Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions Physician Assistant Program prerequisites

1 semester · 4 credits · lab

"General Biology w/lab, 4 credits. General biology course designed for Biology or Physiology majors." A non-majors survey will not answer this line. Unlike anatomy, physiology, microbiology and medical terminology, general biology carries no ten year recency limit.

2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

"Eight Credits of Chemistry w/lab, 8-10 credits. Eight credits of chemistry with at least one lab." RMU does not name general chemistry specifically: any eight credits of chemistry count, and only one of the courses has to carry a laboratory. No recency window on this line.

1 semester · 3 credits

Most PA programmes ask for 1 semester · 3 credits and list it as required.

Not required at RMU. Under Additional Recommended Courses: "Organic Chemistry or Biochemistry, 3-4 credits. Though not required, taking at least one of these courses is highly recommended." Either course answers it, and either would also count toward the eight credit chemistry block.

1 semester · 3 credits

Most PA programmes ask for 2 semesters · 6 credits.

"Technical Writing, 3-4 credits. Though not required, a technical writing course is highly recommended due to the volume of graduate writing and charting assignments." Technical writing specifically rather than composition, and three credits rather than the baseline six.

1 semester · 3 credits

"College Algebra or Higher OR College Statistics, 3 credits. 100-level or higher course covering the foundations of Algebra. A calculus course fulfills this requirement. AP credit or ACT/SAT scores may also count toward this requirement. A College Statistics course also fulfills this requirement." Statistics is one of several ways in, not the only one, and this is the rare PA math line a test score can clear.

1 semester · 3 credits

"An Introduction to Psychology or Abnormal Psychology course (please note that Developmental Psychology or AP credits cannot fulfill this requirement)." Three credits, and the two exclusions are stated outright.

1 semester · 3 credits

Listed under Additional Recommended Courses as "Genetics or Cellular Biology, 3-4 credits. Though not required, taking at least one of these courses is highly recommended." Either course answers the recommendation.

6 credits · lab

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

Two separate lines: "Human Anatomy w/lab, 3-4 credits" and "Human Physiology (lab strongly recommended), 3-4 credits." The anatomy lab is required and the physiology lab is only strongly recommended. "A two-semester combined Human Anatomy and Physiology course series is acceptable" in place of the two standalone courses. Both carry the ten year recency window.

1 semester · 4 credits · lab

"Microbiology w/lab, 4 credits. This course does not have to be one designed for Microbiology majors," a deliberate loosening compared with the general biology line. Subject to the ten year recency window.

1 credits

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

Required here, not merely recommended: "Medical Terminology, 1-3 credits. 100-level or higher medical terminology course. An upper-level version is recommended." Carries the ten year recency window.

250+ hours

Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours.

"To be considered for an interview, applicants must have at least 250 hours of direct patient contact experience documented in CASPA at the time of e-submission." A hard floor, and a low one by PA standards. RMU names the qualifying roles: athletic trainer, dental hygienist, dietician, emergency room technician, medical or nursing assistant, military medic or corpsman, nurse (LPN, RN), ophthalmology technician, paramedic or EMT, patient care technician, phlebotomist, physical therapy assistant, radiologic technician, surgical technologist. Volunteer work counts when "you have actively worked with patients and influenced their care," such as hospice, medical mission, nursing home or Peace Corps. "Provider shadowing does not qualify for direct patient contact experience."

500+ hours

RMU draws the line explicitly and does not credit this side of it toward the 250: "Other healthcare experiences having minimal or no direct patient care responsibility, such as administrative jobs and pharmacy assistants, do not count for direct patient contact experience." No separate hours figure is published for it.

20+ hours

No hours number, but a specific shape: RMU "highly recommends" shadowing "a primary care PA (i.e. one who practices in a general medicine area such as family medicine or internal medicine)," "a PA who practices in a specialty," "and at least one physician." Additional shadowing "will only further strengthen your application," and hours should be documented in CASPA at e-submission. Shadowing does not count toward the 250 patient contact hours.

300+ hours

Under STRONGLY RECOMMENDED: "Successful applicants generally have MORE THAN 300 hours of community service (not including religious or military service)." This describes the applicants who succeed, not a published minimum, and the exclusion of religious and military service is unusual enough to plan around.

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

"Three letters of recommendation: At least one from a PA, MD, DO or NP is strongly recommended." A physician letter is one of four writers that satisfy that recommendation, and none of the four is mandatory.

1 letter

Most PA programmes publish no minimum.

Three letters are required in total, but the clinician letter is a recommendation, not a rule: "At least one from a PA, MD, DO or NP is strongly recommended." An NP or a physician letter satisfies it equally.

1 letter

Most PA programmes publish no minimum.

RMU names no supervisor letter. It asks for three letters through CASPA and strongly recommends that one come from a PA, MD, DO or NP; beyond that the writers are the applicant's choice.