Physician Assistant, M.M.S.

Saint Louis University's Physician Assistant Master of Medical Science (M.M.S.) is a 27-month, year-round graduate program with a rigorous didactic and clinical curriculum that provides a broad foundation in medicine and surgery. 

As one of the first universities in the country to offer a physician assistant program, Saint Louis University has maintained a tradition of academic excellence and earned a national reputation as a leader in physician assistant education. Educational facilities at SLU provide an exceptional learning environment and include a simulated medical office with eight exam rooms equipped with cameras for recording and reviewing student performance.

The mission of Saint Louis University's physician assistant program is to educate individuals to become competent, compassionate physician assistants dedicated to excellence in health care and to the service of humanity.

Traditional pre-PA tracks can be found in many Doisy College of Health Sciences programs. In addition, DCHS proudly offers the direct-entry PA Scholars option for eligible incoming freshmen who are interested in the opportunity to secure a seat in the SLU PA program upon graduation from a specific pre-PA degree program.

SLU also offers an M.M.S./M.P.H. dual degree option for students who are passionate about pursuing both PA and public health interests.

Physician assistant students at SLU are involved in a variety of university and community service, including working at the student-run free clinic, the Health Resource Center. They also participate in national physician assistant activities.

Graduates of SLU's PA program are eligible to sit for the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE).

Annual NCCPA PANCE Exam Performance Summary

Please note: The NCCPA reports national PANCE pass rate data by calendar year. Our students graduate in December and are eligible to take the PANCE in January of the next calendar year. This results in the national comparison data being off by one year. For example, in the table provided, Program Exam Pass Rate from graduates of SLU Class of 2019 (who took the PANCE in 2020) are best compared to data from the National Exam Pass Rate for 2020.

SLU Physician Assistant Education Program Costs

Curriculum Overview

SLU's physician assistant curriculum offers a broad foundation in the medical and surgical disciplines. The principal faculty of the physician assistant program offers a breadth of background and experience in health care and education. In addition, more than 150 area physicians, PAs and other health professionals may lecture in the PA program, along with science faculty from within the University. 

Clinical and Research Opportunities

Clinical education is an essential component of SLU's physician assistant program. Students begin clinical education after completing four semesters of didactic education. Through clinical rotations in the major disciplines of medicine and surgery, physician assistant students at SLU learn to integrate clinical knowledge and skills with active patient care. Saint Louis University is clinically affiliated with numerous hospitals, clinics and private practices.

Most PA students are required to do a minimum of one or two assigned out-of-town rotations each year. These are at least 60 miles outside of St. Louis but are regional in nature, typically within a five-hour drive of campus. In some locations, the PA Student Society maintains a list of previously available housing to aid students when sent out of town. Students may request to be placed in locations where they have housing available, although this is not guaranteed.

Clinical Clerkships

Saint Louis University is a member of the National Council for State Authorization and Reciprocity Act (NC-SARA), which allows students to complete a portion of their education in a different state.

After four semesters of classroom instruction, PA students actively participate in patient care in six six-week and three four-week supervised clinical clerkships in the following disciplines:

• Clinical Elective: Many clinical specialty options are available for this elective experience, which also provides preparation for a grand rounds presentation. Specific clinical disciplines may be chosen based on your interests or what you believe would best augment your existing clinical knowledge and skills.

• Emergency Medicine: This clinical experience explores patient management in an emergency department setting. There is an emphasis on the importance of precise diagnosis and emergency management and treatment.

• Evidence-Based Medicine Clerkship: Many clinical specialty options are available. Students develop a project that includes concepts of evidence-based medicine in relation to a chosen clinical question and that unique clinical experience.

• Family Medicine: This clerkship provides students an opportunity to gain outpatient/ambulatory experience in a primary care setting with patients across different age groups.

• General Surgery: This clinical experience exposes students to concepts and principles that characterize the practice of surgery. Students will participate in the pre-operative, operative and post-operative care of patients.

