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Program Admission

Program Requirements

Students enter the Physician Assistant program in the summer term of each year.

The 25-month*, full-time program requires continuous attendance. Therefore, students should plan finances carefully to avoid the necessity for employment. Information on financial assistance opportunities is available in the Student Financial Services office, Student Services Center.

Students must meet academic and technical standards prior to admission to the program. Admission to the program is required prior to registering for any MSPA course. An overall GPA of 3.0 or better in the physician assistant curriculum is required to progress into the clinical year of the program.

All physician assistant students are required to have a personal cell phone, email address and Internet access.

Refer to the PA Admission Requirement Handbook PDF  for detailed admissions requirements, curriculum information and application instructions. 

*Class of 2023 and Class of 2024, Class of 2025 and beyond will have a 24 month curriculum.

  • Applicants to the Physician Assistant program must have a bachelor’s degree or higher conferred from a nationally recognized institution.
  • Completion of the following prerequisite courses with a minimum grade of B in each course: Statistics, General Microbiology, Anatomy and Physiology 1, Anatomy and Physiology 2, Introduction to Psychology or Developmental Psychology, and General Chemistry or Organic Chemistry or Biochemistry. Prerequisites provided in the admissions information to ensure equivalency prior to submitting a CASPA application.Transcript evaluation services are not available. The anatomy and physiology courses are required to have been completed within the last seven (7) years of the date the CASPA application is submitted.
  • Applicants to the Physician Assistant program must submit application materials and complete an application through the Central Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA) at www.caspaonline.org. Applicants are encouraged to apply by July 1 since the CASPA application process can take several weeks to be completed. Program requirements such as a bachelor’s degree or higher, minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 and equivalency of the six listed prerequisites with a minimum grade of B or better must be reflected in the completed application to be eligible for consideration. UMB must receive the completed CASPA application by the deadline date of September 1. Applicants must also complete three (3) Letters of Recommendation, a Personal Statement and Patient Contact Experience history (a minimum of 1400 hours is preferred) in the CASPA application.
  • Foreign educated students must have their international college transcripts from all higher-level institutions attended evaluated by one of the following credential evaluators: ECE (Educational Credential Evaluators) at www.ece.org, WES (World Education Services) at www.wes.org or SpanTran: The Evaluation Company at www.spantran.com. Please be advised that this process may take several months and must be completed in order to submit and complete the CASPA application.
  • Applicants whose native language or language of the home is not English must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The minimum acceptable TOEFL score for admission is 250 for the computer-based test and 100 for the Internet-based test. Please note that TOEFL scores are only valid for two years. Official TOEFL scores must be reported on the CASPA application and be mailed to CASPA by the application deadline. 
  • Please refer to the Physician Assistant website for detailed information regarding Physician Assistant admission requirements and process.

All physician assistant students must receive a minimum grade of C in each physician assistant course (and maintain a 3.0 GPA). Students who receive a final grade below C in any physician assistant didactic course will be awarded a grade of F in the course and will not be permitted to continue in the program.

The selection criteria used to evaluate each applicant will include, but are not limited to:

  • Cumulative GPA
  • Natural science GPA and credits/hours
  • Letters of recommendation
  • Patient contact experience
  • Community, military and/or civil service
  • Conversational fluency in multiple languages
  • Recommended courses
  • Interview

No selection decisions will be communicated via telephone. The decision of the Physician Assistant Admissions Committee is final.

A non-refundable seat deposit is required upon acceptance to the program. This will be applied to your first term bill.

Students who are provisionally accepted to this program of study will be required to submit confirmation that they are free of communicable diseases as evidenced by required immunization/titers.  A Technical Standards form which states that the student meets the technical standard of good physical and mental health as established by the UMB Graduate School must be completed and submitted to the admissions office before the start of the program.

This program requires the satisfactory completion of a criminal background check and possible drug screening. 

Students seeking readmission to the Physician Assistant program are referred to the PA Program Manual. Specific requirements and eligibility must be met for consideration for readmission.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore's Physician Assistant program does not offer advanced placement in or transfer into either the didactic or clinical portions of the program.

Students are required to have individual health insurance coverage throughout the duration of the program.

 

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