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MASTER'S

Master of Physician Assistant Studies · MPAS

Residential | Full-Time | 7 Semesters
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Admissions

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Admissions Requirements

  • Completion of a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited institution prior to matriculation into the program
  • Minimum 3.20 cumulative GPA with a minimum 3.00 Science GPA*
  • GRE scores: Aggregate Verbal and Quantitative (V+Q) Reasoning ≥ 290**, Analytical Writing: ≥ 3.5
    • Must be taken after January 2012 (or after the change to the new GRE scoring system); use school code 3660
    • The highest GRE score will be accepted if the test is taken multiple times. However, the aggregate (V+Q) score must be from the same test, but the highest written score can be from any test attempt
  • ≥ 250 patient contact hours: hours in employment or service where an applicant has direct patient contact
  • Minimum of 3 references: (at least one from a PA, MD, DO or NP is strongly recommended)
  • Strongly recommended to shadow a physician assistant. You may also consider shadowing a practicing physician or nurse practitioner
  • Successful applicants generally have MORE THAN 300 hours of community service (not including religious or military service).  Please list ANY service that you have completed including religious, military or collegiate

How to Apply

1. Online Application

a) Apply through the Central Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA)

2. To be considered for an interview, all materials, including GRE scores, must be received and VERIFIED by CASPA no later than the October 1st. The following language from CASPA’s website is informative:

“To ensure the application is verified on time, applications must be completed (e-submitted, payment received, transcripts received, and two letters of recommendation received) at least four weeks in advance of the deadline date.”

In other words, make sure all of your materials are received by CASPA around September 1st in order to ensure verification for the October 1st deadline.

Please send all materials to CASPA. No materials are needed to be sent to the school directly.

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Prerequisite Course Requirements

All applicants must complete the required prerequisite coursework prior to beginning the Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMU) Physician Assistant (PA) Program. Not every course must be completed prior to submitting an application. The RMU PA program allows applicants to have up to nine credits of prerequisite coursework in progress or planned at the time of application submission to CASPA. A feasible plan to complete outstanding prerequisite coursework must be documented in the CASPA application.

PLEASE NOTE:  Under no circumstances will applicants be allowed to begin the Physician Assistant Program if prerequisite coursework is not completed prior to the program start date and evidenced by transcripts or a letter from the institution awarding the credit attesting to completion and final grade.

Course

Credits

200 Level No LABs required, A&P two-semester series acceptable

Course covering human physiologic processes designed for Biology or Physiology majors.
NOTE: a two-semester combined Human Anatomy and Physiology course series is acceptable

General biology course designed for Biology or Physiology majors.
NOTE: if the course and lab does not equate to 4 or more semester credits, a molecular or cellular biology course must also be completed.

 

This course does not have to be one designed for Microbiology majors.

Eight credits of chemistry with at least one lab.

100-level or higher course covering the foundations of Algebra. A calculus course fulfills this requirement. AP credit or ACT/SAT scores may also count toward this requirement. A College Statistics course also fulfills this requirement.

An Introduction to Psychology or Abnormal Psychology course (please note that Developmental Psychology or AP credits cannot fulfill this requirement).
100-level or higher medical terminology course. An upper-level version is recommended.

To be considered for the RMU PA program, each prerequisite course with an * must have been completed within ten years of the cohort start date. Additionally, credits must have been earned from a regionally accredited institution and be verifiable through official transcripts or accepted by a National Association of Credentialing Evaluation Services (NACES) accredited U.S. equivalency reporting agency.

Prerequisite courses must be successfully completed with a grade of C or better. In plus-minus grading systems, a grade of C- does not qualify as a C. Applicants offered seats contingent upon successful completion of outstanding prerequisites must complete each remaining course with a grade of B or better (earning a grade of B- does not qualify as a B).

PLEASE NOTE:  Under no circumstances will applicants be allowed to begin the Physician Assistant Program if prerequisite coursework is not completed prior to the program start date.

Please use the following link to check if your course meets our prerequisite requirements.
Check Prerequisites

Additional Recommended Courses

Course

Credits

Though not required, taking at least one of these courses is highly recommended.

NOTE: though not mandatory, application scoring will improve with successful completion and high performance more importantly, these courses help better prepare students for the rigors of PA program coursework.

Though not required, taking at least one of these courses is highly recommended.

NOTE: though not mandatory, application scoring will improve with successful completion and high performance more importantly, these courses help better prepare students for the rigors of PA program coursework.

 

Though not required, a technical writing course is highly recommended due to the volume of graduate writing and charting assignments.

