The Physician Assistant Studies program provides a comprehensive academic and clinical medical education to prepare students for their professional roles as physician assistants. Students may enroll at either our Suwanee, Georgia campus, or our main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
START YOUR APPLICATIONPhiladelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) participates in the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA). You may obtain additional information about CASPA and apply online at CASPA.
CASPA applications for 2020-2021 enrollment will become available on April 30, 2020.
All Physician Assistant Studies program applications are to be e-submitted, completed, verified and received by the PCOM Office of Admissions by CASPA no later than December 1, 2020 for both PCOM and PCOM Georgia (separate application per campus). There are no exceptions to the PA Studies program application deadline of December 1, 2020. When applying to PCOM through CASPA, you will be required to complete PCOM specific questions before submitting.
All required application materials for the Physician Assistant Studies program, including a $25 PCOM application fee (one fee per campus), are to be received by the Office of Admissions by December 15, 2020, in order to be considered for admission by the appropriate Faculty Committee on Admissions. Note that the application fee can only be paid online through the link sent via email at receipt of a verified and completed CASPA application. Acknowledgment emails with instructions to pay the $25 PCOM application fee will be sent beginning in mid-June. Please check your spam folder if you do not receive an acknowledgment email a week after your application has been verified by CASPA.
The Faculty Committee on Admissions recommends you submit a completed and verified CASPA application, which includes a PCOM specific question series, as soon as possible as our PA Studies program operates using a rolling admissions process.
Yes, an interview is required for admission to the Physician Assistant Studies program and is typically conducted from September through February although interviews may be conducted before or after this time frame. Applicants can receive an email inviting them to interview at any point between September through February.
Due to COVID-19, we will conduct online interviews only for the 2020-2021 admissions cycle at all PCOM locations.
Completed and verified CASPA applications and supporting documents will be reviewed and individuals will be selected for an on-campus interview by the Faculty Committee on Admissions. Interviews will be offered to those who qualify and who are deemed competitive against the larger applicant pool for the Physician Assistant Studies program, taking into consideration the following:
Selection for the PA Studies program at PCOM is very competitive. The requirements represent the minimum criteria for consideration for admission. Successful applicants will generally exceed the minimum criteria.
A PA Studies program candidate can be selected for an interview at any time throughout the review process between September through February as deemed competitive by the Faculty Committee on Admissions. Decisions for interviewed candidates typically are sent within five weeks after the interview. An email will be sent to all applicants not selected for an interview after the last interview session has occurred.
All applicants must complete a baccalaureate degree, preferably in science or a health-related field, from a regionally accredited college or university in the United States, Canada or the United Kingdom prior to matriculation. The PA Studies program will accept courses and labs completed online or on campus. All prerequisite coursework must be completed prior to enrollment with a grade of at least a "C" or 2.0 on a 4.0 scale with the exception of coursework completed during the spring and summer 2020 terms which may be listed as Pass in a pass/fail grading scale.
Applicants must send official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended directly to CASPA. Once enrolled at PCOM, candidates for the Physician Assistant Studies program must submit official copies of all college transcripts directly to the PCOM Office of Admissions.
PA Studies applicants must submit three letters of recommendation. One recommendation MUST be from a Physician, Physician Assistant or Nurse Practitioner in order to be considered for admission.
Applicants must submit three letters of recommendation directly to CASPA. Additional recommendation letters may be sent as a PDF document to PCOM's Office of Admissions at recommend@pcom.edu.
No, standardized test scores are not required for admission to PCOM’s Physician Assistant Studies program with the exception of English language testing. Fluency in written and spoken English is essential for success in the program and to ensure patient safety. Applicants whose native language is not English must demonstrate objective competency in English within the past two years by satisfactory performance on the TOEFL examination. The minimum required score for the IBT (Internet Based Testing) is 79, with a minimum score of 26 for the speaking component.
