Mar 28, 2024  
Graduate Catalog 2014-15 
    
Graduate Catalog 2014-15 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Master of Science in Medicine


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3434 CHHS Bldg.

The Department of Physician Assistant offers a professional entry-level program leading to the Master of Science in Medicine. This program is solely intended as a full-time professional education curriculum, accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA), allowing graduates to sit for the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE) administered by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA), required by all states for licensure to practice.

Admission Requirements

To be eligible to apply for admission, prospective applicants must present evidence of the following:

  1. Earned academic bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution, with a grade point average of 3.0 or better in the most recent 60 hours.
  2. Completion of one course in developmental psychology (lifespan).
  3. Completion of one upper division course in biochemistry.
  4. Completion of one course in microbiology with a lab.
  5. Completion of one course in human anatomy.
  6. Completion of one upper division course in human physiology.
  7. Completion of one course in introductory statistics.
  8. Completion of 1,000 hours of patient contact hours acceptable to the department.

Due to the competitive nature of this program, the above should be viewed as minimum standards.

Admission Procedures

To apply, the applicant must complete both the University’s Application for Admission and the application to the Central Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA). Individuals interested in admission to the WMU PA Program must submit an application to the Central Application Service for Physician Assistants in addition to the Western Michigan University Physician Assistant supplemental application (Deadline: Dec 1). After a review of applications, selected candidates are invited to participate in an interview session. Candidates for admission are selected from among those interviewed. Applications must be completed not later than December 1 of each year for the full-time class beginning the following fall. Selected candidates will be invited for a personal interview. Admissions decisions will be based on weighted scoring of academic history, health care experience, and information gleaned from essays, letters of recommendation, and interviews, and will be limited by available space.

Program Requirements


The graduate professional program consists of 95 semester hours taken in prescribed sequence over a continuous 24-month time period. The first year consists of 48 hours of primarily classroom education, while the second year consists of 47 hours of primarily clinical placement education. Each student must complete all MDSC course offerings (listed elsewhere) and satisfy all the department’s professional standards criteria to meet graduation requirements.

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