Daemen College : Academics & Research : Division of Health & Human Services : Physician Assistant : FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

How long will it take to complete the PA Program?

The Daemen College Physician Assistant Program, accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, is three years (33 months) in length.  For students admitted as freshmen to the College with a reserved seat in the PA Program, it will take four additional semesters, at a minimum, to complete all prerequisites before beginning the PA Program. Therefore, the combined BS in Health Science and MS in Physician Assistant Studies will require at least five years.

What are the admission requirements for graduate students?

For the three-year MS Degree:

• Baccalaureate Degree
• Overall GPA of 3.0 or better (average of accepted students generally > 3.5) 
• Math and Science Prerequisite GPA of 3.0 or better (average of accepted students generally > 3.4). The following prerequisite courses are used to calculate the math/science GPA:
• 8 credits of Biology with lab (e.g., Zoology, Botany, General Biology I and II, A & P I and II)
• 12 credits of Chemistry, including at least 4 credits of Organic Chemistry/Biochemistry with lab
• 4 credits of Microbiology with lab
• 4 credits of Anatomy, 300 level coursework or higher
• 4 credits of Physiology, 300 level coursework or higher
• 3 credits of Calculus
• Additional requirements include 9 credits of Psychology and Sociology
• 120 hours of direct patient contact experience

Science coursework completed more than 10 years ago, unless directly related to an occupation, must be repeated. Applicants are strongly encouraged to complete at least 8 credits of 300 level or higher science coursework within 12 months of entering the physician assistant program.  

What are the admission requirements for freshmen?

For the combined five-year BS in Health Science and MS in Physician Assistant Studies Degree: 

To be accepted to the College and offered a reserved seat for the PA Program:

• The comprehensive evaluation of freshmen applicants includes Grade Point Average (GPA), standardized test scores (SAT/ACT), rank in class, New York State Regents Examination Scores, letters of recommendation, personal essay, and review of high school transcripts. It is expected that all successful freshmen applicants will have a record of academic performance that clearly demonstrates strong math and science preparation. Most successful applicants have a SAT score >1100, GPA > 94% (minimum 90%), and rank in class between the 10th and 25th percentile. It is preferred that students will have embarked on a challenging high school curriculum that included Advanced Placement (AP) or college credit coursework.
• Faculty interview required.  Students must demonstrate knowledge of the profession and possess superior interpersonal communication skills.

Upon acceptance to the College, students must complete the following prerequisites and meet published academic requirements to be eligible to matriculate in the Physician Assistant Program:

• A minimum grade of C in all required courses. A maximum of three course repeats is allowed.
• Achieve a minimum math and science prerequisite GPA of 3.0. The 35 credits are the same as those required of applicants to the graduate degree. The coursework includes:
• 8 credits of Biology (BIO 109 and 110)
• 12 credits of Chemistry (CHE 110, CHE 111, and BCH 317)
• 4 credits of Microbiology (BIO 315)
• 4 credits of Anatomy(BIO 330)
• 4 credits of Physiology (BIO 340)
• 3 credits of Calculus (MTH 144). Depending on previous math preparation, a student may be required to complete additional lower level math courses (MTH 124 and/or MTH 134).
• All outstanding math and science coursework must be completed in residency at Daemen College once matriculated.
• 9 credits of Psychology and Sociology and 3 credits of Advanced Composition for Health Professionals.
• Freshmen must meet all published core curriculum requirements
• 120 hours of direct patient contact experience

 

Do all prerequisites need to be completed at the time of application to the graduate program?

The Admissions Committee prefers (and recommends) that all course requirements be completed at the time of graduate application. However, the College may consider applications with one outstanding science/math course in progress.  All 120 hours of patient contact must be completed at the time of application.  Most successful applicants possess contact hours far in excess of the minimum.

Students accepted as freshmen at Daemen College and granted a reserved seat in the PA Program must complete all prerequisites before matriculation. It is recommended that all prerequisites be completed at least three months before the anticipated start date in September.

What can be considered “direct patient contact”?

The PA Program's definition of “direct patient contact” is fairly straightforward. It can be either paid or volunteer work, including shadowing, in which you were exposed to patients in one way or another. The goal of this prerequisite is to be assured that you have been exposed to both the good and the bad aspects of healthcare, and the PA profession remains something you choose to pursue. Direct patient care with advanced levels of responsibility are encouraged, recommended, and highly valued by the Admissions Committee.

How do I apply to Daemen College as a graduate student?

The Physician Assistant Department at Daemen College participates in an online application service called CASPA (Central Application Service for Physician Assistants). You will visit www.caspaonline.org and begin an application electronically. All extraneous materials, i.e. reference letters, transcripts, will be sent directly to CASPA in Watertown, MA. CASPA acts almost as a collection agency; once CASPA has received your complete online application, your three letters of reference, and all of your official transcripts, they will then forward an application packet on to each school that you have designated as a recipient.

Please note that the CASPA application process is a lengthy one, and that an application will not be considered complete until all necessary materials are received by CASPA. Once an application is complete, it takes CASPA four to six weeks to process the application and send it to the designated schools. We highly recommend that you submit your application to CASPA by November 1 due to their high volume of applications and necessary processing time.

The submission deadline to CASPA for Daemen College is December 1 of each year. Any completed applications returned to Daemen College from CASPA after January 1 may not be considered for an interview by our Admissions Committee.

How do I apply to Daemen College as a freshman?

Traditional freshmen interested in the BS in Health Science and MS in Physician Assistant Studies must apply directly to the Admissions Office of the College. The PA Program does not anticipate accepting transfer applications in 2011. Transfer applicants are encouraged to complete a BS or BA degree and then apply to the MS program.

