PA programs typically award a master’s degree upon completion. Therefore, students applying to these programs must meet the following requirements:

COMPLETED THE FOLLOWING COMMON PREREQUISITE COURSES:

♦ General Biology
♦ Human Anatomy and Physiology
♦ General Chemistry
♦ Organic Chemistry
♦ Genetics
♦ Psychology
♦ Microbiology
♦ Medical Terminology

Many programs also require certain healthcare experience or shadowing. Please contact programs directly to find out their individual application requirements.

SHADOWING

PA programs typically require a certain number of shadowing hours for applicants. There are several ways to find PAs to shadow:

♦Physician Assistant Shadow Online (pashadowonline.com) is an online program that matches prospective PA students with practicing PAs.

♦ Contact the volunteer department of your local hospital. They can screen you as a volunteer and match you up with PAs working in the hospital.

♦The Tennessee Department of Health maintains an online database of all healthcare licensees (https://apps.health.tn.gov/licensure/default.aspx). To find a PA in your area, visit this website and enter your city and state and select “Physician Assistant” in the profession drop-down menu. To get that PA’s contact information, click on the “Practitioner Profile” link on their record.