PA · Gainesville, Florida · public

University of Florida Physician Assistant Program prerequisites

What UF 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

General chemistry with labrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
"General Chemistry I/II and General Chemistry Lab I/II, Minimum of 8 semester hours." The full sequence with both labs, and UF closes the usual escape route: "Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry are not accepted as substitutes."
Biochemistrynot required here
Not a UF prerequisite, and explicitly rejected as a substitute: "Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry are not accepted as substitutes" for general chemistry.
English or writing-intensivenot required here
Not on UF's prerequisite list.
Statisticsrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
"Statistics, Minimum of 3 semester hours."
Psychologynot required here
No psychology or behavioral science course appears on UF's prerequisite list.
Anatomy and physiologyrequireddiffers
6 credits · lab
Most PA programmes ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab.
"Human Anatomy and Physiology (including labs), Minimum of 6 semester hours." Two sequences are accepted: anatomy I and II with labs, or anatomy with lab plus physiology. Note the ten year recency window on this coursework.
Microbiologyrequireddiffers
3 credits · lab
Most PA programmes ask for 1 semester · 4 credits · lab.
"Microbiology and Microbiology Lab, Minimum of 3 semester hours," and this one carries the shortest window at UF: "Microbiology, including lab, must be completed within the past five years."
Medical terminologyrequireddiffers
1 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 credits and list it as recommended.
Required rather than recommended here: "Medical Terminology, Minimum of 1 semester hour."

Experience hours

Patient care experiencerequireddiffers
1000+ hours
Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours.
"1000 hours of direct patient care experience by August 1st of the application year." UF draws the line explicitly: "Experiences that involve receiving academic credit, shadowing, or observing are not considered direct patient care," so clinical rotations taken for course credit and shadowing hours do not count toward the 1000.
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
No number is published, and UF states outright that shadowing does not count toward the 1000 hour direct patient care requirement.

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 satisfies the clinical provider letter but is not the only writer who can: "One letter of reference must be from a licensed clinical provider, such as a PA-C, NP, MD, or DO" who can speak to your clinical abilities and experiences. "A minimum of three letters of reference to be submitted through the CASPA application."
Supervisor letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
Three letters are required in total, but UF names only the licensed clinical provider letter specifically; the remaining two are the applicant's choice.

Also on the school’s page

UF publishes a short, unusually specific prerequisite list: human anatomy and physiology including labs at a "Minimum of 6 semester hours," "Microbiology and Microbiology Lab" at a "Minimum of 3 semester hours," "General Chemistry I/II and General Chemistry Lab I/II" at a "Minimum of 8 semester hours," statistics at a "Minimum of 3 semester hours," and medical terminology at a "Minimum of 1 semester hour." General biology, psychology, English, biochemistry and organic chemistry are not on the list at all, and organic chemistry and biochemistry are named as courses that will NOT substitute for general chemistry. "A grade of C or higher is required for all prerequisite courses." The recency window is split and tight: "Microbiology, including lab, must be completed within the past five years," while "Remaining prerequisite courses must be completed within the past ten years." Patient care is a hard bar: 1000 hours of direct patient care experience by August 1 of the application year, and "Experiences that involve receiving academic credit, shadowing, or observing are not considered direct patient care." On testing, the GRE is required of all applicants and "Official scores must be received in CASPA by August 1st at 11:59pm EST"; no PA-CAT requirement is stated. No minimum GPA is published on this page.

School

pa.med.ufl.edu

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