy and Physiology must be completed within five (5) calendar years of the date of the application."
Microbiologyrequireddiffers
3 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 semester · 4 credits · lab.
"Microbiology, 3 credit hours." Three credits rather than four, and Meharry does not mark this row "with lab" the way it marks the anatomy and chemistry rows.
Medical terminologyrequireddiffers
1 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 credits and list it as recommended.
Required rather than recommended: "Medical Terminology, 1 credit hour." It has to carry college credit; a certificate does not satisfy it.

Experience hours

Patient care experiencerecommendeddiffers
500+ hours
Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours and list it as required.
Meharry lists "Direct Patient Care (No minimum number of hours required)" among its admissions preferences, so there is no published patient care floor at this program. The baseline's 1000 hour planning figure is not Meharry's rule, though patient care still counts in a holistic read alongside community service in underserved communities.
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 shadowingrecommended
20+ hours
"Shadowed a PA (No minimum number of hours required)," listed as an admissions preference rather than a threshold.

Letters

Science faculty letterrecommended
No published minimum
Only a handful of programs require a science faculty letter by name. An academic letter is welcome nearly everywhere and mandatory almost nowhere.
PA letternot required here
No PA letter is specifically required. Meharry asks only that letters come "from individuals who have directly supervised or worked with the applicant within the last three (3) years," naming healthcare providers, faculty, and supervisors as acceptable writers.
Supervisor letternot required here
A supervisor is one of the acceptable writers Meharry names, not a separately required letter. The binding rules are recency: the writer must have supervised or worked with the applicant within the last three years, and the letter must be no older than one year at CASPA submission.

Also on the school’s page

Meharry publishes a ten course prerequisite table and, unusually for a PA program, sets its academic bar higher than its experience bar. The academic floors are the strictest thing on the page: "A minimum overall undergraduate GPA of 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale)" and "a minimum 'B' for all prerequisite courses," with prerequisite coursework taken at a regionally accredited institution. The program also publishes a graduate GPA exception for applicants who hold a graduate science degree and an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.3. Recency applies to the anatomy sequence only: "Anatomy and Physiology must be completed within five (5) calendar years of the date of the application." On testing, the page names no GRE or PA-CAT requirement and instead requires the situational judgment test: "All applicants are required to complete Casper as part of their application for the 2026/27 admissions cycle," with a final test date of July 19, 2026 for that cycle. Letters carry two recency rules: "letters of recommendation should be from individuals who have directly supervised or worked with the applicant within the last three (3) years" and "letters should be no older than one (1) year at the time of CASPA submission." Family letters are not accepted. International applicants need a TOEFL of 100 or better on the internet based test unless they hold a degree from a U.S. institution. Applications run through CASPA and are followed by program specific supplemental questions and an interview.

School

meharry.edu/program/physicians-assistant-program

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