Other Requirements

GPA Requirements

The minimum required cumulative GPA is 3.20 and the minimum required science GPA is 3.00. However, applicants who meet only one of the above two criteria will be considered for an interview if there is strong evidence of improved academic performance in more recently completed coursework. This is evidenced by meeting the following criteria:

  • GPA of 3.20 or higher for the most recent CASPA verified 20 semester hours, which could include the science-related prerequisites (not including Statistics, College Algebra, Psychology, or Medical Terminology) or upper-level science courses (300-level or higher)

PLEASE NOTE: The GPAs derived from the CASPA application are the only values considered for application screening. GPAs will not be recalculated based on coursework completed following application submission via CASPA.

We require our applicants to have healthcare experience because:

  1. They need to be comfortable working intimately with diverse patients who manifest with a variety of conditions and diseases.
  2. They need to fully understand:
    • the physician assistant profession
    • the significant differences between PAs and other practitioners—including allied health providers
    • how PAs operate within the medical system
 

To be considered for an interview, applicants must have at least 250 hours of direct patient contact experience documented in CASPA at the time of e-submission.

Examples of specific positions that would qualify as direct patient contact experience include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Athletic Trainer
  • Dental Hygienist
  • Dietician
  • Emergency Room Technician
  • Medical/Nursing Assistant
  • Military Medic or Corpsman
  • Nurse (LPN, RN)
  • Ophthalmology Technician
  • Paramedic/EMT
  • Patient Care Technician
  • Phlebotomist
  • Physical Therapy Assistant
  • Radiologic Technician
  • Surgical Technologist

Volunteer experience during which you have actively worked with patients and influenced their care also qualifies as direct patient contact experience. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Hospice
  • Medical Mission
  • Nursing Home
  • Peace Corps

Other healthcare experiences having minimal or no direct patient care responsibility, such as administrative jobs and pharmacy assistants, do not count for direct patient contact experience.

Shadowing medical providers is particularly valuable when considering a career as a physician assistant. We highly recommend that applicants shadow providers as described below:

  • a primary care PA (i.e. one who practices in a general medicine area such as family medicine or internal medicine)
  • a PA who practices in a specialty
  • and at least one physician. 

Additional shadowing of various types of providers will only further strengthen your application. Remember, the goal in shadowing is for applicants to have sufficient exposure to medical providers so they understand the PA profession, including how PAs differ from other providers and how they operate within the medical field. As it will assist members of the Program Admissions Committee in evaluating application strength, we highly recommend shadowing hours be documented in CASPA at the time of e-submission.

PLEASE NOTE: Provider shadowing does not qualify for direct patient contact experience.

The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is required for all applicants. We strongly encourage applicants to take the GRE by late August to ensure that CASPA receives the official scores by the October 1st deadline. All test scores are sent directly to CASPA by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). Please use 3660 as the code number to designate score results for the RMU PA program. To be considered for an interview, an aggregate score of at least 290 is required for the Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning subsections. Additionally, an Analytical Writing score of at least 3.5 is required. (** for the GRE: If your GRE score is between 299-290 your overall science GPA MUST be 3.3 or above to meet our GRE requirements.) The highest GRE score will be considered in the circumstances of multiple GRE scores. For more detailed information about each subsection, please refer to the GRE Test Content and Structure web page by clicking here. PLEASE NOTE: Only GRE scores less than five years old from the time of application submission to CASPA will be accepted. In the event an applicant is not offered a seat into the program for a given cycle and reapplies for a subsequent cycle, he/she must again request that ETS send official scores to CASPA.

To be considered for an interview, all applicants for whom English is a second language must satisfy at least one of the following requirements:

Successful completion of undergraduate or graduate degree at an institution where English was the primary language of instruction

Achieve a minimum score of 550 on the paper-based version of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)

Official TOEFL scores should be mailed directly to CASPA as described in the Standardized Tests  section of their website:

Official TOEFL Scores should be mailed to CASPA in paper format. They must be original copies of the test and sent to CASPA directly from ETS. CASPA can NOT accept photocopied or electronic TOEFL scores. Please mail all official TOEFL scores to:

CASPA TOEFL SCORES P.O. Box 9108 Watertown, MA 02471

Advanced placement is not granted under any circumstances. All students who enter the program must fulfill all program requirements.

All interviews are conducted in the Fall after the application deadline. Applicants invited to interview will be notified by email.

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Vaccination Requirements

Admitted students of the MPAS program will receive vaccination forms regarding required vaccinations. Not all vaccinations or proof of immunity are required at the beginning of the program, but many are. The University allows for vaccination exemptions and more information about the University’s position on vaccination as well as information regarding exemption can be reviewed at https://rm.edu/vaccination-statement/

The MPAS program requires the following vaccinations and testing (these are subject to change depending on public health concerns):

  • Hepatitis B (vaccination and titer required)
  • MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination or titers)
  • Varicella (vaccination or titer)
  • Tdap (booster for tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis)
  • Meningococcal
  • COVID-19
  • Annual Influenza
  • Tuberculosis testing (PPD or Quantiferon)

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Application Analysis Process

Scoring Areas and Weighting

Utilizing a detailed rubric, applicants receive a score in each of the four categories listed in the table below. The weight assigned to each category is included in the right hand column.

