Physician Assistant Studies, M.S.

The Physician Assistant Department at Daemen University participates in an online application service called CASPA (Central Application Service for Physician Assistants). You will visit the CASPA website and begin an application electronically. All extraneous materials, i.e. reference letters, transcripts, will be sent directly to CASPA.

CASPA acts almost as a collection agency; once CASPA has received your complete online application, your three letters of reference, and all of your official transcripts, they will then forward an application packet on to each school that you have designated as a recipient.

Please note that the CASPA application process is a lengthy one, and that an application will not be considered complete until all necessary materials are received by CASPA. Once an application is complete, it takes CASPA four to six weeks to process the application and send it to the designated schools. We highly recommend that you submit your application to CASPA by December 1st due to their high volume of applications and necessary processing time.

Applicants must have a verified date on or before January 15. A verified date is given when an application is e-submitted and all transcripts, payments, and at least two letters of reference have been received by CASPA and attached to the application. Documents should be sent several weeks prior to this date to ensure items arrive on time

Once CASPA or the Admissions Office has processed your application, it will be reviewed and considered for an interview. You should receive contact within a few weeks of receiving your application, simply to let you know that your application was in fact received, and what stage of the process it is in. If you have satisfied all the necessary prerequisites, you will be placed in a pool of applicants to be considered for an interview. The PA Department traditionally conducts two sets of interviews. First year (i.e. freshmen) student applicants to the BS/MS program are interviewed between October and January. Applicants to the MS program are interviewed in the Spring.

Once you have completed an interview, the timeframe for an admission decision varies greatly. Most successful applicants will be notified within two weeks. However, for applicants placed on the waiting list, a decision may come as late as August.

For the three-year MS Degree:

Scoring Rubric

• Baccalaureate Degree (any discipline)from an accredited US college or university
• Three letters of recommendation
• Overall GPA of 3.0 or better (average of accepted students generally > 3.5)
• Overall Science GPA of 3.0 or better
• No more than two grades below C in any college level course
• 8 credits of Biology with lab (e.g., Zoology, Botany, General Biology I and II, A & P I and II)
• 8 credits of General Chemistry
• 3 credits of Calculus
• 9 credits of Psychology and/or Sociology
• GPA of 3.0 or better (average of accepted students generally >3.4) in the following four courses:
  • 4 credits of Anatomy including lab, 300 level
  • 4 credits of Physiology including lab, 300 level
  • 4 credits of Microbiology including lab, 300 level
  • 4 credits of Organic Chemistry or Biochemistry including lab, 300 level
  • It is preferred that the above mentioned courses be taken within a full time semester. Virtual labs are not acceptable.

COVID-19 policy changes for courses taken from spring of 2020 through summer of 2021:

Online course policy - Courses taken online from spring of 2020 through summer of 2021 will be accepted.

Pass/fail policy - Pass/fail and satisfactory/unsatisfactory grades are strongly discouraged for the courses of anatomy, physiology, organic chemistry and microbiology. If letter grades are available, do not elect to receive P/F or U/S grades on your transcript. If your institution completely eliminated the option of letter grades in spring 2020 or summer 2020, then we will require either a grade recovery or documentation from the instructor that includes the actual numerical performance in the course. This documentation will need to be emailed directly from the institution to vsanlore@daemen.edu or mailed on the institution's letterhead to Daemen University Attention: Vincenette San Lorenzo. Please note that we will pay close attention to your COVID-19 statement included on your CASPA application and ask that you share extraordinary or extenuating circumstances that directly or indirectly impacted your course of study.

• 120 hours of direct patient contact experience (see definition)
• We do not require the GRE
• Additional considerations include:
  • The number of repeats on transcripts
  • The number of withdraws on transcripts
  • The degree of responsibility provided during patient contact experience
  • Quality of writing on essay component
  • Recommendations
  • To address the workforce needs in the WNY and Rochester area, in some cases candidates who currently reside, have previously resided or attend college in the area will be given preference.
• It is recommended that applicants complete at least 8 credits of 300 level or higher science coursework within 12 months of entering the physician assistant program. All courses used to calculate the GPA of the aforementioned classes (Anatomy, Physiology, Microbiology, Organic or Biochemistry) must have been completed within the past 5 years
• Applicants whose first language is not English, must demonstrate their proficiency in the English language by taking the TOEFL iBT® test. The test scores must be submitted directly to CASPA and the full report must be received by the Daemen PA department by January 1. The minimum requirements as stated below are specific to the Physician Assistant Department and does not represent the requirements of the Institution.
  • Minimum total test score of 100.
    Reading Section, minimum score of 24
    Listening Section, minimum score of 26
    Speaking Section, minimum score of 26
    Writing Section, minimum score of 24
    • We do NOT utilize a rolling admission. All applicants who have been verified in CASPA by January 15th will be considered.
    • If you have applied through CASPA and meet all of the minimum requirements, you may be asked to complete a supplemental application. We will contact you directly by email if this is required.

