Master of Physician Assistant Admissions Requirements

If you have any questions about the ECPI University Physician Assistant program, our admissions protocol, our accreditation status, please contact PAAdmissions@ecpi.edu

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Standards for Admission 

Applications will be received nationwide through the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA). Requires a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university

1. Required GPA of 3.0 or higher.
2. A grade of “C” or higher in all prerequisite courses.
3. Minimum of 500 direct healthcare experience hours required (often as EMT, paramedics, military medics, CNA or RN)

Minimum and Competitive standards are listed below.

Required Prerequisites

The table below outlines our program’s specific prerequisite requirements.

* Anatomy with Lab and Physiology can be taken as separate Anatomy and Physiology. They do not need to be a combined Anatomy and Physiology course.

** Medical Terminology does not need to be completed from an institution of higher learning and can be taken online through Coursera or MedCerts. A certificate of completion must be submitted on your CASPA application or must be in progress at the time of your application submission.

Three Self-Select Prerequisites

To increase the diversity of our applicant pool we allow students to “map” three additional prerequisites to their application. However, there are four requirements of self-select prerequisites:

1. Students must self-select 1x upper-level biology course, 1x upper-level chemistry course, and 1x upper-level math course.
2. At least one of the three self-selections must include a laboratory (in-person or virtual).
3. Each course must be at least 3+ semester hours.
4. Courses must be from a regionally accredited institution.

We will accept alternate courses for prerequisites on a case-by-case basis. Please contact PA admissions with:

1. Prerequisite Course
2. Substitution Course
3. Course description and credit hours from University Catalog

All GPAs will be reported by CASPA in accordance with the CASPA value charts.

Advanced Standing and Transfer Credits

The PA program does not accept previous medical training or experience for advanced placement. All PA matriculants are required to complete the full curriculum.

Online Courses

We currently accept online courses for core and prerequisite curriculum.

Pass/Fail, AP/IB, and CLEP

We currently accept P/F courses for core content classes only. All prerequisite courses must be passed with a letter grade of “C” or higher.

Grade Substitutions

Grade substitutions will be accepted for the highest grade completed for the course.

Prerequisite Time Window

All prerequisite coursework requirements must be taken within 10 years of enrolling in the program. For the 2025 admissions cycle, the oldest prerequisite we will accept will be from the Fall 2015 academic year.

Foreign Degrees

We currently invite all international students who meet the established admissions standards to apply. * Please refer to the "Admissions Guidebook" for the full set of requirements.

Application Deadlines and Materials

CASPA applications will open in late April each year and must be verified by the deadline posted on CASPA.

Groups and Factors Considered for Additional Evaluation Preference

Life Experiences

1. Personal Challenges
   1. Socioeconomic factors to include but are not limited to:
      1. Family / personal income level – as reported in CASPA
      2. First-generation status
      3. Raised in a medically underserved area as highlighted by the HRSA.
   2. Community Involvement
      1. Extra-Curricular or community improvement activities. Criteria the admissions committee looks at:
         1. If the activity had over 9 months of involvement
         2. If the activity benefited underserved populations
      2. Non-Traditional Student. Non-traditional students to us are:
         1. Military/Veteran
         2. At least 2 years post-undergraduate and a career inside/outside of medicine
         3. Graduate of a Master’s program
         4. Hampton Roads local preference (counties in VA and NC within a 75-mile radius)

View Admissions Guidebook in Full