Admissions
Applicant Information
Welcome to the Wayne State University Physician Assistant Studies program, and thank you for your interest! Prior to applying to the PAS Program, we suggest that you attend a General Information Meeting held the first Tuesday evening of the month (except July) at 6:00pm in the PAS classroom, Room 2500, in the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Building to learn about the PAS program and have your questions addressed directly.
For complete information regarding admission into the Wayne State University Physician Assistant Studies program, please click on the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Office of Student and Alumni Affairs website dedicated to
WSU PAS admissions:
www.cphs.wayne.edu/program/pa-ms-apply.php
The following information is posted as a reference guide for you as you advance through the process of applying to the program.
Admission requirements
◊ Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution before start of PA program
◊ 3.0 Minimum cumulative/prerequisite GPA
Recommendations- three
Transcripts
CASPA fee
CASPA application
◊ 500 hours of direct clinical contact
◊ GRE score (score must be received in PA office by Sept 1)
◊ TOEFL score, if applicable (must be received in PA office by Sept 1)
◊ Official community service documentation, from the last 2 years (received by Sept 1 in PA office)
◊ Resume/CV-received in PA office by Sept 1
◊ Completion of 11 prerequisites by Dec 31 of year applying
◊ A personal interview
◊ Be admissible to the WSU graduate school, with an application submitted to the WSU Graduate Admissions Office only if invited for an interview
Additional Essential Application Information
Bachelor’s degree:
1. Applicants must obtain a bachelor’s degree before the first day of class.
2. This degree must be from an accredited college or university.
Cumulative/Prerequisite GPA:
1. A minimum cumulative
GPA/prerequisite
GPA is 3.0 is required.
2. If the cumulative
GPA is low (applicants who had difficulty in their first semester or so) can request to have their last 60 undergraduate hours to be used in the calculation. This request must be sent in writing to the Office of Student Affairs at
cphsinfo@wayne.edu with a copy to the
WSU PAS admissions email at PAadmit@wayne.edu.
3. If the prerequisite
GPA is low, applicants are encouraged to retake prerequisite coursework where the final grade earned is less than a “B”.
Application Items:
1. Application, fees, transcripts and (3) references must be received by CASPA on or before September 1st.
2. Supplemental items (GRE scores, TOEFL scores, official community service documentation, resume) must be received in WSU PA Program office on or before September 1st.
3. It is highly recommended that all items be sent to CASPA & WSU PAS Program in June/July to insure timely submission of all items.
4. It is highly recommended that references complete all forms on- line.
5. It is highly recommended that the applicant frequently checks, on-line, the status of the CASPA application and supplemental materials sent to CASPA (transcripts, references, etc).
6. If granted an interview, the applicant will be responsible for completing a Graduate School Application by December 31st.
Recommendations
1. Recommendations may be obtained from a PA, M.D. or D.O., but they should be familiar with the role of the physician assistant. Recommendations should also come from those individuals who have observed you during direct patient contact experience, and/or a work supervisor- those most familiar with the applicant and their work. A stronger applicant file is one that has references that have known them for an extensive period of time (> 1 year) and can comment on their performance with direct patient care. We strongly urge applicants to avoid references from most of their academic professors/instructors, as they have not observed you in direct patient contact and therefore can not answer the CASPA recommendation form completely. An exception to this is instructors that are involved with you clinically or from one that you were involved in with a research project.
2. It is highly suggested that applicants ask those individuals who complete their recommendation forms to do so electronically in order to expedite their application through the CASPA evaluation process.
Direct Clinical Contact
1. A minimum of 500 hours of direct clinical contact in a health service environment. It is not required of applicants to have this experience as part of a paid position; but it is strongly encouraged.
2. Majority of the 500 hours must be completed by time of interview, if granted an interview.
3. It is preferable that students have direct patient care experience in settings such as hospitals or clinics. Some examples of acceptable experience include, but are not limited to : EMT or paramedic, health educator, RN, patient care attendant or nurse's aide, clinic assistant, physical therapy or occupational therapy aide, exercise physiologist, international health care volunteer or other cross-cultural health care experience, medical technologist, therapist, clinical research assistant, etc.