Academic Strength
55%
Social Engagement
20%
Health Care Experience/References
25%
Total:
100%
Additional details regarding each category are provided below.

Admission to the Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMU) Physician Assistant (PA) program is highly competitive. Individuals who submit applications meeting the minimum qualifications as described on the Application Requirements and Prerequisite Courses pages will have their applications scored on a 100-point scale.

An individual’s application is screened only once—after all application materials have been verified by CASPA (including GRE scores). No additional materials pertaining to screening will be considered after this point for the application cycle. For example, if GPA requirements are not met at the time of application screening, GPA scores will not be recalculated to determine if an applicant qualifies for scoring in the event additional coursework is completed. Therefore, candidates must verify that their application fully qualifies when they submit it via CASPA.

Program Admissions Committee (PAC) members consider multiple factors in the scoring process. Please see the application analysis process for more information.
Evaluation of academic strength is based on transcript history, GPA, and GRE scores. Several variables are considered. Please see the application analysis process for more information.
Factors affecting scoring in this area include but are not limited to: quality and quantity of patient care experience, depth of responsibility and influence experience shadowing healthcare providers quality of personal and professional references. Please refer to the Health Care Experience subsection of the admissions requirements section for details on the PA Program’s goals, requirements, and expectations regarding the acquisition of health care experience hours.

Candidates with a history of active volunteerism and engagement in their communities, school settings, and global opportunities are highly valued. Quantity, quality, and depth of involvement are considered, including the extent to which one engages with others either in leadership roles or as a participant. Examples include but are not limited to:

  • medical mission trips
  • leadership opportunities
  • community service activities
  • military service
  • service for one’s church or religious establishment
  • team sports, collegiate clubs, and extracurricular activities.
Please list specific service projects separately. For example, if you organized a blood drive in association with a service group or extracurricular club, please list the blood drive as a separate entry in CASPA. Please specify any leadership roles held in clubs or organizations (e.g. team captain, activity coordinator, vice president, board of directors). Please specify whether you volunteered or received compensation for an activity. Please include only activities completed after high school graduation. Our successful applicants average > 300 hours of community service (not including religious, military, and collegiate service). Please include ANY type of service that you have completed on your application including religious, military, and collegiate service. PLEASE NOTE: CASPA does not provide a section in their online application system specifically entitled Social Engagement. Please include experiences appropriate for this category in the Volunteer/Community Enrichment section.

Achieve a minimum score of 550 on the paper-based version of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)

Official TOEFL scores should be mailed directly to CASPA as described in the Standardized Tests  section of their website:

Official TOEFL Scores should be mailed to CASPA in paper format. They must be original copies of the test and sent to CASPA directly from ETS. CASPA can NOT accept photocopied or electronic TOEFL scores. Please mail all official TOEFL scores to:

CASPA TOEFL SCORES P.O. Box 9108 Watertown, MA 02471

References provide an opportunity for program faculty to examine external perspectives of applicants’ potential for success. Applicants are encouraged to choose references who are able to comment on the categories described above. It is strongly recommended that at minimum one of these references be from a PA, MD, DO or NP.

Admissions Disclosure

1. Admission is limited and selective. All completed applications will be considered for admission.  All applicants must demonstrate a previous record of successful academic achievement, clinical experience, and the motivation to pursue graduate-level education.

2. Application materials can be emailed or mailed. Official transcripts may be mailed or emailed. Official transcripts must originate from the institution’s Registrar Office. Any transcripts emailed from the applicant will be considered unofficial.

3. Full Disclosure Requirement: Incomplete or falsified admission information constitutes grounds for a refusal to admit or immediate dismissal, loss of credit, and forfeiture of all tuition and fees paid.

4. Confidentiality: Admissions materials received by the University are kept in strict confidence. Once the application materials are received, these materials are the property of the University and will not be returned to the applicant. All applicant materials are kept for one year following receipt if the applicant does not enroll.

Program Accreditation

The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA) has granted Accreditation-Continued status to the Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions Physician Assistant Program sponsored by Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. 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 March 2029. The review date is contingent upon continued compliance with the Accreditation Standards and ARC-PA policy. The program’s accreditation history can be viewed on the ARC-PA WEBSITE at http://www.arc-pa.org/accreditation-history-rocky-mountain-university-of-health-professions/ Graduates of programs accredited by the ARC-PA or its predecessors are eligible to take the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE). Certification is required to be eligible for licensure to practice as a Physician Assistant. PA program graduates are deemed as having graduated from an accredited program if their PA educational program was accredited at the time of their matriculation.