PA · Salt Lake City, Utah · public
University of Utah Physician Assistant Program prerequisites
What Utah asks for in the 2026-27 cycle, as read from the school's own admissions page. 12 lines differ from the standard PA school set, marked below.
Coursework
- Biology with labrequiredextra here
1 semester · 4 credits
"Biology, four semester credits, lab credit can be included." The lab is optional, not required. "All biology coursework with a relationship to the human body is accepted. Microbiology is most strongly recommended. General biology, cell, genetics and some intro classes are other examples of acceptable biology courses." Quarter system equivalent is 6 units.
- General chemistry with labrequireddiffers
2 semesters · 8 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab.
"Chemistry, eight semester credits, lab credit can be included. All chemistry coursework is accepted, including intro, general, inorganic, organic and biochemistry." UPAP does not name general chemistry specifically and does not require a laboratory: any eight credits of chemistry answer it. Quarter system equivalent is 12 units.
- Biochemistrynot required here
Not required as its own line. Biochemistry is simply one of the courses that counts toward the eight credit chemistry block: "All chemistry coursework is accepted, including intro, general, inorganic, organic and biochemistry."
- English or writing-intensiverecommended
2 semesters · 6 credits
"We also recommend courses in writing." No credit count is published and no extra credit is given for having taken one.
- Statisticsrecommendeddiffers
1 semester · 3 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 semester · 3 credits and list it as required.
Not required. Statistics appears only in the recommendation: "We also recommend courses in writing, statistics, microbiology, and genetics. However, no extra credit is given for having taken the aforementioned courses."
- Psychologynot required here
No psychology prerequisite. UPAP's required coursework is limited to anatomy and physiology, biology and chemistry, and psychology appears nowhere in the required or recommended lists.
- Geneticsrecommendedextra here
1 semester · 3 credits
Named among UPAP's recommended courses, alongside writing, statistics and microbiology, with the caveat that "no extra credit is given for having taken the aforementioned courses." Genetics also counts as one of the acceptable ways to fill the four credit biology block.
- Anatomy and physiologyrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
Two routes, and they cannot be mixed. Either "Human Anatomy, four semester credits, must be human and with a lab; animal or comparative anatomy courses are not accepted" plus "Human Physiology, four semester credits, must be human; no other physiology courses are accepted," or "Anatomy and Physiology I and II, totaling eight semester credits." "A mixed combination of the above courses will not be accepted," and UPAP gives the trap explicitly: "AP I [four credits] + Physiology [four credits] = a mixed combination. The candidate would be considered short on anatomy credit." A three credit human anatomy course is accepted in lieu of four "only if a lab was taken as a part of the class, and the class is accepted for science majors." "Human anatomy and human physiology courses taken from exercise science, sports science, or kinesiology departments are not accepted." Quarter system: a one year A&P series of at least 10 quarter credits including labs. This is the only prerequisite that expires, see the file notes.
- Microbiologyrecommendeddiffers
1 semester · 4 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 semester · 4 credits · lab and list it as required.
Not required at Utah. Microbiology is "most strongly recommended" as the preferred way to fill the four credit biology block, and appears again in UPAP's list of recommended courses, but no separate microbiology line exists and "no extra credit is given" for it.
- Medical terminologyrecommended
1 credits
Not a prerequisite, but not safely skipped either: interviewed candidates "will be given a test of basic anatomy, physiology, and general medical terminology during the interview sessions: study guides are not provided."
- Social sciences and humanitiesrecommendedextra here
No published minimum
"Physician assistants care for patients from a broad range of backgrounds. Therefore, UPAP recommends that applicants have some coursework that supports understanding of diverse backgrounds and contributes to a sense of cultural competency." No credit figure and no named department; no extra credit is given for it.
Experience hours
- Patient care experiencerecommendeddiffers
500+ hours
Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours and list it as required.
UPAP publishes no separate patient care minimum. Its single 2,000 hour requirement counts all forms of health care experience together, with "direct hands-on patient care experience being most preferred," so hands-on hours strengthen an application without being separately quantified.
- Healthcare experiencerequireddiffers
2000+ hours
Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours and list it as recommended.
"A minimum of 2,000 hours of health care experience, acquired as of the August 1st application deadline, is required for an applicant to be considered." UPAP does not split patient care from healthcare experience, so the figure sits here rather than on the patient care line: "All forms of health care experience are accepted and considered toward the minimum requirement, with direct hands-on patient care experience being most preferred." It excludes "administrative work from healthcare settings or caring for family members," and student practicum experience from undergraduate or certification training, though "medically-related graduate practicum experience is accepted on a case-by-case basis." Hours are projected to the deadline for early applicants, are subject to verification by contacting supervisors, and "paid experience is weighted more heavily than volunteer." For context the program notes that "the national average for healthcare experience is in the 4000 to 5000 hour range," which is a benchmark, not a requirement.
- 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 letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
UPAP names no required writer, and weights letters at zero: "Letters of reference will be reviewed, but will not contribute to the application score." A PA letter is worth having for other programs on your CASPA list, not for this one.
- Supervisor letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
No supervisor letter is required and no letter carries scoring weight here: "Letters of reference will be reviewed, but will not contribute to the application score." The program does verify reported healthcare hours by contacting supervisors directly, which is a separate matter from a letter.
Also on the school’s page
UPAP publishes an unusually short prerequisite list, only three blocks totalling about 20 credits: anatomy and physiology, four credits of biology, and eight credits of chemistry. Everything else it names is a recommendation carrying no extra credit. On testing, "UPAP does not require the GRE, or other standardized test. Please do not send your scores, they will not be considered," and the program's application page adds that it "is no longer requiring the CASPer test in the current application cycle." The PA-CAT is not mentioned. All prerequisite coursework must be complete at the August 1 CASPA submission deadline, for a letter grade, and "letter grades of less than C (such as C-) are not accepted for prerequisites, no exceptions." AP, CLEP and audited coursework are not accepted; pass/fail is accepted only from institutions whose pass minimum is B or higher. Community college coursework is accepted and "online coursework and online labs are accepted." Foreign prerequisite coursework is not accepted, and holders of foreign degrees must complete 30 US semester credits including the prerequisites. On recency, only anatomy and physiology expire: courses "taken before the start of the 2019 academic year (fall 2019) and earlier must be repeated no later than fall semester of 2026," labs are not required for the repeat, and "prerequisites other than Anatomy and Physiology do not expire." GPA: cumulative and science GPAs of at least 3.0 as calculated by CASPA, with an exception only for applicants whose most recent 30 semester credits of science reach the matriculated class average of 3.50 or higher. On letters, the application page is blunt: "Letters of reference will be reviewed, but will not contribute to the application score." Admissions preference goes to candidates with three or more of the following: Utah resident, Southern Utah regional resident current or within the past five years, military experience, evidence of exposure to primary care, evidence of exposure to medically underserved populations, origin in or demonstrated commitment to return to an underserved community, strong science GPA above 3.5, strong health care experience. Interviews are held on the Salt Lake City and St. George campuses and include "a test of basic anatomy, physiology, and general medical terminology," for which "study guides are not provided."
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