Radford University Physician Assistant Program prerequisites

2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

"General Chemistry I and II with Labs - 8 credit hours", with one substitution allowed: "Organic Chemistry I can be substituted for General Chemistry II."

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 is not on Radford's prerequisite list, which the page presents as complete: "The following required prerequisite courses must be completed prior to matriculation." Writing is still judged, through the application: "The personal statement should be of high quality and demonstrate graduate-level writing."

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

"Intro to Psychology - 3 credit hours" is the requirement. A second course earns preference: an "Advanced Psychology" course "beyond introductory psychology that is taught by the psychology department and focused on human psychological development or abnormal behavior. It is strongly recommended to choose from Abnormal Psychology, Lifespan Developmental Psychology, or Developmental Psychology."

1 semester · 3 credits

"Genetic or Immunology - 3 credits." Either course answers the line; the baseline carries neither.

1 semester · 3 credits

"In addition to the required prerequisite coursework, preference will be given to those candidates who have successfully completed the following coursework: Cell Biology, Human Pathophysiology, Advanced Psychology." The two science courses on that preference list sit here.

2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

Eight credit hours, and the structure is flexible: "May be taken as a combined Human Anatomy and Physiology I and II with lab OR as individual Human Anatomy with lab and Human Physiology with lab courses." The subject matter is not flexible: "Must be human anatomy and physiology, covering all body systems."

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.

1 credits

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

Required here, not merely recommended: "Medical Terminology - 1 credit hours", with the caveat that "Certificate courses will not be accepted." Plan on a graded college course carrying a science or academic department prefix.

500+ hours

Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours and list it as required.

Radford publishes no separate patient care minimum. Its one number, 1000 hours, is written as "healthcare experience" and is recorded on that line instead, so the baseline's separate patient care floor does not apply here. Direct patient or client contact is still what the program says it wants that experience to be.

1000+ hours

Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours and list it as recommended.

"All successful candidates must have 1000 hours of healthcare experience (paid, volunteer, or as a student), before enrollment in the PA program." Radford does not split patient care from healthcare experience, so its single number is recorded here. It still expects contact: "This experience should be in areas with direct patient or client contact, for example, EMT, medical technology, nursing, and phlebotomy. Patient contact in fields such as health education, health promotion, and social work may be considered as long as work is in areas of patient or client services." The timing is unusually forgiving: "The 1000 hours need not be completed by the time of application."

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.

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.

1 letter

"We require at least three references: preferably one from a course instructor one from a clinical setting, and one from a clinician." A course instructor in any discipline answers this one; Radford does not name a science professor. Three references are required in total, and "Substitutions may be made if all three are not available."

1 letter

Most PA programmes publish no minimum.

Radford asks for a clinician, not a PA specifically: "preferably one from a course instructor one from a clinical setting, and one from a clinician." A PA letter answers that line, and so does any other clinician's.

1 letter

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

This is the one reference Radford holds firm on after allowing substitutions: "at least one reference should be from someone familiar with you in a work or professional setting." The preferred slate also names "one from a clinical setting." Submit all references directly to CASPA using CASPA's forms.