Physician Assistant

Advisors: Manuel Campos, Ashley Fink

Pre-physician assistant students must take a number of natural and social science courses as pre-requisites for admission. There are no universal set of common pre-requisites to all programs, but the courses listed below are common to most. Because of the complexity of scheduling prerequisite courses, we recommend that students interested in applying to physician assistant school contact an advisor as early as possible in their academic career.

Pre-requisite courses common to most programs:

Course List
Code	Title	Hours
BIOL 101	Foundations of Biology	4
BIOL 201	Intermediate Cell Biology and Genetics	4
BIOL 316	General Genetics	4
BIOL 307	Biology of Microorganisms	4
BIOL 317	Biochemistry	4
BIOL 325 & BIOL 326	Human Anatomy and Physiology I and Human Anatomy and Physiology II	8
CHEM 125	Introduction to Chemical Structure and Properties	4
CHEM 250	Reactions of Nucleophiles and Electrophiles (Reactivity 1)	4
CHEM 255	Macroscopic Chemical Analysis (Inorganic and quantitative)	4
CHEM 251	Intermediate Reactions of Nucleophiles and Electrophiles (Reactivity 2) (only required if a full year of organic is required)	4
Labs (for credit):
CHEM 201	Purification and Separation Lab I	1
CHEM 202	Purification and Chromatography Lab II	1
CHEM 205	Chemical Measurement Lab	1
CHEM 203	Synthesis Lab (if two semesters of organic is required)	1
MATH 124	Probability and Statistical Inference	4
PSYC 111	Introductory Psychology	4
PSYC 360	Developmental Psychology	4
PSYC 381	Psychological Disorders	4
COLG 121	Medical Terminology	1

In addition most programs require a substantial number of patient contact hours prior to admission - the number of hours is very variable from program to program but somewhere near 1000 hours is generally recommended.

Examples of patient care hours includes work as a(n):

Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) or Personal Care Assistant (PCA) in a health care setting (i.e. hospital, nursing home)
home health aide
physical therapy aide
camp counselor for kids who are patients
Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
Phlebotomist
Volunteer in a health care setting (but must be working with patients)

Some schools also require completing the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) as well as significant shadowing experience with a Physician Assistant.

Additional Requirements:

General Education Requirements:

All undergraduate students must complete the requirements of the Integrations Curriculum (IC) which is designed to ensure all of our students receive a liberal arts education. Please review details of the Integrations Curriculum requirements here.

Graduation Requirements:

In addition to the Integrations Curriculum, all undergraduate students must meet the following minimum degree requirements to earn their degree from CSB and SJU.

Credits: 124 total credits, 40 of which must be from upper division coursework
GPA: 2.0 or higher*
Residency: At least 24 of your last 32 credits must be completed at CSB/SJU

Please visit Graduation under the Academic Policies and Regulations portion of the catalog for additional details regarding degree requirements.

* Cumulative GPA as well as major(s)/minor(s) GPA. Please note some majors/minors may require a higher GPA to earn their degree.

Four Year Plans

Pre-Physician Assistant

Plan of Study Grid
First Year
Fall		Hours
INTG 105	College Success	1
INTG 100	Foundations	4
Language 111		4
BIOL 101	Foundations of Biology	4
CHEM 125	Introduction to Chemical Structure and Properties	4
CHEM 201	Purification and Separation Lab I	1
	Hours	18
Spring
Language 112		4
Cultural/Social Difference - Identity		4
BIOL 201	Intermediate Cell Biology and Genetics	4
CHEM 250	Reactions of Nucleophiles and Electrophiles (Reactivity 1)	4
CHEM 202	Purification and Chromatography Lab II	1
	Hours	17
Second Year
Fall
Language 211		4
THEO 100	Theological Explorations	4
CHEM 255	Macroscopic Chemical Analysis	4
CHEM 205	Chemical Measurement Lab	1
	Hours	13
Spring
BIOL 316	General Genetics	4
PSYC 111	Introductory Psychology	4
MATH 124	Probability and Statistical Inference	4
	Hours	12
Third Year
Fall
BIOL 307	Biology of Microorganisms	4
PSYC 360 or PSYC 381	Developmental Psychology or Psychological Disorders	4
Artistic Expression		4
	Hours	12
Spring
BIOL 317	Biochemistry	4
SOCI 111	Introduction to Sociology	4
Human Experience		4
	Hours	12
Fourth Year
Fall
BIOL 325	Human Anatomy and Physiology I	4
Cultural/Social Difference - Systems		4
Theological Integrations		4
	Hours	12
Spring
INTG 300	Learning Integrations	4
PSYC 360 or PSYC 381	Developmental Psychology or Psychological Disorders	4
BIOL 326	Human Anatomy and Physiology II	4
	Hours	12
	Total Hours	108

Pre-Physician Assistant with Study Abroad

Plan of Study Grid
First Year
Fall		Hours
INTG 105	College Success	1
INTG 100	Foundations	4
Language 111		4
BIOL 101	Foundations of Biology	4
CHEM 125	Introduction to Chemical Structure and Properties	4
CHEM 201	Purification and Separation Lab I	1
	Hours	18
Spring
Language 112		4
Cultural/Social Difference - Identity		4
BIOL 201	Intermediate Cell Biology and Genetics	4
CHEM 250	Reactions of Nucleophiles and Electrophiles (Reactivity 1)	4
CHEM 202	Purification and Chromatography Lab II	1
	Hours	17
Second Year
Fall
Language 211		4
THEO 100	Theological Explorations	4
CHEM 255	Macroscopic Chemical Analysis	4
CHEM 205	Chemical Measurement Lab	1
	Hours	13
Spring
BIOL 316	General Genetics	4
PSYC 111	Introductory Psychology	4
MATH 124	Probability and Statistical Inference	4
	Hours	12
Third Year
Fall
BIOL 317	Biochemistry	4
PSYC 360 or PSYC 381	Developmental Psychology or Psychological Disorders	4
Artistic Expression		4
SOCI 111	Introduction to Sociology	4
	Hours	16
Spring
Study Abroad
GL		4
EX		4
HE		4
CS		4
	Hours	16
Fourth Year
Fall
BIOL 325	Human Anatomy and Physiology I	4
BIOL 307	Biology of Microorganisms	4
Theological Integrations		4
	Hours	12
Spring
INTG 300	Learning Integrations	4
PSYC 360 or PSYC 381	Developmental Psychology or Psychological Disorders	4
BIOL 326	Human Anatomy and Physiology II	4
	Hours	12
	Total Hours	116

Academic Catalog and Handbooks