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Advising and Resources Center

Physician Assistant Prerequisites

Below is a summary of prerequisite requirements for Physician Assistant programs in California. It is essential for you to see a pre-health professional advisor if you are interested in becoming a physician assistant. An advisor can provide important details of the program planning process and recommend specific courses.

You are also advised to check the school websites (to the right) to learn more about these programs and other possible prerequisite requirements.

Required By Most Schools
Class Amount Notes
English One Semester Keck, Western, and Loma Linda require two semesters. Samuel Merritt and Touro have no specific English requirements.
Anatomy
+Lab
One Semester  
Physiology
+Lab
One
Semester
 
Microbiology
+Lab
One
Semester
 
General
Chemistry
+Lab
One to two semesters Stanford and Davis, high school chemistry can also meet this prerequisite requirement.
College
Algebra
  Keck, Samuel Merritt, and Touro require statistics. Western requires both algebra and statistics. Loma Linda requires algebra with statitics recommended.
Psychology One semester At Touro either psychology or sociology are acceptable.
Sociology One semester Cultural anthropology can also satisfy this requirement at many schools.

Most competitive applicants will have a minimum of 1000-3000 hours of "hands-on" direct patient contact.

Required By Some Schools
Class Amount Notes
Statistics One semester (see above)
Spanish   Strongly recommended at Western. Two semesters required at Keck.
General Biology   Samuel Merritt and Keck
Organic
Chemistry
  Samuel Merritt
Speech   San Joaquin Valley
Genetics   Western
Humanities   Western requires 9 units.