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PA · Chicago, Illinois · private

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Physician Assistant Program prerequisites

What Northwestern 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.

Read from the school’s pageCheck it with the school

Coursework

  • General chemistry with labnot required here

    Not on Northwestern's six course prerequisite list. General chemistry is not required here.

  • Biochemistryrequired

    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.

  • English or writing-intensivenot required here

    Not on Northwestern's six course prerequisite list. No English or composition credit is asked for.

  • 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.

  • Psychologynot required here

    Not on Northwestern's six course prerequisite list. Psychology is not required here.

  • Anatomy and physiologyrequireddiffers

    6 credits

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

    Northwestern lists anatomy and physiology as two separate courses at a "minimum three college credits" each, six credits together, and states that "labs are not required for any prerequisites." A combined A&P I and II sequence covers both. Both must be completed on or after 9/1/2019 with a grade of C or higher.

  • Microbiologyrequireddiffers

    3 credits

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

    "Microbiology, minimum three college credits," and no laboratory is required for any prerequisite here. Same seven year window and C minimum.

  • Medical terminologyrequireddiffers

    1 credits

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

    Required here, not merely recommended: "Medical Terminology, minimum one college credit." It sits under the same seven year recency window and the same grade of C or higher as the science prerequisites.

Experience hours

  • Patient care experiencerequireddiffers

    1000+ hours

    Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours.

    A hard floor, not a target: "1,000 hours of direct patient care experience, accrued at the time of application submission." Hours planned or in progress after you submit do not count toward the minimum.

  • 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

    Under a fifth of programs set a shadowing minimum; among those that do the median is 20 hours and a handful ask for 100 or more. Several count shadowing inside their experience total rather than separately, and a few have dropped it from scoring entirely.

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 specific letter is named. The program asks only that at least one of the three evaluations come from "a healthcare professional" who has seen the applicant provide patient care; a PA qualifies, but so does a physician, nurse or other clinician.

  • Supervisor letterrequireddiffers

    1 letter

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

    Of the "three (3) or more submitted evaluations," the program specifies "at least one evaluation from a healthcare professional who can discuss the applicant's abilities and performance in providing patient care, preferably someone who has supervised the applicant in a clinical setting." A clinical supervisor is the intended writer; the other two evaluations are unrestricted.

Also on the school’s page

Northwestern names exactly six prerequisite courses: anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, microbiology and statistics at a minimum of three college credits each, plus medical terminology at a minimum of one college credit. Two features make this list unusually forgiving and unusually strict at once. Forgiving: "Labs are not required for any prerequisites," so no laboratory section is needed anywhere, and general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics and English are simply not on the list. Strict: every prerequisite must have been "completed on or after 9/1/2019 (7 year window)" and "completed with a grade of 'C' or higher," so an older science sequence has to be retaken no matter how strong it was. The program requires an overall GPA of "3.30 or higher" and a science GPA of "3.30 or higher" on a 4.0 scale, both floors rather than averages. On testing, the GRE is "not required and any GRE scores submitted will not be evaluated," and the PA-CAT is "not required and any such scores submitted will not be evaluated"; TOEFL applies to international applicants only. Letters run through CASPA as "three (3) or more submitted evaluations."

School

feinberg.northwestern.edu/sites/pa

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