<p>What are some schools that have 4 year undergrad physician assistant majors, on the east coast, I'm already applying to st johns DeSales but are there any others?</p>
<p>Here:</p>
<p>[Physician</a> Assistant Schools](<a href=“Physician Assistant Schools - Physician Assistant Forum”>Physician Assistant Schools - Physician Assistant Forum)</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>Are you asking which schools have PA grad school programs?</p>
<p>Or are you asking for some kind of pre-PA program? Almost any school offers the pre-reqs for PA schools. </p>
<p>It sounds like you’re only looking for schools that have some kind of pre-PA major? Why is that? Why would you have to major in pre-PA? Does DeSales have a “pre PA” major? If so, can you provide the link???</p>
<p>What do you want?</p>
<p>Well can you become a physicians assistant, out of undergrad, without it being your major? If it’s possible, I’ll be the happiest person on earth!</p>
<p>I have no doubt 99% of the schools do a great job training you. but, for that type of program I would be looking at nova southeastern university (IMO)</p>
<p>I think you may be confused, Debby. Unless I am mistaken, the PA program is a graduate program. You would major in something, whatever you like, in your undergrad program but you would need to make sure that you take the required courses so that you can apply to a PA program in a grad school. That is what M2CK was telling you in her post above. After reading you posts, I think you may be confused and you seem to think that it is an undergrad program.</p>
<p>@zobroward- Yes, NSU has a PA program, but the OP may not be interested in attending school in Broward County (not sure, because Broward has many pluses, but it’s possible). Nova has a fine program, but there are many throughout the country.</p>
<p>You’d be better off going into a 5 year program that guarantees placement in the Masters level if grades and contact hours are met. If you want to stay in PA (the state, no pun intended) there are a number of schools not far from DeSales that offer it, including Marywood University, Kings College, and Arcadia University. My kid is at Marywood and absolutely loves it. </p>
<p>Lock Haven has a 4 year undergrad pre-PA but placement in their graduate program is not guaranteed and many of their undergrads end up rejected for their grad program, and can’t get into other schools. Kings only takes their own freshmen admits and no new admits into their grad program.</p>
<p>If you want to go the undergrad route and then apply to grad schools, I’d suggest majoring in something other than pre-PA. That way if you get rejected you have a degree which might be worth more than the health sciences degree which is fairly useless (so says daughter who had classmates fail to get high enough grades to enter the grad program). That too, is risky but SOME people are successful at it; check out different grad programs to make sure you get all of the pre-requisites and enough direct medical contact (from 3000-5000 hours depending on the school)</p>
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<p>Debby-No, you can’t. There are 5-year PA programs, or you can do a four-year undergrad degree in whatever you want (as long as you have the prerequisites) and then apply for a 24-36 month grad PA program. </p>
<p>It’s physician assistant, no “s”. </p>
<p>If I were you, I would start doing your own research. The link I provided above is part of an entire PA website that could help answer your questions. </p>
<p>My daughter was accepted to DeSales 5-year program, but decided that she didn’t want to go to a small school. She is at a large state school as a Kinesiology major. There are some prerequisites such as organic chem, biochem and genetics that are not in her major. She has taken 4-8 credits in the summers as well as online classes to get them in. She was a Life Science major, but realized she didn’t want to take quantum physics and calculus, and thought the Kines major was more in tune with her interests. </p>
<p>She also works as a paid and volunteer EMT (three different companies) to get her required health care hours . The schools she is interested in require from 500 to 2000 hours. She has about 800 hours now and will probably have abut 200-300 more when she applies in the spring. </p>
<p>The website that I mentioned above was my daughter’s resource when she was looking into becoming a PA.</p>
<p>I think you’re mixed up. There isn’t such a thing as a PA major as an undergrad.</p>
<p>Undergrad for PAs and med students is about the same. You major in what you want, you take the pre-req classes for grad/med school, and then you apply when you’re a senior in college.</p>
<p>*Hey All!</p>
<p>Let me start off by saying that I’ve already Narrowed down my college list. I am a Maryland resident, and my list consists of LACs and U’s.</p>
<p>I am a rising senior interested in Majoring in Biology/Neurobiology and minoring in philosophy/political science.
