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PA-C

Physician assistant

Patient-care hours → two years → PANCE

Your PA-C pathway

Physician Assistant

Collaborative medical practice: diagnosis, treatment, surgical assisting, across specialties, with the freedom to change specialty. Students who want to practise medicine within two to three years of graduating, and who can build paid patient-care hours during college.

Doctors and a student discussing clinical training
Entry point
Bachelor's plus paid patient-care hours
Training length
2 to 2.5 years; residency optional
When to apply
Once your paid patient-care hours meet your target programs' minimums; CASPA opens in late April.

Your route at a glance

  1. 01

    Bachelor's + paid patient-care hours

  2. 02

    GRE or PA-CAT

  3. 03

    Apply through CASPA

  4. 04

    2 to 2.5 years of PA school

  5. 05

    Boards, then practice; 1 year residency optional

Your preparation

  • Audit each program's prerequisites. Commonly: anatomy and physiology with lab, microbiology, chemistry, genetics at many programs, psychology. Programs differ, so build a school-by-school checklist.
  • Prepare for the GRE or PA-CAT. Programs differ; the PAEA directory lists each one's requirement.
  • Paid direct patient care. Many programs ask for roughly a thousand hours or more; several want far more. Each program publishes its own minimum.
  • Line up 3 letters: pa, md or do, science professor, clinical supervisor. Ask two to three months before you apply and waive your right to read them.

Your application

  • Apply through CASPA.
  • Log patient-care hours by role and setting as you earn them; CASPA asks for them by category and your clinical supervisor letter should match.
  • Expect a traditional panel, multiple mini interviews (MMI) or group exercises, depending on the program.
  • Letters upload through CASPA; the application sits as incomplete until all 3 show as uploaded.
  • Work backward from the current cycle's official dates; verification, letters and testing take time.

Your training & progression

  • About a year of intensive didactics, then a year of clinical clerkships.
  • Boards along the way: PANCE (NCCPA) after graduation; State licensure; PANRE for recertification.
  • Residency is optional: Postgraduate PA fellowship, 1 year, through Program portals; some through CASPA. Most graduates practise after boards and licensure.
  • Fellowship, if you want to subspecialise: 1 year in areas such as cardiothoracic surgery, emergency medicine, orthopedics.

What to weigh before you commit

  • The shortest route to practising medicine in this catalog, with the heaviest entry requirement: paid, hands-on patient care before you apply. Start accumulating hours as an EMT, CNA, medical assistant or phlebotomist in your first two years of college.
  • Total time after your bachelor's: about 2 to 3.5 years, school.
  • Interview season runs rolling, november to april: in-person panel and shadowing. Individual trips to hospital campuses.
  • Figures here describe what programs commonly ask for, never a cutoff. Confirm each program's current requirements through the official sources.

Which one, and why

The shortest route to practising medicine in this catalog, with the heaviest entry requirement: paid, hands-on patient care before you apply. Start accumulating hours as an EMT, CNA, medical assistant or phlebotomist in your first two years of college.

Who signs your letters

3 letters, uploaded by the writers through CASPA.

  • PA, MD or DO required

  • Science professor required

  • Clinical supervisor required

    Verifies your paid patient-care hours.

If you choose a residency

Postgraduate PA fellowship, 1 year, optional. Direct institutional review, rolling.

  1. November to April

    Rolling applications timed to program start dates

  2. Varies

    Interviews with surgical or emergency panels, often with shadowing

Boards: PANCE (NCCPA) after graduation; State licensure; PANRE for recertification.

Interviews and travel

Rolling, November to April: In-person panel and shadowing, scheduled through Program portals, CASPA. Individual trips to hospital campuses.

Across every profession: residency and the match, letters, interviews and travel, fellowships.

PA, RN or NP?

The PA application step by step, the GRE, PA-CAT and PANCE, and how the PA route compares with nursing and nurse practitioner careers.

PA, RN and NP pathways compared

Your next three steps

  1. 1.Pick a paid patient-care role you can start this year.
  2. 2.List five programs with their hour minimums and exam policy.
  3. 3.Ask a PA you work with about a letter.
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