Physician Assistant Studies M.S.

(93 credits)

In addition to admission requirements for the College of Graduate and Professional Studies, the Physician Assistant Program requires students:

1. To have earned a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher learning.
2. Hold a baccalaureate degree from institutions outside the United States to have completed at least one year or 24 credits of additional course work at a college or university in the United States prior to application.
3. Whose native language is not English to have a minimum TOEFL score of 550.
4. To submit three letters of recommendation and a personal statement explaining why she or he wants to become a physician assistant.
5. To show proficiency in medical terminology. The program offers a self-study module as needed and, if needed, must be completed prior to matriculation.
6. To obtain health care experience. For those who do not already have said experience, Indiana State University offers PASS 500X to facilitate acquiring needed experience prior to matriculation. This is not a requirement for application or admission.

Prerequisite course work and requirements are as follows. All completed courses must have a grade of C+ or better: 

1. At least five biological science courses of three or more credits each must be completed.  Of these five courses, at least one must be in anatomy, one in physiology, and one in microbiology. Courses in human anatomy and human physiology are preferred to courses of a more general nature, and courses with laboratories are preferred. To fulfill the remaining biological science course prerequisite, courses such as cell biology, molecular biology, genetics, pharmacology, embryology, histology, or immunology are recommended. While none of the latter courses are specifically required, they provide a good foundation for the study of medicine.
2. At least two organic chemistry courses with laboratories of four credits each.
3. At least one statistics course of at least two credits.
4. At least one medical terminology course of at least two credits.
5. Minimum GPA of 3.0 in science and overall.
6. No more than one pending prerequisite course at the time of application.