I have a 3.8 W/3.7 UW GPA
We’re only allowed to take 2 APs in junior year at my school, so I took 1 , scored a 4 on the test. </p>
<p>Have not taken the ACT, my test date is in October
I will retake the SAT in October as well, my superscore was 2100.</p>
<p>*I have lots of leadership in school/church
*I have 50> service hours in nursing homes daycares summer camps and food pantries</p>
<p>Varsity Volleyball
Varsity Track
Varsity Lacrosse </p>
<p>*I’m a Political Ambassador</p>
<p>*My Clubs consist of :
NHS
4-H
Christian Club
Mock Trial
Art
Band
Student Government
Drama
Tech</p>
<p>*I have to work more in my award department: so far I have multiple science awards, honor roll, and one presidential education award. </p>
<p>My schools will be:</p>
<p>Georgetown U
Duke U
Boston College
John Hopkins
George Washington U
The U of Maryland
U of Maryland-BC
Loyola Maryland
Towson U</p>
<p>Now I’m just having a few issues with deciding my safety schools. I would appreciate some suggestions regarding U’s and LACs in the east coast (preferably in DC, Maryland, PA, NJ or VA) with good pre-med programs and awesome financial aid.*</p>
<p>momtocollegekids:
Here is one school that shows you are mistaken. There are many schools that offer a pre-PA undergrad program that does not guarantee entry into the grad program. Taking them is a gamble, however, since at some of these schools, like Lock Haven, there is a big risk that a student will not get into a masters program even at the school they attended as an undergrad.</p>
<p>Lock Haven University:
B.S. Health Science </p>
<p>In today’s job market, health science professionals are in high demand. In LHU’s widely recognized degree program, you will not only experience intense classroom instruction, but also have the opportunity to experience real life situations during your clinical/ practicum cycle. Regardless of which track you select, this hands-on learning is invaluable to your future success. Typically, our program is a foundation for your continued graduate studies, where students enter any one of a variety of allied health fields after graduation. The pre-physical therapy and prephysician assistant tracks each have accelerated graduate degree options.</p>
<p>Track Options: </p>
<p>•Community Health
•Pre-Professional
•Pre-Physical Therapy
•Pre-Physicians Assistant
•Applied Health Studies Track </p>
<p>Pre-Physician Assistant Track </p>
<p>Physician Assistant is a career that is expected to grow through 2016 due to concentration on cost containment in health careers. It is a challenging and rewarding career choice for individuals who want to make a positive impact on the health of Americans. In this track, you will complete four years in courses necessary for admission into graduate school for a physician assistant master’s degree program. A wide breadth and depth of coursework is required. One of the primary advantages in LHU’s Health Science program is the focus on the human body which will prepare you very well for advanced study. You may apply to Lock Haven University’s master’s program or programs offered at other universities.</p>
<p>Admission to LHU’s Physician Assistant Master’s Degree Program: </p>
<p>A minimum of 5 seats are reserved for Health Science students who complete the B.S. (MINIMUM OF 5, WHEN THERE ARE ABOUT 40 IN THE GRADUATING CLASS
with the following:</p>
<p>OP, we visited Butler University in Indianapolis last month and they have a highly respected Physicians Assistant program. I didn’t pay close attention because my daughter is interested in Business, but I believe it is a 5-year program ending with a masters degree. The undergrad program sounds pretty competitive but guarantees advancement into their graduate PA program. It’s not East Coast though…</p>
<p>KK</p>
<p>Is that degree in Health Sciences or “Pre-PA”. Looks like the degree is in Health Sciences. If so, that’s no different than those who major in Bio with pre-med track, or Chem with pre-med track or whatever. I’m not seeing a “Pre-Pa” degree granting major.</p>
<p>Lots of schools have Pre-PA tracks, but those aren’t degree-granting majors.</p>
<p>Isn’t DeSales a 5 year program? You get a masters degree at the end of it. There are at least a dozen programs like that in the state of PA. </p>
<p>There are some programs where you can get a BS is physician assistant studies, but I’m not sure how employable you would be with this degree.</p>
<p>If you want to major in something else, you will have to apply to take the GRE and apply to grad schools. Just make sure you take all the prerequisite classes and get all the health care experience that most of these schools will require.</p>
<p>Hofstra offers a BS, and even calls it a BS in Physician Assistant to satisfy mom2college kids:</p>
<p>Upon successful completion of the program, candidates are eligible to sit for the Physician Assistant National Certification Examination (PANCE). Students who have already been awarded a bachelor’s degree receive a certificate of completion. Those students having completed all Hofstra University degree requirements as a component of prerequisite course work will receive both a certificate of completion and a bachelor of science degree in physician assistant studies. Students have the option to continue their studies in a 30-s.h. master’s degree program to earn a master of science in physician assistant studies.</p>
