PA · Tampa, Florida · private

South University Physician Assistant Program, Tampa prerequisites

What South University Tampa 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.

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Coursework

Biology with labrequiredextra here
No published minimum
"General Biology, 2 courses." Labs are recommended rather than required here. Biology II may instead be satisfied by cell biology, genetics, molecular biology, or immunology; the first course has no such substitute.
General chemistry with labrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
"General Chemistry and Labs, 2 courses." The full two-semester sequence with its labs; the program counts courses, not semester hours.
Organic chemistry with labrequiredextra here
No published minimum
"Organic Chemistry or Biochemistry, 1 course." One semester of either answers the line, and the laboratory is recommended but not required.
Biochemistryrecommendeddiffers
1 semester · 3 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 semester · 3 credits and list it as required.
Biochemistry is one of the two ways to answer the "Organic Chemistry or Biochemistry, 1 course" line, so it is optional in itself: one semester of organic chemistry fills the same slot.
English or writing-intensivenot required here
Not on the prerequisite table.
Statisticsnot required here
No statistics or mathematics course appears on South University Tampa's prerequisite table.
Psychologynot required here
No psychology or behavioral science course appears on the prerequisite table.
Anatomy and physiologyrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
"2 courses (sequenced)": human anatomy and physiology I and II with lab, or human anatomy with lab plus human physiology with lab. The program states credits in courses rather than semester hours. "No course substitutions accepted" for this prerequisite.
Microbiologyrequired
1 semester · 4 credits · lab
"Microbiology with Lab, 1 course," with no substitutions accepted.
Medical terminologyrecommended
1 credits
Required outright by nearly half of programs, which is more than its recommended level here suggests. Several refuse a certificate or a free online course and want transcript credit; a few teach it after acceptance instead.

Experience hours

Patient care experiencerecommendeddiffers
500+ hours
Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours and list it as required.
No minimum is published: "Although clinical experience is not required, preference is given to applicants who have direct patient care experience." The program names physical therapist, respiratory therapist, EMT or paramedic, nurse, medical assistant, and CNA as examples of direct 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 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 letterrequireddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum and list it as recommended.
A PA letter satisfies the clinician letter but is not the only writer who can: at least one of the three references must come from an MD, DO, PA, or NP the applicant has worked with or shadowed. "At least three letters of reference on the CASPA application must be submitted."
Supervisor letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
Three references are required in total, but South University names only the clinician letter specifically; the remaining two are the applicant's choice, and the clinician letter itself may come from someone shadowed rather than a work supervisor.

Also on the school’s page

South University Tampa publishes its prerequisites as a table of courses rather than credit hours: anatomy and physiology as "2 courses (sequenced)," general biology as "2 courses," "General Chemistry and Labs" as "2 courses," "Microbiology with Lab" as "1 course," and "Organic Chemistry or Biochemistry" as "1 course." A grade of C or better is required in every prerequisite, all prerequisites must be finished at a regionally accredited U.S. institution before the application is submitted, and no course substitutions are accepted for anatomy and physiology or for microbiology. Course titles beginning "Essentials of," "Survey of," or "Introduction to" are described as less competitive unless the course was designed for science majors. AP credit counts as one course toward a prerequisite and its grade is not used in the GPA calculation; CLEP credit is not accepted for any prerequisite. Lab waivers are considered case by case with supporting documentation. No prerequisite recency window is stated on this page. GPA: "Applicants must have an overall GPA as calculated by the CASPA service of 3.0 or greater (on a 4.0 scale)," with a recommended BCP science GPA of 3.0; the program describes competitive applicants as carrying an overall GPA at or above 3.4 and a BCP GPA at or above 3.2, which is a picture of the pool and not a bar. On testing, the GRE is required: "Official GRE scores for the General Test (verbal, quantitative, and written essay) are required to be electronically submitted to CASPA through ETS," using program code 0454, and the program describes competitive scores as at or above the 50th percentile with an analytical writing score of 4.0 or higher. No PA-CAT requirement is stated. Applications run through CASPA only, with an August 1 deadline for the January start, and interviews are required for competitive applicants.

School

southuniversity.edu/tampa/areas-of-study/physician-assistant/physician-assistant-master-of-science-ms

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