• Internal Medicine: Students participate in direct patient care in inpatient or outpatient adult medicine. Emphasis is placed on patient evaluation, assessment, oral patient presentation and medical documentation. The clerkship focuses on understanding the complexities and interrelationships of disease processes and diagnostic and therapeutic collaboration.

• Pediatrics: This four-week clinical rotation provides practical clinical experience in the recognition and management of common pediatric problems, including assessment of the newborn, well-baby care, preventive pediatrics and parent counseling.

• Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine: This four-week clinical rotation provides experience working with patients in a psychiatric or behavioral medicine setting. Emphasis is placed on the clinical presentation, diagnostic workup, treatment and management of these patients in both inpatient and outpatient settings.

• Women's Health: This four-week clinical experience encompasses the fundamentals of obstetrics/gynecology/women's health. Emphasis is placed on the medical history, physical examination, diagnosis and treatment involved with prenatal, postpartum and general gynecologic care.

In some cases, students may be allowed to develop up to three of their own clerkships, following a careful screening process and programmatic approval.

Certification and Licensure

PAs are certified nationally and licensed by the state. After graduation from an ARC-PA accredited PA program, physician assistants can sit for the national certification exam, the PANCE (Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam). The PANCE is administered by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) which is the nationally recognized certification organization for physician assistants. The NCCPA assures high standards in the profession, provides the consumer with safeguards and the physician employer with evidence of competency. Saint Louis University physician assistant program graduates have consistently performed above the national average on the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE).

National certification via the NCCPA is required for clinical practice as a PA. Certified physician assistants are also required to demonstrate continued competency via mandatory continuing education every two years and successful completion of the national PA recertification exam every 10 years.

State licensure is also required for clinical practice as a PA. Specific requirements for licensure vary by state. Depending on state-specific requirements, the collaborative agreement between the PA and his or her collaborating physician (MD or DO) may be maintained with state licensure documents.

Note: Many state regulatory and governing organizations will not grant a license, registration or other professional practice documents if one has been convicted of a felony, or in some cases, a misdemeanor. Prospective applicants are encouraged to consult with the state licensing organization for more detailed information before applying.

Careers

Physician assistants are employed in essentially every medical and surgical specialty and subspecialty in which physicians are employed. PAs work in hospitals, clinics, offices and other settings. PAs obtain histories, perform physical exams, order diagnostic tests and imaging, interpret the results, diagnose and treat illnesses, counsel and educate patients, assist in surgery and prescribe medications.

Some physician assistants work in primary care, such as family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics and women's health, while others work in various medical and surgical specialties and subspecialties. SLU's PA graduates can be found in hospitals, clinics, private offices, community health centers and many other settings.

Admission Requirements

Baccalaureate Degree

Applicants to SLU's PA program should possess or be on track to a baccalaureate degree earned by the May prior to matriculation. An exception may be considered if students will earn an August degree, have completed all prerequisites and have three credits or fewer to complete during the summer.

Sufficient GPA

Applicants must have a science GPA of least 3.00 and an overall GPA of at least 3.00. These are considered minimum GPAs, not competitive GPAs. Average competitive GPAs are typically greater than 3.50 (if GPA or other application requirements were impacted by academic changes caused by COVID-19, please see the PA Program Applicant Impact Statement).
Prerequisite coursework includes:

• Medical terminology (1-3 credits)
• Statistics (3 credits)
• College chemistry I and II (8 credits)
• Organic chemistry I and II (6-8 credits)
• Microbiology (3-4 credits)
• Vertebrate or human anatomy (3-4 credits)
• Vertebrate or human physiology (3-4 credits)
• A combined Anatomy and Physiology I and II (6-8 credits) will be accepted in place of separate anatomy and physiology courses.
• Genetics (3-4 credits)

The GRE general test is recommended, though not required. Currently, there is no minimum score required. The SLU PA program GRE code is 4475 (do not use the Saint Louis University code; a specific SLU PA program code must be used with the CASPA applications).

Students cannot transfer into the PA program. No advanced placement is allowed for any coursework, degree or experience.