<p>Bernau in Georgia also offers a BS in pre-PA, and offers a transfer to PCOM in Philly to continure for the Masters program.</p>
<p>There are some programs where you can get a BS is physician assistant studies, but I’m not sure how employable you would be with this degree.</p>
<p>the concept of a pre-PA major just seems nutty unless there is some kind of qualifying that is done before junior year. What good would it do for a student to graduate with this major, if his grades are insufficient to get into the grad program??? </p>
<p>I can understand if the student must maintain a 3.X GPA in order to get into the upper division courses and then graduate, but can you imagine was a student with a bunch of C’s in Gen Chem, OChem and Biology would do with this degree?</p>
<p>Debby…UAB has a very good PA program. It’s undergrad has generous scholarships so if you have the stats to become a PA, then you likely have the stats to get a large merit scholarship from UAB…which may mean that your undergrad will cost very little.</p>
<p>"There are some programs where you can get a BS is physician assistant studies, but I’m not sure how employable you would be with this degree.</p>
<p>the concept of a pre-PA major just seems nutty unless there is some kind of qualifying that is done before junior year. What good would it do for a student to graduate with this major, if his grades are insufficient to get into the grad program??? </p>
<p>I can understand if the student must maintain a 3.X GPA in order to get into the upper division courses and then graduate, but can you imagine was a student with a bunch of C’s in Gen Chem, OChem and Biology would do with this degree?"</p>
<p>Which is why I strongly urged her to only consider 5-year programs that result in her Masters. And avoid schools like Lock Haven which do not guarantee admissions into its own grad program. Marywood increased the size of their grad program last year so it could admit about 20 students in addition to their own grads - they had over 800 applications for those 20 spots.</p>
<p>It also shows the importance of “weeder courses” in the first two years.</p>
<p>A responsible student will realize early if s/he is capable of the difficult and demanding courseload for PA programs and switch majors if necessary. A BS in “health sciences” is not worth a whole lot.</p>
<p>*Which is why I strongly urged her to only consider 5-year programs that result in her Masters. And avoid schools like Lock Haven which do not guarantee admissions into its own grad program. Marywood increased the size of their grad program last year so it could admit about 20 students in addition to their own grads - they had over 800 applications for those 20 spots.</p>
<p>It also shows the importance of “weeder courses” in the first two years.</p>
<p>A responsible student will realize early if s/he is capable of the difficult and demanding courseload for PA programs and switch majors if necessary. A BS in “health sciences” is not worth a whole lot.*</p>
<p>Oh, I agree that a responsible student will realize frosh or soph year that their grades in the weeder classes won’t likely “make the cut”. However, after spending a lot of time in the pre-med forums and seeing kids stubbornly think that they will still somehow make it into med school with less-than-adequate grades is sad. </p>
<p>As you mentioned, Marywood had 800 apps for those 20 spots open to other students.<br>
The competition for med school is just as tough or worse. Emory School of Medicine has this on its website: Each year we receive over 6000 applications for our class of 138</p>
<p>Yet, even with such stiff competition, you’ll still see kids with very modest stats refusing to consider any other career. </p>
<p>Yes, it would be nice for the OP to get accepted into a guaranteed 5-year program. However, it always seems like acceptance into those programs can be like winning the lottery. Many apps and few acceptances. </p>
<p>If the OP gets accepted to a guaranteed program, and it’s affordable, then great! If not, then it might be wise to consider an undergrad major and school that would not only be lowish cost, but also provide other career options. If the goal is a medical career, then attending a school with a med school and/or medical center on campus might allow for an easy transition from school to employment. </p>
<p>I agree that a degree in “health sciences” isn’t likely going to cause employers to knock your door down with job offers.</p>
<p>Quinnipiac has a 6yr. BS/MS physician assistant program. They state that undergrad. reqs. must be fulfilled. I did not see if there was a set GPA that must be maintained for you to proceed wtih the MS portion of the program.</p>
<p>Getting into the 5 year programs are nowhere near as difficult as getting into a graduate program.</p>
<p>At Marywood, staying in the program means maintaining 3.5</p>
<p>Here is a breakdown of all the accredited programs. Believe it or not, there are a handful of schools that only offer certificates, AA degrees, and BS degrees. I know someone who is practicing with a BS degree from 1980. The masters degree programs are actually more recent.</p>
<p>[ARC-PA</a> / Accreditation Programs / Program Data](<a href=“http://www.arc-pa.org/acc_programs/program_data.html]ARC-PA”>http://www.arc-pa.org/acc_programs/program_data.html)</p>