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.

The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) has granted Accreditation-Continued status to the Western Michigan University Physician Assistant Program sponsored by Western Michigan University. Accreditation-Continued is an accreditation status granted when a currently accredited program is in compliance with the ARC-PA Standards. Accreditation remains in effect until the program closes or withdraws from the accreditation process or until accreditation is withdrawn for failure to comply with the Standards. The approximate date for the next validation review of the program by the ARC-PA will be September 2027. The review date is contingent upon continued compliance with the Accreditation Standards and ARC-PA policy.

At its March 2020 meeting, the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA) placed the Western Michigan University Physician Assistant Program sponsored by Western Michigan University on Accreditation-Probation status until its next review in March 2022. Probation is a temporary status of accreditation conferred when a program does not meet the Standards or when the capability of the program to provide an acceptable educational experience for its students is threatened.

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 direct 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 the application to the Central Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA). In addition, applicants must also submit the Western Michigan University Physician Assistant supplemental Fee (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 no later than December 1 of each year for the full-time class beginning the following fall. Admissions decisions will be based on weighted scoring of academic history, healthcare experience, and information gleaned from essays, letters of recommendation, and interviews, and will be limited by available space. After candidates are invited to join the Physician Assistant Program they will fill out the University’s Graduate Application for Admission. This step does not need to be completed unless you are offered a seat in the program.