Prerequisites

Le Moyne College offers two tracks for physician assistant education:

• A regular track leading to the MS degree.
• An accelerated track leading to BS/MS or BA/MS degrees.

MS Program

Preference will be given to those applicants for the MS program who have completed at least four upper level science courses within the past five years; have fewer than four outstanding prerequisites at the time of application in the Fall with evidence that they will be completed by the end of the Spring semester; have a science GPA of greater than 3.0; and, who have more than 500 hours of patient experience completed at the time of application.

Successful completion of this program leads to a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies.

Prerequisites

• A baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution.
• GPA of 3.0 or better in science courses, prerequisite courses, and overall.
• Prerequisite courses (14 courses)
  • 2 semesters biology for science majors, with lab
  • 4 additional biology courses for science majors, two of which must include lab (Recommended courses include: cell and molecular biology, microbiology, genetics, mammalian anatomy, mammalian physiology, embryology, developmental biology, neurobiology, endocrinology, toxicology, advanced molecular biology, and environmental biology.)
  • 2 semesters general chemistry for science majors, with lab
  • 1 semester organic chemistry or biochemistry
  • 2 semesters selected from one or more of the following: statistics or calculus or physics
  • 2 semesters social science (Examples include: general psychology, abnormal psychology, lifespan development, environmental psychology, personality, aging and adult development, cross-cultural psychology, health psychology, human sexuality, counseling and psychotherapy, sociology, anthropology)
  • 1 semester English composition or technical writing
• Basic computing skills, including word processing, spreadsheet, and information searching
• Health care experience: 750 hours of paid, or volunteer, or combination direct hands-on care
• TOEFL score of 213 (computer-based exam) or 550 (paper-based exam) is required of all applicants whose native language is not English, with the following exceptions:
  • Graduation from an accredited American high school - OR-
  • Graduation from an American two- or four-year college or university - OR-
  • Completion of 15 graduate credits at an American college or university - OR-
  • Completion of 60 undergraduate credits including 6 transferable credits of English at an American college or university
    

Accelerated BA/MS or BS/MS Program

The accelerated BA/MS or BS/MS program is designed for the exceptional student to complete both baccalaureate and master’s degrees within five years. In order to be competitive for this program, an applicant should have minimum overall and science GPAs of 3.2 or better, have completed at least half of the patient contact hours, and have fewer than four science prerequisites to complete at the time of application.

Because of its compressed nature, there is little time for taking elective courses. Therefore, a student with a mature attitude toward learning and life experience will be more competitive.

The Physician Assistant Studies Program seeks to ensure that all students accepted into the program have every opportunity to succeed and recognizes that many students need an additional year to develop their interests and knowledge in order to succeed in this intense professional curriculum.

The BA or BS degree will be granted upon successful completion of Clinical Medicine I, Pharmacology I and II, and Medical Humanities I and II. The MS degree will be granted upon completion of the remainder of the PA program required courses.

Prerequisites

• Completion of at least 103 undergraduate credits, including all core and major requirements except the following:
• Senior humanities (6 credits from the PA Program – Medical Humanities Seminars I & II – will be applied to the BA/BS degree)
• 2 biology electives (8 credits from the PA Program – Human Anatomy & Physiology I & II will be applied to the BA/BS degree)
• 4 general electives toward the BS (13 credits from the PA Program – Pharmacology I & II and Clinical Medicine I – will be applied to the BA/BS degree)
• Completion of all other requirements (except the baccalaureate degree) listed above

Health Care Experience

Applicants frequently ask what will count toward the patient contact hours. The following is intended as a guide only and is not all-inclusive. Some health care experiences are considered to be of higher quality than others, and preference will be given to those with higher quality experiences. Also, please note that partial credit will be granted for some types of experience. If you have questions as to whether an activity or experience will count toward the hours, please contact the Office of Graduate Admission at PhysAssist@lemoyne.edu or at 315-445-5444.

Health care experience must be verified by a letter from the supervisor, preferably on letter-head from the office, institution, or organization. A simple statement of the position, number of hours completed, and dates of service should be included. A sample letter can be downloaded as a Microsoft Word document. The letter should be addressed to the Graduate Admission Committee, PA Program, Office of Graduate Admission, Le Moyne College, 1419 Salt Springs Road, Syracuse, NY 13214.

Highest quality patient contact experiences – intensive hands-on experience, high level responsibility

Moderate quality patient contact experiences – hands-on experience, moderate level responsibility

Partial credit for the following due to limited actual patient care time compared to time spent in activity

Low quality patient contact experiences – patient contact, may or may not involve hands-on experience, moderate or low level responsibility

Related health care experience – partial credit given – does not involve patient contact or hands-on experience

Related humanitarian experiences (hours evaluated on case-by-case basis)

Advanced Standing

The Le Moyne College Physician Assistant Program does not grant advanced placement, give credit for PAS courses, or accept transfer of credit for PA courses. Previous health care experience is required, but no credit for PAS courses is granted for that experience.