All prerequisite coursework must be completed by the May prior to matriculation. All science prerequisite courses must be those for science majors; if offered, accompanying laboratories are highly recommended. Only grades of C or better are acceptable for science and math prerequisite courses; grades of C- or below are not accepted and grades of B or better are preferred. Prerequisite course work should be completed within seven years of application. Community college or online courses (except medical terminology) are not considered competitive substitutes.

Patient Care Experience

Applicants to the PA program must have acquired a minimum of 500 hours of direct patient care experience by the time the CASPA application is submitted. Hours earned after this, regardless of when the file is reviewed by the PA admissions committee, are not considered. This experience varies and can be acquired on a full-or part-time basis. Direct patient care experience requiring certification and providing monetary compensation is most competitive. This could include work as a CNA, EMT, scribe or patient care technician, for example. The average applicant has at least 2,000 hours.

Unless you are already closely working with a PA, shadowing a PA is important and can enhance your application but is not considered health care experience. Only 100 student clinical hours (obtained while fulfilling the required components of an educational program or course) can count toward the 500 hours of health care experience needed. Volunteer hours are not considered competitive health care experience and often cannot be counted towards the 500-hour minimum. If volunteer hours are accepted, only a maximum of 250 hours may count.

Background Check

Students in this program are required to obtain a criminal background check and undergo drug testing. A positive background check or drug screen could have serious consequences for the student, including forfeiture of any or all clinical rotations and/or inability to complete the program. The potential to sit for the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE) may also be impacted.

Additionally, many state regulatory and governing organizations will not grant a license, registration or other similar professional practice documents if there is a positive criminal background check or drug screen.

Application Process

Apply through the Central Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA) between mid-April and Nov. 1. The PA supplemental application, found in the CASPA Program Materials section, must also be completed during the same time frame. CASPA will not send your application materials without the completion of this section. Payment for the supplemental application processing is made by going to SLU Marketplace.

CASPA applications and PA supplemental applications are reviewed beginning June 1. It is recommended to submit all application materials by Aug. 1.

Letters of reference submitted to CASPA should be from people who know applicants well, either professionally or academically, such as a job supervisor, professor or academic adviser. Please note: the PA program requires three letters of reference, even though CASPA completes an application with only two.

Applications completed and verified by CASPA will not be reviewed without the supplemental fee or appropriate fee waiver.

A limited number of processing fee waivers will be available for applicants experiencing severe financial hardship. To be considered for a fee waiver, applicants must email a request to pasupplemental@slu.edu. The request should outline the reasons for the request and the nature of the financial hardship. Requests must be emailed by July 31 to be considered.

Requirements for International Degree Holders

Graduates of an international college or university, with the exception of Canadian institutions, must meet all prerequisites and must have a minimum of 30 credits, or 10 courses, of college coursework from an accredited US university or college. Full-time enrollment in a four-year institution is recommended (but community college coursework is accepted) and no online coursework is accepted. The US coursework must include: Organic Chemistry I and II, Human Anatomy and Physiology (or A&P I and A&P II), and a minimum of three social/behavioral courses to include Psychology (with other options such as Sociology, Anthropology, History, etc.).

International medical graduates with 500 hours of health care experience outside of the United States must also acquire at least 250 hours of patient care experience in the United States by the time of application.

Applicants whose native language is other than English are required to take the TOEFL® Internet-based Test by Nov. 1. A combined minimum score of 100 is required, along with minimum component scores of 22-Reading, 22-Listening, 26-Speaking and 24-Writing. Scores should be submitted to CASPA and to the PA Program. The school code is R6629. The department code for health science is 0601.

Application Deadline

Applications for this program close Nov. 1. Due to the CASPA verification process, it is recommended applications be submitted by Oct. 15 to meet the Nov. 1 deadline. Applicants who have met all requirements are encouraged to apply early between June and August. Completed applications are reviewed in the order applications are received.

Interview Process

Personal interviews occur between October and March. Five interview dates are scheduled with 20 applicants each date. Highly qualified applicants may be invited to an interview three to four weeks prior to the scheduled interview dates.

