PA · Fort Wayne, Indiana · private
Trine University Physician Assistant Program prerequisites
What Trine asks for in the 2026-27 cycle, as read from the school's own admissions page. 11 lines differ from the standard PA school set, marked below.
Coursework
- General chemistry with labnot required here
General chemistry does not appear in Trine's prerequisite list. The chemistry ask is one semester of organic chemistry plus one semester of biochemistry.
- Organic chemistry with labrequiredextra here
3 credits
"One semester of organic chemistry (minimum 3 semester hours or equivalent quarter hours)." One semester only, and the page names no laboratory for it, unlike the anatomy line where the lab is spelled out as required.
- Biochemistryrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
"One semester of biochemistry (minimum 3 semester hours or equivalent quarter hours)." Trine requires biochemistry and organic chemistry both, rather than one or the other.
- English or writing-intensivenot required here
No English composition or writing course appears in the prerequisite list. The only non science prerequisites are statistics, psychology and medical terminology.
- Statisticsrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
"One semester of statistics (minimum 3 semester hours or equivalent quarter hours)."
- Psychologyrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
"One semester of psychology (minimum 3 semester hours or equivalent quarter hours)." One course only; no second behavioral science is asked for.
- Physiologyrequiredextra here
1 semester · 3 credits
Trine lists anatomy and physiology as two separate prerequisites with different laboratory expectations, so physiology stands on its own line: "One semester of human physiology (minimum 3 semester hours or equivalent quarter hours)," with no lab named.
- Anatomy and physiologyrequireddiffers
3 credits · lab
Most PA programmes ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab.
Anatomy is its own prerequisite here and it is the only science line where Trine spells out the laboratory: "One semester of human anatomy with required lab (minimum 3 semester hours or equivalent quarter hours)." Human physiology is required separately, without a stated lab, and is recorded on its own line, so three credits is the anatomy half rather than the eight credit combined sequence the baseline assumes.
- Microbiologyrequireddiffers
3 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 semester · 4 credits · lab.
"One semester of microbiology (minimum 3 semester hours or equivalent quarter hours)." No laboratory is named for this course, which is unusual on this path.
- Medical terminologyrequireddiffers
1 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 credits and list it as recommended.
Required rather than recommended, and the certificate route is explicitly open: "One semester of medical terminology (minimum 1 semester hour or equivalent quarter hours) or valid certificate of completion."
Experience hours
- Patient care experiencerecommendeddiffers
500+ hours
Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours and list it as required.
Trine states no hour minimum. Under its requirements it asks only for "Discernment into the profession, including but not limited to, health care experience, patient contact, shadowing," with no number attached. The 500 hour figure on the page sits in the competitive applicant section, "Healthcare experience of at least 500 hours, preferably in direct patient contact," and describes who gets in rather than who is eligible to apply. The program does not separate patient care from healthcare experience in its wording.
- Healthcare experiencerecommended
500+ hours
No required figure. The program lumps "health care experience, patient contact, shadowing" into one requirement about discernment into the profession without dividing them or attaching a floor, and reserves its only number, 500 hours, for the description of competitive applicants.
- PA shadowingrecommended
20+ hours
Shadowing is named as one of three ways to show "Discernment into the profession, including but not limited to, health care experience, patient contact, shadowing," with no hour figure published for it.
Letters
- Science faculty letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
"At least two academic or professional letters of recommendation." An academic letter is one accepted kind and no discipline is specified, so a science professor is one good answer rather than a requirement.
- PA letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
No PA letter is named. Two letters minimum, academic or professional, with no clinician requirement.
- Supervisor letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
No writer is required by role. Trine asks for "At least two academic or professional letters of recommendation," so a work supervisor answers the professional half without being named.
Also on the school’s page
Trine splits its page into stated requirements and a separate description of competitive applicants, and the two must not be confused. Eight prerequisites are required, each one semester: human anatomy with required lab, human physiology, microbiology, biochemistry, organic chemistry, statistics, psychology, all at a minimum of 3 semester hours or equivalent quarter hours, and medical terminology at "minimum 1 semester hour or equivalent quarter hours) or valid certificate of completion." General chemistry, general biology and English do not appear. Grades are floored above the usual C: prerequisites must be completed with no grade lower than C+, at "an institutionally accredited US college or university or equivalent." The required GPA is "Overall GPA of 3.2 or above." This is one of the programs where the GRE is still a hard requirement: "Completion of the GRE General Test within the last 5 years." No PA-CAT is mentioned. The competitive section, which is not a floor, describes admitted applicants with "3.5 or above cumulative" and "3.5 or above hard science" GPAs, GRE scores of "305 or above overall" with "153 or above quantitative reasoning" and "152 or above verbal reasoning," and "Healthcare experience of at least 500 hours, preferably in direct patient contact." Treat every one of those as a competitiveness marker, not an eligibility cutoff. A bachelor's degree is required: "a bachelor's degree from an institutionally accredited United States institution prior to entry." No prerequisite expiration window is stated, though the GRE itself carries a five year window. The CASPA cycle "opens March/April and closes March/April of the next year."
School
trine.edu/MPASCheck your transcript against this list
Cyclios keeps this list beside your coursework and tells you what Trine still needs from you.
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