Applicants for the PA Studies program are exempt from the TOEFL requirement if:
Courses Required |
Credit Hours |
Notes |
General Biology I* |
4 |
Lab required |
General Biology II* |
4 |
Lab required |
Other Biology Coursework |
3 |
Examples: Microbiology, Genetics, Cell Biology, etc. |
Anatomy and Physiology |
8 |
Can be taken as separate courses or combined as Anatomy and Physiology I & II. Labs required. |
General Chemistry I* |
4 |
Lab required |
General Chemistry II* |
4 |
Lab required |
Other Chemistry Coursework |
3 |
Examples: Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry |
Health-related Science Course or Physics |
3 |
Examples: Physics, Nutrition, Immunology, Virology, Microbiology, Genetics, Cell Biology, etc. |
Social Sciences |
9 |
Examples: Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, History, etc. |
Math |
6 |
Statistics is considered an acceptable Math course |
* "General" coursework denotes the first two courses in the subject sequence for science majors.
Applicants must obtain an undergraduate science and cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale (as calculated by CASPA).
The PA Studies program will accept credits completed at a community college.
The program will accept courses and labs completed online or on campus.
To be considered for an interview for the Physician Assistant Studies program, applicants must have a minimum of 200 hours of direct patient contact experience in volunteerism or employment in the healthcare industry, as documented through CASPA at the time of application. Candidates complete the requirement in a variety of ways, some of which include: working as a certified nursing assistant, pharmacy technician, phlebotomist, LPN, EMT, paramedic, scribe, medical translator, etc.
Many Physician Assistant Studies program candidates have experienced medicine overseas as volunteers in clinics. Any volunteer work or paid work in a clinical setting wherein candidates are either providing hands-on care or witnessing care first hand can be acceptable, depending on the nature of the role. Health care shadowing experiences are counted and highly recommended.
Applicants for the PA Studies program with graduate degrees and/or five years of healthcare experience and/or other unique circumstances or qualifications may be considered, on an individual basis, for waiver of selected published requirements. However, all Physician Assistant Studies candidates must have earned a baccalaureate degree prior to enrollment. Waiving of any criteria can only be assessed during the formal application review by the Faculty Committee on Admissions. Staff members of the Office of Admissions may not waive application requirements.
To ensure that students accepted to PCOM will be permitted to perform preceptorships during their second year of study, and thus ensure them the opportunity to successfully complete their MS degree requirements, PCOM requires all first year PA students to complete a criminal background check prior to matriculation. All students must have their criminal background checks processed through a PCOM chosen vendor. The Admissions Office will send notification of the process after confirmation of enrollment and must have this information on file prior to orientation. Students will not be permitted to start classes without a criminal background check received and approved by the Office of Admissions.
Candidates interviewed for PCOM's PA Studies program are evaluated based on multiple factors including:
The Admissions Committee reserves the right to accept or reject applications to the chosen program based on merit.
Following completion of the admissions process, PA Studies program applicants will be notified of the Admissions Committee's decision in writing, including any conditions that must be satisfied prior to or following enrollment. Once admitted, candidates who wish to enroll are asked to review and acknowledge PCOM's Technical Standards for Admission and Matriculation (PDF) and submit a $500 non-refundable tuition prepayment online. The acceptance packet will contain all materials required for enrollment. Applicants may be placed on the waitlist after completion of the interview process. Typically, PA Studies program candidates are selected as seats become available from February until classes begin in June. After all expected candidates arrive for orientation in June, those not selected will be sent a final decision letter by mail.
The Physician Assistant Studies program does not offer advanced placement based upon transfer of credits for academic work completed at other institutions of higher learning or upon credit from experiential learning. Applications are not accepted from graduates of medical schools.
It is the sole responsibility of the applicant to determine that he/she will meet the eligibility requirements for national certification and state licensing. It is also the applicant’s sole responsibility to determine whether any particular country will allow the practice of the profession for which a PCOM degree is received and licensing in the United States is obtained.
Please note the data below represents the ranges of the Class of 2021 for the Philadelphia and Georgia campuses and by no means predicts one's success as a Physician Assistant candidate or student. Each application is reviewed and evaluated in a holistic manner by the Faculty Committee on Admissions.
For questions regarding submission of the CASPA application and GPA calculation, contact CASPA directly at caspainfo@caspaonline.org or 617-612-2080.
Should you have any questions related to the Physician Assistant Studies program or admissions process, please contact the respective Office of Admissions via email at:
View frequently asked questions about PCOM and PCOM Georgia's PA Studies program.
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