Some examples of experience not acceptable are: PA or physician observer or shadow (in lieu of other direct hands- on health care experience), non-clinical research assistant positions, student clinical experience (student nurse, student EMT, student athletic trainer, or other health care student), student "intern" experiences, candy striper or junior volunteer positions, CPR or ACLS instructor, wilderness medicine instructor, patient transporter, pharmaceutical representative, ski patroller, life guard, aerobics instructor, unit clerk, insurance clerk, medical secretary or other clerical positions.
GRE
1. All applicants must complete the General Test of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) within the last 5 years.
2. All scores must be submitted to the WSU PA Studies Program office by September 1st. Therefore, it is highly recommended that the applicant complete the exam in early summer prior to the application deadline.
3. Currently there is no minimum GRE score required.
4. Wayne State University GRE Institution code is: 1898
5. It may be helpful in order to expedite your application review if you fax your copy of student record of GRE score to the PA department at (313)577-5467.
TOEFL Testing
1. TOEFL testing is required if English is not your native language and you have not completed 4 years of high school education in the United States
2. TOEFL results must be in the WSU PA Studies Program Office on or before the application deadline of September 1 of the year you are applying.
3. You must receive one of the following scores on the TOEFL to be admissible to the
WSU PA Studies Program:
- Written: 600
- Traditional computer: 250
- IbT (Internet based testing): 100
- *Please note that the minimum acceptable score required by the WSU PAS is higher than required for other programs at Wayne State University*
Community Service
1. Although community service is not required, it is highly recommended.
2. An applicant must submit official documentation of all community service performed, to the WSU PA Studies Program Office by the deadline date of September 1.
3. Acceptable service is that which has been done in the 2 years prior to application.
4. Official documentation must include:
- Letterhead from the institution you provided the service for.
- Dates of service
- Total hours of service
- Type of service
Resume/CV
All applicants must send a current resume/CV to the
WSU PA Studies Program. The resume must be received by the
WSU PA Studies Program, on or before the application deadline of September 1 of the year applying.
Prerequisite courses
The following prerequisites must be completed by Dec 31st:
- Human Anatomy- one course
- Human Physiology- two courses; one course MUST be above 3000level
- Microbiology with lab- one course
- Nutrition- one course
- Chemistry- two courses; must include course in organic chemistry or biochemistry
- Developmental Psychology- one course
- Basic Statistics- one course
- English composition- two courses
Applicants are highly encouraged to have their prerequisites evaluated by an advisor in the Office of Student Affairs. The form to do this can be found at:
Email any questions regarding prerequisite coursework to Office of Student Affairs advisors at
cphsinfo@wayne.edu
All applicants with science coursework greater than 6 years old must submit a request for a waiver of the 6 year ruling. This request must substantiate what
employment history demonstrates knowledge of the content of the course(s). If coursework is taken in a non-US institution, transcripts must be evaluated by a WSU approved evaluation service (WES, etc).
Personal Interview
A personal interview will be granted to individuals who meet all admission requirements by the admissions deadlines. Applicants should seek out as much information as possible concerning the role and laws governing the practice of the physician assistant, and be able to articulate it during the interview process. Gain this information by direct observation of clinically practicing physician assistants, and by reviewing the American Academy of Physician Assistant website: www.aapa.org, and the Michigan Academy of Physician Assistants website: www.michiganpa.org.
Applicants should be able to articulate their answers to these four questions:
a. What made you decide to pursue a career in Physician Assistant Studies?
b. What preparation have you had to become a Physician Assistant?
c. What made you choose Wayne State University's Physician Assistant Studies Program?
d. Assuming you complete the Physician Assistant Studies program at Wayne State University, what professional goals do you hope to achieve?
WSU Office of Graduate Admissions
- Once applicants are granted an interview they must complete a graduate application prior to their interview.
- WSU Graduate School applications can be found at: http://gradadmissions.wayne.edu/
Foreign coursework
All coursework from non-US institutions must be evaluated by an approved WSU transcript evaluation service. The evaluation must be sent to WSU, not CASPA. Please see the following website for information regarding foreign transcript evaluation:
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Wayne State University Physician Assistant Studies Program
259 Mack Ave
Suite 2590
Detroit, MI 48201
(313)577-1368
(313)577-5467 Fax
Eugene Applebaum Office of Student and Alumni Affairs
259 Mack Avenue, Suite 1600
Detroit, MI 48201
(313) 577-1716
(313)577-5589 Fax
cphsinfo@wayne.edu
Wayne State University Office of Graduate Admissions
http://gradadmissions.wayne.edu/