Scholarships and Financial Aid

For more information about student loans, please visit the student financial services office online at http://finaid.slu.edu.  

Accreditation

The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant has granted "Accreditation-Continued" to the physician assistant program sponsored by Saint Louis University. Accreditation-Continued is an accreditation status granted when a currently accredited program is in compliance with the ARC-PA standards.

Accreditation remains in effect until the program closes or withdraws from the accreditation process or until accreditation is withdrawn for failure to comply with the standards. The approximate date for the next validation review of the program by the ARC-PA will be March 2023. The review date is contingent upon continued compliance with the Accreditation Standards and ARC-PA policy.

The program’s accreditation history can be viewed on the ARC-PA website.

Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA)
12000 Findley Road, Suite 150
Johns Creek, GA 30097
770-476-1224
http://www.arc-pa.org

1. Graduates will be able to communicate with patients for effective clinical encounters.
2. Graduates will be able to use the critical thinking skills necessary to evaluate patient medical problems.
3. Graduates will be able to demonstrate respect for patients and other medical professionals as a component of professionalism in medical practice.
4. Graduates will be able to demonstrate core medical knowledge in the provision of patient care.
5. Graduates will understand how to apply the Jesuit value of "Cura Personalis" when treating patients.

Withdrawal from any course or modification of the curricular sequence of the PA program is not permitted, except as part of an approved leave of absence. If for any reason a student needs to request a leave of absence, the student should schedule a meeting with the PA program director or another principal faculty member. The student will be guided through the University process for leave of absence and course withdrawal with help from program faculty and staff.

Despite potential reasons for leaving the program, most fees are non-refundable and tuition refunds often cannot be granted due to the timing and sequencing of our curriculum. If, however, a tuition refund is applicable, the student will be guided through this process as well.   Information on withdrawal, tuition and fee refunds may be found at Student Financial Aid Services.

Roadmaps are recommended semester-by-semester plans of study for programs and assume full-time enrollment unless otherwise noted.  

Courses and milestones designated as critical (marked with !) must be completed in the semester listed to ensure a timely graduation. Transfer credit may change the roadmap.

This roadmap should not be used in the place of regular academic advising appointments. All students are encouraged to meet with their advisor/mentor each semester.  Requirements, course availability and sequencing are subject to change.

Program Notes

Phase I

The didactic phase of the PA program consists of pre-clinical lectures, small group discussions, laboratory sessions and demonstrations. The student studies the basic medical sciences like anatomy and physiology, as well as applied behavioral sciences and the foundations of clinical medicine. Educational material is presented through organ system-based courses which support the integration of complex disease processes with diagnosis and treatment. Rather than discrete courses in pathophysiology and physical examination, the curriculum integrates these components within each system-based course. Phase I also incorporates patient assessment, clinical documentation, genetics and interpretation of appropriate labs, diagnostics and imaging/studies.

Phase II

The clinical phase of the PA program includes rotations in internal medicine, general surgery, pediatrics, emergency medicine, women’s health, family medicine, psychiatry/behavioral medicine and two rotations in clinical specialties of each student’s choice, clinical elective and EBM clerkship. The PA program assigns sites and preceptors for Phase II. Students are not responsible for developing their own clinical sites and finding their own clinical preceptors. While working with the supervision of a clinical preceptor, the student actively participates in the daily care of patients of all ages and backgrounds.

When assigned to hospital teaching services, the student functions as an integral member of the inpatient team. The student may interact daily with attending and resident physicians, PAs, medical students and other health care professionals in practice or in training. When assigned to ambulatory care clinics and private clinical practices, the student may function in a one-on-one relationship with the physician or PA who serves as instructor and supervisor. Students will complete rotations in medically underserved areas and should expect to complete at least two rotations at an assigned out-of-town site. Finding and planning for appropriate housing for out-of-town clinical rotations, if needed, and paying for housing, are responsibilities of the PA student.

RSVP for a PA Info Session

For additional admission questions please contact,

Julie Miller
Recruitment Specialist
314-977-2570
dchs@health.slu.edu