What happens once I have completed my application?

Once CASPA or the Admissions Office has processed your application, it will be reviewed and considered for an interview. You should receive contact within a week of receiving your application, simply to let you know that your application was in fact received, and what stage of the process it is in. If you have satisfied all the necessary prerequisites, you will be placed in a pool of applicants to be considered for an interview. The PA Department traditionally conducts two sets of interviews.  Freshmen applicants to the BS/MS program are interviewed on a rolling basis beginning in October.  Applicants to the MS program are interviewed in January and February.

Once you have completed an interview, the time frame for an admission decision varies greatly. Most successful applicants will be notified within two weeks. However, for applicants placed on the waiting list, a decision may come as late as August. 

How competitive is admission into the program?

In the last admission cycle, we received over 800 applications. Most successful applicants had credentials far in excess of the minimum requirements.

The College offers two degree tracks: BS/MS and MS.  The combined class size is 65. 

Since the College offers reserved seats in the PA Program to students accepted as freshmen, each year the number of seats available for graduate students is very limited. We estimate that approximately 20 to 25 seats will be available for the 2011-2012 cycle.

What does a typical schedule of classes look like within the PA Program?

Daemen College utilizes both core faculty and highly qualified clinicians (MD, DO, PA) from the local medical community to provide a rewarding, yet extremely rigorous PA education. Due to this fact, PA students do not follow a traditional 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. schedule. More often than not, the classes that the core faculty teach will be in the mornings and afternoons. Local clinicians offer courses in the afternoon and early evening. Schedules vary day to day, week to week, and semester to semester. However, the curriculum is highly synchronized and coordinated. For example, as students learn about myocardial infarctions in clinical medicine, they are introduced to echocardiograms, EKG's, cardiac pharmacology, and smoking cessation in other courses.

Is it acceptable to work while in the PA Program?

How much time you put into your studies outside of the classroom is entirely up to you, and the decision of whether or not you will be able to make time for a job is yours. The Program realizes that it is sometimes necessary to have an added income. However, at certain times in the curriculum, most students find that the rigor and academic load precludes employment. Absence from class or supervised clinical experiences due to work responsibilities is not permitted. If you must work, the program does request that you submit a copy of your schedule.

How much control will I have over the scheduling of my supervised clinical experiences?

The PA Department has hundreds of affiliations with clinicians and facilities in Western New York (i.e greater Buffalo), as well as surrounding areas. If you have a specific request, or know of a specific clinician you would like to work with, the department will do its best to facilitate that request. Please keep in mind that the scheduling does lie in the hands of the PA Department, and without adequate information or notice from a requested site the Department will place you in an experience that best suits your situation. The majority of sites will be in Western New York with established clinicians and facilities.  Travel to rural areas of New York that provide excellent clinical opportunities (and student housing) should be expected. 

What is the cost of the three-year program?

Graduate students (i.e MS) pay per credit ($830). The three-year program consists of 104 total degree credits. Graduate students are eligible for graduate financial aid packages (i.e loans). No scholarships are awarded. The estimated cost for the program is $86,320 plus lab fees and health insurance. Please be advised that the College's Board of Trustees reviews tuition fees annually and may elect to make incremental increases. (See our college catalog for tuition and fees).

Undergraduate students (i.e. BS/MS) pay per semester for the first four semesters of the PA Program. They pay per credit for the clinical year (i.e. 38 credits). BS/MS students are eligible for financial aid packages that typically include generous scholarships. The estimated cost for the program is $76,160 plus lab fees and health insurance. Please be advised that the College's Board of Trustees reviews tuition fees annually and may elect to make incremental increases. (See our college catalog for tuition and fees). 

The estimated undergraduate cost of attendance noted above does not include the tuition and fees required to complete prerequisite coursework during the freshman and sophomore years of attendance.

What is the structure of the three-year of the program?

Students in the BS/MS and MS degree tracks attend all classes together. There are four academic semesters of classroom and laboratory coursework and one year of supervised clinical experiences.

Didactic work includes:

•  Advanced Human Anatomy I and II
• Clinical Microbiology and Immunology
• Medical Informatics
• Clinical Laboratory Medicine
• Pathophysiology
• Fundamentals of Clinical Medicine I and II
• Physical Diagnosis I and II
• Pharmacology I and II
• Preventive Medicine
• Medical Professional Issues
• Cultural and Psychosocial Dynamics of Medicine
• Clinical Pediatrics
• Clinical Problem Solving
• Surgery and Orthopedics
• Geriatrics
• Emergency Medicine
• Research Methodology

  Clerkships include:

• Internal Medicine
• Pediatrics
• Women's Health
• Mental Health
• Surgery
• Emergency Medicine
• Family Medicine
• Electives
  • Examples include, but are not limited to: ENT Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Oncology, Cardiology, Critical Care, CT Surgery, HIV Medicine, Plastic Surgery, Sports Medicine, Rheumatology, Neurosurgery, Pain Management, Urgent Care, and Dermatology.

Can any of the PAS courses be transferred in from another institution?

All PAS courses must be taken at Daemen College.  No advance standing is granted, with the exception of PHI 321 Medical Ethics and NSC 310 Biostatistics. Students may submit transcripts, course descriptions, and learning objectives to the PA Program Director for consideration of substitution.

Questions related to core curriculum requirements or math and science prerequisites should be directed to the Director of PA Graduate Services or a PA Department Academic Advisor.

When does the program start?

A new class of 65 students begins each September (usually the day after Labor Day).