Demonstration of proficiency in Medical Terminology. The Daemen PA Program medical terminology examination must be passed by August 1st prior to starting PAS courses in the fall. Accepted candidates will be offered multiple examination dates in late spring/summer and will have 2 attempts to pass the exam. Students will be provided with textbook information. Failure to pass the medical terminology examination results in disqualification from the program

Advanced Standing

All PAS courses must be taken at Daemen University with the following exception: advanced standing for PAS329 Statistics for Evidence Based Practice will be granted only for graduates of Daemen University who took the equivalent course (e.g. NSC 310 or HSC 329) at Daemen University as a required element of their degree program.

Admission Preferences

Students applying for the MS track who have graduated from Daemen University with a 4 year degree will be guaranteed an interview if they meet the minimum requirements. This does not guarantee admission.

BS/MS and MS students who are verified as having lived in a Health Professional Shortage Area in Primary Care or in a Medically Underserved Area through the age of 18 will be awarded preference. 

BS/MS students who have demonstrated perseverance and/or hardship will be awarded preference.

The physician assistant (PA) degree is recognized as an undifferentiated professional degree that requires the development of entry level knowledge and skills in multiple domains of health care.  PA education requires the development of judgment through a wide range of learning activities and supervised clinical practice experiences in preparation for making appropriate, autonomous clinical decisions while practicing on interprofessional health care teams directed by physicians.  

The purpose of this document is to ensure that all students entering the Daemen University Physician Assistant Program (the PA Program) are aware of and understand the requirements of our program and the profession, so that informed decisions can be made regarding pursuit of this profession. Nothing in this document is meant to deter the application or participation of any student who is able to complete the requirements of the PA curriculum with or without reasonable accommodations.

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Total Credit Hours for PA Program = 104

Didactic Phase Year 1

FALL YEAR 1: 16 credit hours

• PAS 510/L & PAS 516/L  Advanced Human Anatomy
• PAS 511 Microbiology
• PAS 513 Clinical Lab Medicine
• PAS 514 Pathophysiology
• PAS 535 Medical Professional Issues (MPI) I
• PHI 321 Medical Ethics

SPRING YEAR 1: 15 credit hours

• PAS 515 Fundamentals of Medicine I
  • Cardio, Pulm, GI, Endo, Urology, Radiology
• PAS 517 Physical Diagnosis I
• PAS 517L Physical Diagnosis Lab I
• PAS 518 Pharmacology I
• PAS 329 Statistics

Didactic Phase Year 2

FALL YEAR 2: 17 credit hours

• PAS 519 Fundamentals of Clinical Medicine II
  • Rheum, Derm, Cardio, Psych, Neuro, Radiology/POCUS
• PAS 520 Physical Diagnosis II
• PAS 520L Physical Diagnosis II Lab
• PAS 521 Pharmacology II
• PAS 522 The Cultural and Psychosocial Dynamics of Medicine
• PAS 536 Medical Professional Issues II
• PAS 538 Orthopedics

SPRING YEAR 2: 18 credit hours

• PAS 524 Pediatrics
• PAS 525 Clinical Problem Solving 
• PAS 526 Surgery
• PAS 527 Geriatrics
• PAS 528 Emergency Medicine with POCUS
• PAS 529 Research Methodology
• PAS 531 Preventative Medicine

Clinical Phase

• The following courses are divided between summer, fall and spring
• Total clinical year credit hours = 38
• PAS 601-610 Clerkships
  • students will complete 10 four week clerkships = 30 credit hours
    • 7 core rotations
      • family medicine
      • emergency medicine
      • internal medicine
      • surgery
      • pediatrics
      • women's health (including prenatal and gyn)
      • mental health 
      • 3 non-core/electives
• PAS 612 Research I
• PAS 613 Research II
• PAS 614 Clinical Seminar I
• PAS 615 Clinical Seminar II
• PAS 616 Clinical Seminar III

Clinical clerkships are arranged by the PA Program. Students are prohibited from soliciting or arranging clinical sites or preceptors. Requests may be considered.