Physician Assistant Studies

The Le Moyne College Physician Assistant Program is fully accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) and the Education Department of the State of New York through 2031.

The PA program at Le Moyne College is a full-time program (only) for the duration of 24 months. Year one is the didactic year and year two is the clinical year. Students will attend classes/clinicals in the fall, spring and summer semesters during the duration of the program.

There is not an online or distance learning option for our program. The first year is the didactic year and that will be in a traditional classroom/lab environment. The second year will involve nine clinical rotations and will take place in a variety of healthcare environments/settings.

You will be able to locate graduate tuition and fees directly on our website. As you will see, students in the program will be required to have reliable transportation during the clinical year (year two). Clinical sites are typically within a 60-75-mile radius of campus and students may also incur additional housing/travel expenses during the clinical year, if placed at site from a farther distance.

Le Moyne currently has a few different residential options for graduate students. The Office of Campus Life & Leadership will be able to provide more information about these options after admission. In addition to those options, there are several options in close proximity to campus that past and current students have found to be affordable and conducive to their study habits. In the spring, prior to starting the program, incoming students will receive a roster of the incoming cohort. This will provide opportunities to connect with future classmates and also a great way to discuss potential opportunities for roommates, housing, etc. Incoming students will also be assigned to a PA student mentor and this will be a person that can assist with the transition to the program and the Syracuse area.

Click here under the section for “Academic Overview” to review a five-year summary of first time test takers for the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE).

Applications must be submitted electronically to the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA)

by October 1st. Applications must be completed, submitted and verified by CASPA before the October 1st deadline. Applicants are encouraged to start this process at least three to four weeks in advance of the deadline in order to provide CASPA with enough time to process and forward the materials to Le Moyne College.

 

When does the CASPA application become available for each application cycle? We would always defer to the CASPA website, but traditionally it has opened in late-April.

In addition to the completion of the CASPA application, applicants will be required to submit their college transcript(s) to CASPA along with three letters of recommendation - one academic recommendation, one clinical/professional recommendation & one other academic or clinical recommendation. The clinical recommendation letter does not need to be from a current Physician Assistant.

Yes. High school students have the opportunity to apply to a 3+2 or 4+2 Direct Entry pathway coming out of high school. This offers an opportunity for early provisional acceptance to the graduate program. Accepted students will complete a Bachelor of Science program in Biological Sciences/Master of Science Program in Physician Assistant Studies, provided that they maintain (or exceed) an overall grade point average/overall science grade point average (as defined by CASPA) of a 3.40. They will also have to meet the requirement of 750 hours of direct patient contact.Click here to learn more about the requirements for the Direct Entry PA program.

Yes. Le Moyne offers a Veteran-Physician Assistant Bridge Pathway. There are three distinct paths through this program to meet you where you are at in your academic career. Students should consult with the Graduate Admission Office to determine if they are an eligible student for these pathways.

No. Le Moyne does not require an entrance exam score (ex. GRE, PA-CAT, etc.) as part of the application process. Le Moyne also does not require a supplemental application as part of the application process.

CASPA will allow for a student to submit results from various entrance exams (ex. GRE, PA-CAT, etc.) as part of their application, but we do not consider them as part of our holistic application review process.

Yes. We absolutely consider and encourage international applicants to our program. Students should consider appropriate funding sources as international applicants may not qualify for traditional student loans via FAFSA.

How are international or foreign transcripts evaluated?

• Foreign transcripts need to be evaluated by an appropriate evaluating service and then submitted as part of your CASPA application for consideration. Le Moyne recommends the use of a NACES accredited evaluation service and CASPA also provides some recommendations. Le Moyne requires a course-by-course evaluation to be considered for our program.
• Canadian transcripts are reviewed by CASPA. English-Canadian transcripts and French-Canadian transcripts have different requirements. Please contact CASPA directly for guidance.

 

Are international applicants required to take the TOEFL exam?

• A TOEFL score of 213 (computer-based exam), 550 (paper-based exam) or a 79 (internet-based exam) is required of all applicants whose native language is not English, with the one of the following exceptions:
• Graduation from an accredited American High School.
• Graduation from an American two-year or four-year college or university.
• Completion of 15 graduate credits at an American college or university.
• Completion of 60 undergraduate credits, including six transferable credits of English at an American college or university.

 

Does Le Moyne accept applications from Undocumented Applicants?

• Yes, immigration status is not a factor in our admission process. Applicants who do not qualify for traditional student loans via FAFSA may need to plan for alternate funding sources. Applicants who do not hold US Citizenship or Permanent Residency should become familiar with licensing requirements as early as possible. Questions on these can be discussed with privacy to the Office of Graduate Admissions or the Chair for the PA Program upon admission.

 

On average, 75 students will enroll as first-year graduate students in the PA program. Of the 75 spots in the program, about 15 (est.) of those are reserved for our Direct Entry students and participants in the Veteran-Bridge program.

Applicants that submit a completed and verified application by the application deadline, will be sent a confirmation email shortly thereafter to confirm that we have received all required documents. This email will also provide instructions on how to make a one-time update to your Le Moyne application prior to the advertised application deadline.

A timeline for each application cycle is posted on the admission information webpage and is updated as details are available for each individual application cycle.

Applicants invited for an interview will be provided with additional information in preparation for their interview.

All communication regarding admission decisions and interview invitations is sent via email to the account provided in CASPA by the applicant.

No. There is not a specific major requirement for consideration for the program. We will do an extensive review of all coursework completed and verified by CASPA as part of our review process to ensure that all academic prerequisites have been satisfied. Whenever possible, we encourage applicants to complete all prerequisites in a rigorous course of study, ideally housed within a science major.

Click here to see an overview of admission requirements and prerequisite coursework for the PA program at Le Moyne College.

