Postbaccalaureate MPAS (24-month)
Physician Assistant Studies
Manchester and Worcester
MCPHS offers an intense and focused Postbaccalaureate Master of Physician Assistant Studies program for students who have a passion to provide healthcare and wish to obtain an accredited Master of Physician Assistant Studies degree (MPAS).
The 24-month, full-time, year-round MPAS program offers a January start date, which places graduates at a unique entry point in to the clinical environment. The curriculum is integrated and coordinated with innovative learning experiences to provide mentoring opportunities that focus on the whole person.
Clinical clerkships arranged for students by the College are available in the surrounding region, with opportunities to train in rural and underserved areas in northern New England.
Admission Requirements
Prerequisites
The accelerated Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) program is open to applicants who have earned or will earn, by the end of the fall semester prior to January entry, a bachelor’s degree, and have or will have met the following prerequisite requirements:
- An earned bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with an overall cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.75 or higher on a 4.0 scale
- A minimum of 3.00 average on a 4.0 scale in the prerequisite courses
- A minimum of 2.75 average on a 4.0 scale in the sciences as figured by CASPA
- A minimum TOEFL score of 79 (IBT) or a score of 6.5 on the IELTS is required of all candidates for whom English is not the native language.
- Ability to fulfill the MCPHS School of Health Sciences Technical Standards for Admission, Promotion and Graduation
- International students should consult the College Catalog, pages 54-55, regarding transfer of international courses. Please note that all foreign transcripts must be evaluated by one of the following foreign credential evaluation services: The Center for Educational Documentation, Inc. (CED) (617) 338-7171 or on the Web at www.cedevaluations.com; Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc. (ECE) (414) 289-3400 or on the Web at www.ece.org; or, World Education Services (WES) (212) 966-6311 or on the Web at www.wes.org.
Prospective students may apply to the program with outstanding prerequisites. However, all prerequisites must be completed with a bachelor’s degree confirmed prior to matriculation.
While previous healthcare experience is not required, the majority of applicants have obtained a year or more of direct patient care experience. In addition, job shadowing of a practicing physician assistant for a minimum of 50 hours is strongly recommended. PA shadowing information should be included on the CASPA application under “Related Healthcare Experience.”
| Prerequisite Courses | Semester hours |
|---|---|
| Human Anatomy and Physiology | 8, including labs |
| General Chemistry | 4, including lab |
| Organic Chemistry | 4, including lab |
| Biochemistry | 3 |
| Microbiology | 4, including lab |
| Statistics | 3 |
| Introduction to Psychology | 3 |
| Recommended only: Immunology | 3 |
| Recommended only: Genetics | 3 |
Prerequisite Policy:
EIGHT prerequisites (as indicated above) must have been completed at a regionally accredited college or university no more than ten years prior to the anticipated date of matriculation to MCPHS. Example: For matriculation into the class starting in January 2009, the eight courses must have been completed since January 1999. All prerequisite coursework must have been completed with a final grade of “C” or better. The number of times a course has been taken to achieve a passing grade will be considered. Prerequisite coursework taken at a four-year institution is preferred.
If prerequisite coursework was completed more than ten years ago:
An exception to the ten-year rule for courses successfully completed may be considered on a case-by-case basis. A letter of request may be made to the PA Program Admission Committee in care of the campus admission office. The formal letter MUST include when and where the course was taken, the grade received in the course, and the rationale for requesting the exception. A current resume and copies of transcripts supporting your argument must be included.
Please note that we believe student success in the program is dependent upon current working knowledge of the eight courses with a 10-year time limit. Exceptions to the rule are likely to be rare.
More about Admission Requirements»
Admission Application Dates - Dual Deadlines
Beginning with the 2008-2009 application cycle, MCPHS is proud to offer the opportunity to apply early for January 2010 admission to either the Manchester, N.H. or Worcester, Mass. PA Studies program. All applications are made through the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA).
CASPA generally opens its new cycle in April each year. The deadline for completed applications (including the supplemental application and fee) to reach the MCPHS admission office is October 1st of the year preceding program entry.
For applicants applying between April and October of the current year for entry the following January, the deadline is October 1st.
For applicants applying between April of the current year and March of the following year for entry the second/next January, the deadline is March 1 of the following year.
Please note that if all application materials are not received by CASPA by the March 1st deadline, the application will be lost when CASPA closes its cycle in March and a new application and fee with new supporting credentials will need to be submitted when the new cycle opens in April. Applications and supporting documents are not held over from one application cycle to the next. MCPHS reserves the right to process these early applications after processing applications for the current year.