PA · Miami, Florida · public

Miami Dade College Physician Assistant Program prerequisites

What Miami Dade asks for in the 2026-27 cycle, as read from the school's own admissions page. 12 lines differ from the standard PA school set, marked below.

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Coursework

General chemistry with labrequireddiffers
10 credits · lab
Most PA programmes ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab.
CHM 1045 and CHM 1046 General Chemistry and Qualitative Analysis at 3 credits each plus CHM 1045L and CHM 1046L laboratories at 2 credits each, 10 credits in all, which is more than the 8 most programs ask for because MDC's chemistry labs carry 2 credits.
Biochemistrynot required here
No biochemistry or organic chemistry course appears in MDC's prerequisite sequence; the chemistry requirement is the two semester general chemistry sequence with its labs.
English or writing-intensiverequireddiffers
2 semesters · 6 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 2 semesters · 6 credits and list it as recommended.
ENC 1101 English Composition I and ENC 1102 English Composition II, 3 credits each, required rather than recommended. A separate 3 credit oral communication course, ENC 2300, LIT 2480, SPC 1017 or SPC 2608, is also required; SPC 2608 is marked "Highly Recommend."
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
MAC 1105 College Algebra, 3 credits, required in addition to STA 2023 Statistical Methods rather than instead of it. The sequence notes that students "must seek advisement for proper mathematics course from discipline chairperson."
Psychologyrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
General psychology. Many programs fold it into a broader social or behavioural science block that sociology or anthropology also satisfies.
Anatomy and physiologyrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
BSC 2085 and BSC 2086 Human Anatomy and Physiology 1 and 2 at 3 credits each, with BSC 2085L and BSC 2086L laboratories at 1 credit each, and each lab is a corequisite of its lecture. As natural science lecture courses these fall under the ten year recency window.
Microbiologyrequireddiffers
5 credits · lab
Most PA programmes ask for 1 semester · 4 credits · lab.
MCB 2010 Microbiology 3 credits with MCB 2010L Microbiology Lab 2 credits, taken as corequisites. The lab is unusually weighted at 2 credits.
Medical terminologynot required here
No medical terminology course appears in the prerequisite sequence. MDC instead requires that applicants be "enrolled in or have successfully completed HSC 0003 - Introduction to Health Care (2.5 credits) and HSC 0003L - Introduction to Health Care Lab (.5 credits)."
Foreign languagerequiredextra here
4 credits
MDC requires foreign language competence at the elementary level 2 course, 4 credits, in American Sign Language, Mandarin Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian or Spanish, and states that the "Foreign Language and Civic Requirements should be met prior to PA program Matriculation." Competence can also be demonstrated through MDC's testing criteria rather than by taking the course.
Social sciences and humanitiesrequiredextra here
2 semesters · 6 credits
Two humanities courses at 3 credits each, chosen from MDC's approved lists which include art history, music, literature, philosophy, dance and theatre options; PHI 2010 and PHI 2604 are marked "Highly Recommend." A further 3 credit course, AMH 2020 History of the US Since 1877 or POS 2041 American Federal Government, is also required and is one route to the Florida civic literacy competency.

Experience hours

Patient care experiencenot required here
MDC publishes no patient care hour minimum and does not separate patient care from shadowing: "While there is no minimum number of hours, applicants will be given higher consideration for prior direct patient care and shadowing hours." Recording a PCE floor here would invent one.
Healthcare experiencerecommended
500+ hours
MDC does not split patient care from healthcare experience and publishes no number at all: "Healthcare experience can be documented in the form of direct patient care and shadowing. While there is no minimum number of hours, applicants will be given higher consideration for prior direct patient care and shadowing hours." There is nothing to clear here, only something to accumulate.
PA shadowingrecommended
20+ hours
Shadowing counts toward MDC's healthcare experience rather than sitting beside it, and carries weight without a floor: "applicants will be given higher consideration for prior direct patient care and shadowing hours." No number is published.

Letters

Science faculty letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
The other two letters are "Two letters from faculty or other healthcare professional," so a science professor is one acceptable writer among several and no discipline is specified.
PA letterrequireddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum and list it as recommended.
"One letter must be from a Physician Assistant." Three letters in total, and this one cannot be substituted by any other writer.
Supervisor letternot required here
No supervisor letter is required. Beyond the mandatory PA letter, MDC asks for "Two letters from faculty or other healthcare professional."

Also on the school’s page

Miami Dade College publishes its prerequisites as a named MDC course sequence rather than a subject list, in the PDF linked from the admissions page at https://www.mdc.edu/physicianassistant/pdf/PA-program-Pre-requisite-courses.pdf, totalling 50 credits across four semesters: ENC 1101 English Composition I 3 and ENC 1102 English Composition II 3; two humanities courses at 3 each and one oral communication course at 3; BSC 2085 Human Anatomy and Physiology 1 at 3 with BSC 2085L lab at 1, and BSC 2086 at 3 with BSC 2086L lab at 1; MAC 1105 College Algebra 3; STA 2023 Statistical Methods 3; CHM 1045 and CHM 1046 General Chemistry and Qualitative Analysis at 3 each with CHM 1045L and CHM 1046L labs at 2 each; MCB 2010 Microbiology 3 with MCB 2010L Microbiology Lab 2; PSY 2012 Introduction to Psychology 3; and AMH 2020 History of the US Since 1877 or POS 2041 American Federal Government 3. The PDF adds that "Foreign Language and Civic Requirements should be met prior to PA program Matriculation." Admissions requires a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited or internationally recognized institution, completion of "all prerequisite courses with a grade of 'C' or higher," and a hard recency window: "Natural science lecture courses must be completed within 10 years of the application deadline." Both GPA floors are 3.0, a "Natural Science GPA of 3.0 and above" and "A minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA." The PA-CAT is required and scored: "Official PA-CAT scores must be electronically submitted to CASPA at the time of application submission," with a minimum of 505 on all components required for consideration and 525 or above preferred; the last accepted test date is September 15, 2026. Applicants must also be enrolled in or have completed HSC 0003 Introduction to Health Care at 2.5 credits with HSC 0003L lab at 0.5, and submit a supplemental application to MDC with a non-refundable $30 fee. The CASPA cycle runs April 30 to October 1, 2026 and applications must be CASPA verified by the deadline.

School

mdc.edu/physicianassistant

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