Professions: Pre-Physician Assistant
http://www.career.vt.edu/OHPA
Dr. Judith A. Wubah
Office of Health
Smith Career Center (0128)
Professions Advising
231-6241 jawubah@vt.edu
(OHPA)
Be sure to meet with your departmental Academic Advisor on a regular basis in addition to the individuals listed
above.
MAJORS INFORMATION
Any major is acceptable as long as certain specific admission requirements are met. Students should check specific
school requirements.
Common Majors: Biology (BIOL), Business (BUSI), Human, Nutrition, Food and Exercise (HNFE), and Psychology
(PSYC).
SPECIFIC COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Course Number
BIOL 1005, 1015
BIOL 1006, 1016
OR
BIOL 1105, 1115
BIOL 1106, 1116
CHEM 1035, 1045 (lab)
CHEM 1036, 1046 (lab)
PHYS 2205, 2215
PHYS 2206, 2216
BMSP 2135, 2145
BMSP 2136, 2146
MATH 1015, 1016 or
other calculus sequence
ENGL 1105, 1106
PSYC 2004
STAT 3615
Title
General Biology, General Biology Lab
OR
Principles of Biology, Principles of Biology
Lab
General Chemistry, General Chemistry Lab
BIOL 2604
8
8
Elementary Calculus with Trigonometry
OR
Other calculus sequence
Freshman English
Introductory Psychology
Biological Statistics
6
Genetics
Medical Terminology
Abnormal Psychology
Microbiology
Microbiology
Prerequisites
8
General Physics, General Physics Lab
OR
PHYS 2305, 2306 Foundations of Physics
Human Anatomy & Physiology
OTHER COURSES REQUIRED BY SOME SCHOOLS
BCHM
Biochemistry
BIOL
Cell and Molecular Biology
No known VT equivalent
PSYC 3014
Credits
8
Must be taken in
sequence.
MATH 1016
MATH 1205
BIOL 1005,1006 or
BIOL 1105, 1106
6
3
3
Prerequisites
BIOL 1005,1006 or 1105, 1106
CHEM 1016 or 1036
PSYC 2004
ADVANCED PLACEMENT (AP) or INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE (IB) INFORMATION
Please check with the schools of interest for specific information.
Health Professions: Pre-Physician Assistant
October 2010
rev: JW
COMMUNITY COLLEGE / SUMMER COURSES INFORMATION
It is generally NOT recommended to take these prerequisite courses over the summer. Health professional schools
prefer the courses to be taken at a four-year institution with a normal academic load. Please check the schools of
interest for additional information on their requirements.
GET INVOLVED!! VT Student Organizations, Courses, and Opportunities
Course: UH 2004: Careers in Medicine 1 credit, sophomore or higher (Fall only)
Office of Health Professions Advising http://www.career.vt.edu/OHPA
Physician Assistant Club- currently no club/organization exists on campus
INFORMATION SESSIONS
Health Professions Group Information Sessions: Twice per week in the Smith Career Center
Online registration required, there will be specific sessions for Freshmen/Sophomores and Juniors/Seniors.
Check the OHPA website frequently for dates and times.
APPLICATION & ADMISSION INFORMATION

Admission Test: Graduate Record Examination (GRE) required by most schools. A minimum Verbal and
Quantitative combined score of 1100 is expected. Foreign applicants whose native language is not English must
achieve an acceptable score on TOEFL examination and submit an approved credential report for coursework
completed outside the United States. Current minimal acceptable TOEFL scores are 575 for Paper-Based Test or 89
for Internet-Based Test.

GPA: 3.46 to be competitive. A minimum GPA of 3.0 in math and science pre-requisites is required. The GPA is
calculated several ways; overall, science, and non science GPA. Students should check on-line for the mean and
range of GPA for their schools of choice

Experience: Many PA programs require PA-related work experience with a large number of clinical hours.
Competitive applicants have clinical experience (paid or unpaid) which can take place in a health-related setting
(hospital, nursing home, free clinics) or research environment. The Office for Pre-Health Advising will work
collaboratively with students to assist them gain the necessary practical experience. Certifications (EMT,
paramedic, nursing assistant, etc.) can help with getting experience.

Application: Apply through CASPA - Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants
(http://www.caspaonline.org ), an online application process. Not all professional PA programs participate in
CASPA. Applicants who wish to apply to a NON-participating CASPA program must apply directly to the
institution using that PA program’s local application. Filling out of the physician assistants school application
through the online service is time consuming thus students should plan accordingly.

Campus Interviews: Conducted by the Health Professions Evaluation Committee in the spring of each academic
year (March - May)

PA School Interview: Some programs have interviews and other do not. Students should check with the specific
program into which they want to matriculate.
OTHER RESOURCES



www.ExploreHEALTHCareers.org, an exceptional resource for students
National Institutes of Health Career Finder, http://science-education.nih.gov/LifeWorks.nsf/feature/index.htm
Physician Assistant Education Assoc. http://www.paeaonline.org
Health Professions: Pre-Physician Assistant
October 2010
rev: JW
The Office of Health Professions Advising at Virginia Tech assists students and alumni pursuing a health care career
in medicine, dentistry, optometry, pharmacy, chiropractic, occupational therapy, nursing, physician's assistant,
veterinary medicine, or other graduate health professions.
Any student or alumnus/alumna of Virginia Tech, regardless of major, can use the services of OHPA. Although the
majority of health professions students major in a science field, it is not required.
Students should meet with their departmental Academic Advisor on a regular basis to ensure requirements are being met
for graduation. The Office of Health Professions Advising is an important complement to academic advising.
Health Professions: Pre-Physician Assistant
October 2010
rev: JW