PA · Rochester, New York · private
Nazareth University Physician Assistant Program prerequisites
What Nazareth asks for in the 2026-27 cycle, as read from the school's own admissions page. 9 lines differ from the standard PA school set, marked below.
Coursework
- Biology with labrequiredextra here
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
"Biology with Lab (designed for science majors)": 8 semester credit hours. AP credit is acceptable toward this line.
- General chemistry with labrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
"Chemistry with Lab (designed for science majors)": 8 semester credit hours. AP credit is acceptable toward this line.
- Biochemistryrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
"Biochemistry (recommended; Organic Chemistry will be accepted)": 3 semester credit hours. Either course answers this line; the lecture and any lab must be completed within 5 years of enrollment.
- English or writing-intensiverequireddiffers
1 semester · 3 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 2 semesters · 6 credits and list it as recommended.
"English Composition (or equivalent)": 3 semester credit hours. AP credit is acceptable toward this line.
- Statisticsrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
"Statistics": 3 semester credit hours. AP credit is acceptable toward this line.
- Psychologyrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
"General Psychology (or equivalent)": 3 semester credit hours. AP credit is acceptable toward this line.
- Geneticsrequiredextra here
1 semester · 3 credits
"Genetics": 3 semester credit hours, and one of the courses that "must be completed within 5 years of enrollment."
- Anatomy and physiologyrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
"Human Anatomy and Physiology with Lab (Must be designed for science majors. Introductory courses will not satisfy this prerequisite.)": 8 semester credit hours. Lecture and lab must be completed within 5 years of enrollment.
- Microbiologyrequired
1 semester · 4 credits · lab
"Microbiology with Lab": 4 semester credit hours, within 5 years of enrollment.
- Medical terminologyrequireddiffers
1 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 credits and list it as recommended.
Required here: "Medical Terminology" at 1 semester credit hour. Must be completed within 5 years of enrollment; it does not count against the two-courses-in-progress limit at application.
Experience hours
- Patient care experiencerequired
500+ hours
"Patient care experience: minimum of 500 hours of direct, hands-on patient care experience. This may be paid or volunteer. Eligible experiences include, but are not limited to, work as an RN, EMT, paramedic, medical assistant, PT or OT assistant, CNA, medical technician, social worker, pharmacy technician, or medical scribe. Hours must be completed by the time of enrollment." Nazareth counts scribing as patient care. "Direct hands-on patient care is defined as clinical tasks that involve direct physical interaction with patients, such as assisting with exams, obtaining vital signs, performing basic clinical procedures, and supporting daily patient care under supervision." Hours need not be finished at application, but "higher scores are awarded for additional experience and at higher levels of patient care."
- 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 shadowingnot required here
Shadowing does not appear anywhere on Nazareth's requirements page; the only experience requirement is the 500 hours of direct patient care.
Letters
- Science faculty letternot required here
The instructor letter carries no science restriction ("one former college/university instructor"); recorded on the any-discipline faculty line.
- Faculty letter (any discipline)requiredextra here
1 letter
"Two letters of recommendation: Provide contact information for one former college/university instructor and one supervisor of your required patient care experience." The instructor is this line, any discipline.
- PA letternot required here
Nazareth asks for exactly two letters, one instructor and one patient care supervisor. No PA letter is named.
- Supervisor letterrequireddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum and list it as recommended.
"One supervisor of your required patient care experience." One of only two letters Nazareth takes.
Also on the school’s page
Nazareth publishes a clean prerequisite table in semester credit hours: Biology with Lab 8 and Chemistry with Lab 8 (both "designed for science majors"), Biochemistry 3 ("recommended; Organic Chemistry will be accepted"), Microbiology with Lab 4, Human Anatomy and Physiology with Lab 8, Genetics 3, Medical Terminology 1, English Composition 3, General Psychology 3, Statistics 3. "All prerequisite courses must be completed with grades of B- or better." Recency: "Medical Terminology, Anatomy & Physiology lecture and lab, Biochemistry/Organic Chemistry lecture and lab, Microbiology, and Genetics must be completed within 5 years of enrollment. Exceptions to this timeline may be granted case by case, subject to faculty review," via a PA Course/Timeline Waiver Request Form; "A waiver of the five-year requirement may be granted if there is a continuous employment history that would demonstrate knowledge of the course content. Knowledge-based testing does not satisfy any of the prerequisites." "All prerequisite courses must be taken at regionally accredited U.S. institutions and completed prior to matriculation," which excludes Sophia Learning and Straighterline by name. "You may apply with no more than two prerequisite courses in progress, not counting Medical Terminology." "Courses for which credit was awarded by AP examination are acceptable toward the Biology, Chemistry, General Psychology, English, and Statistics prerequisite courses only." Pass/fail grades are not accepted for prerequisites; online courses from spring 2020 through summer 2021 are accepted. GPA floors are firm: "Cumulative GPA: minimum 3.2, as noted in the CASPA Overall GPA calculation" and "BCP (Biology, Chemistry, Physics) GPA: minimum 3.2 as calculated by CASPA"; "We do not make exceptions to the 3.2 GPA requirement." A baccalaureate from an accredited U.S. institution or foreign equivalent is required by enrollment. The page does not mention the GRE, PA-CAT or CASPer anywhere. Two personal statements of 250 words or less (the CASPA statement plus a program-specific one on the mission and serving diverse communities). Two letters of recommendation. CASPA-verified applications are due October 1, 2026 for the spring term, with modified rolling admissions and virtual interviews June through October. Because the didactic year is hybrid online, applicants must be U.S. citizens, permanent residents or dual citizens. A guaranteed interview goes to applicants meeting all requirements who earned a degree with 60 or more credits at Nazareth or were raised in an HRSA rural or medically underserved area.
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