PA · Memphis, Tennessee · public

University of Tennessee Health Science Center Physician Assistant Program prerequisites

What UTHSC asks for in the 2026-27 cycle, as read from the school's own admissions page. 10 lines differ from the standard PA school set, marked below.

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Coursework

Biology with labrequiredextra here
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
A general biology sequence beyond anatomy and physiology, which the baseline does not carry: "Biology Sciences/Lab is required, 8 semester hours. Any biology with lab accepted. May be general biology (plant biology excluded)." Unusually permissive on subject matter, with botany the one named exclusion.
General chemistry with labrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
Eight hours as in the baseline, but the subject is left open: "Chemistry, 8 semester hours. Any chemistry with lab for science majors." The for science majors clause is the real constraint, not the course title, and organic chemistry or biochemistry taken with lab could fill this block.
Organic chemistry with labrecommendedextra here
No published minimum
Explicitly wanted but explicitly not mandatory: "The Admission Committee does recommend though DOES NOT require an applicant take Organic Chemistry or Biochemistry." The separately published admissions policy lists "Completion of Organic Chemistry and/or Biochemistry" among the coursework rigor factors it scores, so this recommendation has teeth in the rubric even though it cannot bar an application.
Biochemistryrecommendeddiffers
1 semester · 3 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 semester · 3 credits and list it as required.
Not required here: "The Admission Committee does recommend though DOES NOT require an applicant take Organic Chemistry or Biochemistry." Biochemistry is separately named as one of the courses that can satisfy the required three hour advanced biology line, so taking it can do double duty.
English or writing-intensivenot required here
No English, composition or writing course appears in the basic science requirements table, which runs to anatomy and physiology, biology, advanced biology, microbiology, chemistry, medical terminology, a psychology or sociology or anthropology course, and math.
Statisticsrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
"Math, 3 semester hours. Statistics (prefer bio-statistics)." Statistics is what the math line means here, and biostatistics is the preferred flavor.
Psychologyrecommendeddiffers
1 semester · 3 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 semester · 3 credits and list it as required.
Psychology is one of three interchangeable ways to fill a single three hour behavioral science block, not a requirement in its own right: "General Psychology/Sociology/Anthropology." Sociology or anthropology satisfies the same line.
Advanced biologyrequiredextra here
1 semester · 3 credits
A separate upper-level science course on top of the eight hour biology sequence: "Advanced Biology course, 3 semester hours. Lab not required. Biology 1 and Biology 2 WILL NOT count towards this requirement. Typical courses include Genetics, Epidemiology, BioChem, etc." Biochemistry taken here is one way to fill this line, which is worth knowing because biochemistry is otherwise not required at UTHSC.
Anatomy and physiologyrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
"Anatomy and Physiology/Lab is required, 8 semester hours. May be comparative anatomy or human anatomy. May be one course of anatomy and one course of physiology." Comparative anatomy is accepted, which a number of programs refuse. This is one of the three subjects under the five year recency window, so an older sequence has to be retaken.
Microbiologyrequireddiffers
3 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 semester · 4 credits · lab.
"Microbiology, 3 semester hours. Lab not required." Three credits rather than the baseline four and no laboratory, but it falls under the five year recency window along with anatomy and physiology and medical terminology.
Medical terminologyrequireddiffers
1 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 credits and list it as recommended.
Required rather than recommended, and the usual shortcut is closed off: "Medical Terminology, 1 semester hour. Must be an accredited traditional or online course. Certificate of completion is not acceptable. Must receive college credit hour(s) upon completion of the course." Online is fine, a non credit certificate is not, and it must have been taken within the last five calendar years.
Social sciences and humanitiesrequiredextra here
1 semester · 3 credits
"General Psychology/Sociology/Anthropology, 3 semester hours." One course from any of the three disciplines answers it; the program does not name psychology on its own.

Experience hours

Patient care experiencerecommendeddiffers
500+ hours
Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours and list it as required.
There is no floor: "We do not require a minimum number of hours for direct care or shadowing experience." The prerequisites page adds that the minimum was waived over the pandemic, "We are waiving our minimum requirement for shadowing or direct care experience. We will give preference to those applicants that have a history of direct care experience." The admissions policy calls the experience "highly valued" and names "medical assistant, EMT, paramedic, nurse, patient care technician, or similar positions," but the program states outright that experiential factors are "NOT required."
Healthcare experiencerecommended
500+ hours
UTHSC publishes no healthcare experience number and does not draw a line between hands on patient care and other healthcare work. Its rubric scores direct patient care, shadowing, volunteering and leadership as four separate experiential considerations, all of them optional.
PA shadowingrecommended
20+ hours
No number is published and no writer is specified: "We do not require a minimum number of hours for direct care or shadowing experience." The rubric counts "Observational experiences with physician assistants or other healthcare providers," so shadowing need not be of a PA to be credited, unlike at most programs on this path.

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 letterrecommended
No published minimum
Fewer than a third of programs require a letter from a PA. Most ask for a clinician letter that a PA, physician or nurse practitioner satisfies equally, so a PA letter is usually sufficient and rarely necessary.
Supervisor letterrecommended
No published minimum
A letter from a work supervisor is required by about a quarter of programs. Many name no writer category at all and simply ask for three letters.

Also on the school’s page

UTHSC is one of the few programs that requires the PA-CAT and does not want the GRE: "UTHSC PA Program does not require an applicant to take the GRE. UTHSC requires ALL applicants to take the PA-CAT." There is no cutoff, "There is no minimum score required," but the companion admissions page names a target, "the program considers a composite and Anatomy and Physiology score greater than or equal to 500 competitive," and "All applications must be submitted with a PA-CAT Score." GPA is a hard floor of 3.0 on both the cumulative and science CASPA figures, every prerequisite needs a C or better, and repeats do not erase a bad grade: "If a course has been repeated, the grades will be averaged for the final grade." The recency window is narrow and applies to three subjects only: "any anatomy and/or Physiology courses, Microbiology courses, and Medical Terminology must be taken within the last 5 calendar years," leaving biology, chemistry, psychology and statistics with no expiration. All prerequisites must be complete before you apply, not before matriculation. Citizenship is a gate: "Students must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States at the time of application." The class is 30 students, matriculating in January, applications must be CASPA verified by September 1 with three interview windows, and the program prefers "residents of Tennessee, the University of Tennessee alumni, those with military experience" while capping nothing on out of state admits. Beyond the course list, the published admissions policy says it also scores "Semesters with Multiple Science Courses," "Number of Upper-Level Science Courses," "Completion of Organic Chemistry and/or Biochemistry," "Average Credit Hours per Semester" and "Course Withdrawals or Repeats," plus a last 60 credit hours GPA alongside the two required ones. Neither the prerequisites page nor the admissions page states any letter of recommendation requirement, so this file leaves the baseline letter lines untouched rather than guessing at them. The admissions detail quoted above sits at https://www.uthsc.edu/physician-assistant/admissions.php and the scoring policy at https://www.uthsc.edu/physician-assistant/admissions-policies.php.

School

uthsc.edu/allied/PA

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