An applicant could be considered competitive with no more than two academic prerequisite courses remaining (or in process of completion) at the time of application (October 1). An applicant should also have completed a minimum of 750 hours of direct patient care experiences at the time of application (October 1). You can view a guide for how patient care experiences are evaluated in terms of quality by clicking here.

Le Moyne can accept AP credit for prerequisite credit as long as the credit earned is clearly noted on your previous college transcript(s) as having been accepted by that institution. This credit would have to count towards a specific content area or if a score report from the College Board is provided (upon our request). We commonly see AP credit being applied to Introductory Biology, English Composition or Social Science requirements. For example, credit for AP English is often reflected as an English Composition course on a college transcript.

Upper level Biology coursework, must be at the 200-level (or higher) to indicate an advanced/upper-level curriculum and should have a Biology course coding such as: BIO, BIOL or BI. Coursework in other science categories (ex. Nursing, Kinesiology, Radiology, Exercise Science, etc.) are not considered to be as competitive.

Le Moyne requires the four advanced-level Biology courses to have been completed within the last five years from the time of application. Minimally, two of these four courses must be accompanied by a lab component. For example, if you are applying for the Fall 2023 semester, then you would be submitting your application by October 1st, 2022. Therefore, the upper-level Biology courses would have to have been completed from 2017 to present. With the ever changing nature of healthcare, we implemented this requirement to ensure that applicants have the most up to date knowledge and experiences to best prepare them for the rigors of the program and the profession.

Prerequisites outside of the four advanced-level Biology courses do not have a time limit.

If no other advanced Biology courses are present, then we will accept a maximum of one course from the other sciences category toward this requirement. Courses considered for this requirement should come from our list of highly recommended/recommended subjects as indicated at the bottom of the prerequisite coursework form.

Although health related work experience is attractive to your application, professional experience(s) would not be able to take the place of prerequisite coursework or exempt an applicant from the 5 year time limit on the four advanced-Level Biology courses.

No. The five-year time limit only applies to the four required upper-level Biology courses. Therefore, the other prerequisite courses can be from any point of your academic record.

It is very common to receive applications from students who have attended institutions that do not use a traditional semester credit hour system (quarter credit, trimester credit, etc.).

In these scenarios, we will translate/equate your previous credit to semester hours during our application review process. This commonly involves accepting more than one course on your transcript in order to satisfy one prerequisite course. There are many tools available online that you can use in order to translate your credits to semester credit hours to assist in the process of applying to our program.

Classes for the first semester of the PA program will begin sometime at the end of August. However, in the summer prior to your program start, you will take a non-credit/no-fee online and 100% self-paced course: PAS 600 - Orientation to the Profession. This course provides a refresher on common medical terminology and orients you to many program logistics.

PBL is designed to help our students develop clinical reasoning skills by using patient scenarios. Our program will combine traditional lecture-based coursework with a student-oriented group learning experience (along with self-study) that is facilitated by a medical provider. This will assist students in developing proficiency in conducting histories and physicals as well as applying medical knowledge to patient scenarios.

Students will spend their days in a mixture of traditional lectures (ex. Clinical Medicine, Pharmacology, Medical Humanities, Anatomy & Physiology and Research Seminar) in addition to hands-on courses. Hands-on courses will include the laboratory portion of Clinical Medicine or Anatomy & Physiology, group-involved courses, such as the PBL or service learning activity. Time spent outside of the classroom will be used for studying and practicing/applying the skills learned during the day.

Nine rotations are required in the clinical year. There are seven core rotations: Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Women’s Health/Ambulatory Care, General Surgery, Behavioral Health & Emergency Medicine. The final two rotations are elective rotations from a surgical or medical specialty.

Students will generally be assigned to rotation sites that are located within a 60-mile radius of our campus, but can be assigned to sites from a farther distance. Students will be expected to have reliable transportation in order to get to the assigned clinical rotation sites. Students will also be responsible for all costs associated with transportation and housing.

Students have taken advantage of a global experience during the clinical year and have utilized one of the elective rotations for this experience. Please note these experiences take a tremendous amount of planning and additional considerations and therefore are not guaranteed.

Students will generally be assigned to rotation sites that are located within a 60-mile radius of our campus, but can be assigned to sites from a farther distance. Students will be expected to have reliable transportation in order to get to the assigned clinical rotation sites. Students will also be responsible for all costs associated with transportation and housing.

No. At Le Moyne College, it is our obligation to our students to place them in each of the clinical rotation sites. The PA program at Le Moyne has a clinical coordinator that works with students to develop individualized rotation locations/schedules in order to meet the needs of the students and to fulfill the requirements of the program.

A clinical rotation could potentially be established in the hometown of a student as it would depend on the specific geographic location and if we have a preceptor relationship established in that geographic location.

A student could potentially utilize their personal network in order to set up a clinical rotation. The approval process for this type of rotation can take months to establish, so the recommendation is for a student to work with our clinical coordinator as early as possible to begin the process. We have to ensure that the rotation would meet the standards of our program and the standards of our accreditation.

Students that complete the requirements of the program will receive a Master of Science Degree in Physician Assistant Studies.

A student would be eligible to take the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE) upon graduation from an accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). The earliest that a student can take the PANCE exam would be seven days after completion of the PA program under the assumption that the program has certified the student to graduate.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides information on salary trends for the profession, which can be found by clicking here.

U.S. News & World Report has listed the PA profession as one of the Best Health Care Jobs in 2022.

No. We are still requiring 750 hours of patient contact experience at the time of application. We understand that there have been some restrictions and limitations of certain experiences, but the pandemic has also provided new opportunities to gain patient contact experience(s) (i.e. COVID testing).

Yes. We will consider coursework that was forced to go online due to the pandemic as long as the course was completed through an accredited institution.