PA · Orem, Utah · public
Utah Valley University Physician Assistant Program prerequisites
What Utah Valley 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 · lab
"Biology with lab: 4 semester hours (6 quarter hours, this can vary from state to state) required." No expiration date applies, and courses that are "shown to be too introductory" may be rejected.
- General chemistry with labrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
"Chemistry with lab: 8 semester hours (12 quarter hours, this can vary from state to state) required. Upper-level classes are encouraged, but not required." UVU asks for chemistry credits generally rather than the general chemistry sequence by name, so organic or biochemistry can fill the block.
- Biochemistrynot required here
Not a named prerequisite. Biochemistry would simply count toward the eight hour chemistry block, where "upper-level classes are encouraged, but not required."
- English or writing-intensivenot required here
No English, writing or composition prerequisite; statistics is the only non-laboratory line.
- Statisticsrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
"Statistics: 3 semester hours (4.5 quarter hours, this can vary from state to state) required. Statistics classes from departments outside of math are eligible for review but courses that have an element of statistics but are not solely focused on statistics will not be accepted." A research methods course with a statistics unit inside it will not answer this.
- Psychologynot required here
No psychology course appears among UVU's six prerequisite blocks.
- Anatomy and physiologyrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
"Human Anatomy with lab: 4 semester hours (6 quarter hours) are required" and "Human Physiology with lab: 4 semester hours (6 quarter hours) are required," both human only: "no other anatomy courses are accepted" and "no other physiology courses are accepted." A two semester combined series is accepted instead, provided it totals at least 8 semester hours and is a full year series. "A mixed combination will not be accepted. Applicants must take Anatomy and Physiology I and II OR Human Anatomy and Human Physiology separately to meet the requirement." "Human Anatomy and Human Physiology courses taken from Exercise Science, Sports Science, or Kinesiology departments are not accepted." These two are the only prerequisites subject to the seven year window.
- Microbiologyrequired
1 semester · 4 credits · lab
"Microbiology with lab: 4 semester hours (6 quarter hours, this can vary from state to state) required." Does not expire, and a course judged "too introductory" may be rejected.
- Medical terminologynot required here
Not listed as a prerequisite.
Experience hours
- Patient care experiencerecommendeddiffers
500+ hours
Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours and list it as required.
UVU publishes no separate patient care floor. Its single 2,000 hour requirement reads "patient care or health-related experience," so hands-on hours are one of two ways to reach it, and "the quantity and quality of reported healthcare hours will be considered and scored as part of the applicant screening process."
- Healthcare experiencerequireddiffers
2000+ hours
Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours and list it as recommended.
"A minimum of 2,000 hours of patient care or health-related experience is required," completed before the CASPA submission. UVU does not split the two for its minimum, which is why the number sits here; CASPA still asks applicants to "break down jobs/clinical experiences that combine direct and related healthcare exposure" into the respective sections. Qualifying work "may include, but is not limited to, taking histories, physical exam, taking vitals, bathing patients, transporting patients, helping patients transfer from bed to bedpan or toilet, walking patients, drawing blood, performing diagnostic lab or imaging tests, laboratory bench work, filling prescribed patient medications, assisting with or administering prescribed therapy or treatments, patient education, and counseling." Job titles that "will not count towards direct patient care hours": shadowing, student interning, medical sales, patient sitter or comforter, CPR trainer, clinic front desk, housekeeping in hospital, mortuary services. "Unpaid student training experience will not count." "All applicant experiences are subject to verification hours. The program may contact supervisors to confirm reported hours."
- PA shadowingnot required here
"We do NOT require shadowing." Shadowing is also on the list of job titles that "will not count towards direct patient care hours," and is to be listed in CASPA's own shadowing section rather than as experience.
- Non-clinical volunteeringrecommendedextra here
No published minimum
No number is published, but hours are scored: "Applicants are encouraged to document the variety of ways that volunteering, community service, and/or work experience has played a role in personal growth and wisdom via religious or service missions, military service, or other opportunities." Unlike some programs, UVU counts religious and military service here. Leadership experience is documented and scored the same way.
Letters
- Science faculty letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
UVU asks for "an academic source" rather than a science professor specifically, so any professor who has observed you in an academic environment answers this one of the three preferred letter sources.
- PA letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
No PA letter is named. UVU asks broadly for "a healthcare source," which a PA satisfies alongside any other clinician who has observed the applicant at work.
- Supervisor letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
Three letters, strongly recommended rather than required: "It is strongly recommended that applicants submit three letters of recommendation from professionals who have observed the applicant in a work, academic, and/or clinical environment. Letters from a healthcare source, supervisor, and/or academic source are preferred. Letters from personal friends and family will be discarded." A supervisor is one of the three preferred sources.
Also on the school’s page
UVU requires six prerequisite blocks: human anatomy with lab, human physiology with lab, eight hours of chemistry with lab, four of biology with lab, four of microbiology with lab, and three of statistics. "All required prerequisite coursework must be completed at time of application submission," the one exception being anatomy and physiology courses being retaken because they expired. On testing the program is unambiguous: "The UVU PA Program does NOT require standardized exams such as the GRE, PA-CAT, and MCAT. The UVU PA Program uses a holistic admissions approach." Recency is narrow and applies to only two courses: "There is a seven year deadline for Human Anatomy and Human Physiology," and for the current cycle those courses are accepted only if taken between January 2019 and July 15, 2026. Expired A&P must be repeated or in progress no later than Fall 2026 and finished before December 31, 2026; the corresponding lab need not be retaken, online coursework from a US regionally accredited institution is accepted for the repeat, and "when retaking these classes, applicants must get a B (a B- will not be accepted) or better." "Human Anatomy and Human Physiology are the only prerequisites courses that expire." Everything else needs a letter grade of C or better, with C- explicitly rejected, and "courses for which credit was awarded by examination, such as AP/CLEP courses, are not accepted toward any of the prerequisite courses." "Some courses will not be accepted if they are shown to be too introductory. Upper level courses are recommended." A completed bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited US institution is required at the time of application, not at matriculation. GPA minimums are 2.8 cumulative and 2.8 science as calculated by CASPA: below 3.0 but at or above 2.8, the program recalculates the last 60 hours of undergraduate work, or the last 30 hours of science coursework, and that figure must reach 3.0, "however, a cumulative GPA above a 3.0 is strongly encouraged to be a competitive UVU PA Program applicant." Advanced placement "will not be granted under any circumstance" and no transfer credit is accepted. The CASPA deadline is July 15 with a CASPA verification deadline of August 15, plus a separate $50 UVU Graduate Studies application; admissions are not rolling. Extra points go to applicants who spent the majority of K-12 in a Utah school district or held Utah residency for 10 or more years, to veterans, and to first-generation students, and at least five non-resident seats are reserved. The program "cannot accept international students into the program at this time who are not U.S. citizens." The experience, letters, shadowing and volunteering lines below come from the program's experience page, https://www.uvu.edu/physicianassistant/admissions/requirements/experience.html.
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