Admission Requirements

• Admissions Prospective Students Information
• Admissions Frequently Asked Questions
• COVID-19 Prerequisite Coursework Policy

Admission Requirements

The successful candidate for admission to the Physician Assistant Program will have:

• A Bachelor's Degree (any discipline) from an accredited institution
• An overall GPA and science GPA equal to or higher than 3.0
• Completed General/Inorganic Chemistry - 6 credits (2 courses)
• Completed Organic Chemistry or Biochemistry - 3 credits (1 course)
• Completed Human Anatomy & Physiology – 8 credits (2 courses with labs). Kinesiology, Environmental Engineering, and Exercise Science will not be accepted. Either Human Anatomy & Physiology I & II with labs will be accepted OR Human Anatomy with lab and Human Physiology with lab will be accepted (a combination will not be considered).
• Completed four semester hours (1 course with lab) of Microbiology
• Completed three additional semester hours (1 course) of Biological Science. Acceptable courses are: General Biology, Zoology, Human Genetics, Histology, or Cell/Molecular Biology
• Completed at least six semester hours (2 courses) in Behavioral or Social Sciences. Only Psychology, Sociology, Human Growth and Development are accepted towards the behavioral science prerequisite. Anthropology, Humanities, and Criminology courses are not accepted.
• Taken the Graduate Record Examination (GRE); the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) may not be substituted for the GRE. Applicants whose GRE scores are more than 5 years old from matriculation must re-take the GRE and submit more recent scores. GRE scores must be sent directly to the university by ETS to institutional code 5053, program code 0634 before the application is submitted. Applications without official GRE scores will remain in pending status until they are received. GRE scores must be submitted no later than 30 business days after receipt of notification from Admissions Office.
• CASPER and PA-CAT are highly recommended at this time, and will be required in future application cycles..
• Submitted official college transcripts from all institutions to CASPA for verification (prerequisite credits that are more than ten years old will not be considered);
• Submitted three letters of recommendation, (from clinical work supervisors or clinical coworkers, and academicians);
• Evidence of prior experience in health care is highly recommended.
• Met the Program Technical and Professional Standards.

Applicants are required to have all prerequisite coursework completed with a C grade or higher prior to application submission. Any submitted applications with pending prerequisite coursework (including labs) will not be considered. There are no deviations or waivers permitted for the prerequisite science requirements, regardless of educational background or professional experience.

An interview is required for acceptance and is extended only at the invitation of the Admissions Committee. The Committee strongly recommends that all documentation be complete prior to the interview.

Foreign-Born Non-U.S. Or Non-Canadian Citizens Must:

• Applicants with foreign transcripts or non-grade transcripts must submit a degree equivalent evaluation (an original sealed report from a transcript evaluation service). The Foreign Credential Evaluation Report (with GPA calculation). A list of transcript evaluation service providers may be found at www.naces.org. Foreign evaluations need to have a GPA provided.
• Have attended a college or university in the United States for a minimum of one year prior to application;
• Submit test scores for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), be able to express themselves clearly to others in spoken English, and have the ability to understand rapidly spoken colloquial English.

Special Considerations

As part of an agreement with the University Partnership Center at St. Petersburg College, up to four students per year, who graduated from St. Petersburg College and who are admitted into the program in St. Petersburg, will receive a tuition discount of 20%.

The Program admissions process favors applicants with higher GPA, GRE, patient care experience, work experience, service including military, leadership, mission congruence, diversity, and disadvantaged status.

Advanced Standing, Transfer, And Deferral Policy

Due to considerable variation in physician assistant programs throughout the United States, students of other PA programs will not be accepted for transfer into the Program. In addition, applicants to the Program may not receive "advanced standing" based upon previous education or credits taken. Foreign medical graduates must complete the Program in its entirety. Deferral of acceptance to future years is not permitted.

The Admissions Committee of the Physician Assistant Program at Barry University recognizes that plans to complete pre-requisite courses have been impacted by institutions’ decisions to move to a remote instruction model given the national requirements of social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the Program has always assessed pre-requisites based on the grades given by institutions, we understand that many institutions emergently created policies in which spring and summer 2020 courses may have been graded on a pass/fail or credit/no credit scale. So that no applicants are disadvantaged by policy decisions made by their institution as a result of this unprecedented event, the Physician Assistant Program has created a COVID-19 Prerequisite Course Policy. If your prerequisites or minimum GPA was impacted, please see the COVID-19 policy PDF above.

All applicants to the Barry University Physician Assistant Program must apply through the Central Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA). The CASPA application is the only application required for admission; there is no supplemental application. The application portal opens in mid-April. Applicants may begin the application process by visiting the CASPA web site at https://caspa.liaisoncas.com. Applicants can only apply to one campus (Miami Shores or St. Petersburg). Applicants chosen for interviews will be invited only to their chosen site.

Due to the increasing competitiveness of our applicant pool, we look for significant academic/professional improvement in our re-applicants (i.e. gaining additional DPC hours, retaking the GRE, improving the Overall & Science GPA, gaining new references, continuing community service/outreach opportunities, etc.).

There are no transfers allowed to other locations.

The Program uses a rolling admissions process, i.e., it reviews applications as they are completed and makes decisions throughout the admissions cycle. For this reason, it is in the applicant's best interests to submit their application once they have completed all prerequisite courses and have met all admissions requirements (i.e. prerequisite course grades of C or higher, GRE scores, letters of recommendation) and is as competitive as possible. Any updates made after submission and verification of application will not be considered. It is also important to check the CASPA site frequently until all requirements including references have been submitted, and the application is complete. All applications must be verified by CASPA. This may take four to six weeks and will be further delayed if CASPA has not received letters of recommendations and transcripts. CASPA must forward the completed applications to the PA Program no later than December 1st for the application to be considered for that admissions cycle. The Admissions committee upholds and enforces all requirements and deadlines. There are no waivers or deviations accepted for deadlines. Applications that are received by the PA Program after December 1st will not be considered.

Well-qualified applicants who apply late in the cycle may not be invited to interview or admitted because the class may already be filled. It is also possible that the class will be filled after applicants have been invited to, but not yet completed, their scheduled interview. In that event, applicants will be notified and have the option of cancelling their interview or interviewing for the wait list. The Program does not reimburse candidates for any costs incurred for changes to or cancellation of travel related to interviews.

Selection will be made by the admissions committee and is based upon admission criteria. Candidates are evaluated in the context of the applicant pool for the year in which they seek to matriculate. Therefore, the admission process for the PA Program is highly competitive. Candidates are considered based on their overall GRE, undergraduate and graduate GPA, health care experience, commitment to service, letters of recommendation, the interview, and their personal statement.

Individuals selected for acceptance into the program must exhibit the necessary interpersonal skills, physical, psychological, and behavioral capacities to satisfactorily fulfill the rigorous requirements of the Program.

If offered a seat of provisional acceptance, accepted applicants must submit an enrollment deposit of $1000 ten (10) business days from the offer of provisional acceptance. Deposits are non-refundable. ALL official (sealed) transcripts and admission documents must be mailed to the Miami Campus for processing by June 1st of your matriculating year as we do not receive copies sent to CASPA.

Barry University Physician Assistant Program, 11300 NE 2nd Avenue, Miami Shores, Florida 33161-6695

Please note that once offered a seat of provisional acceptance, the completion of a medical terminology course is required prior to matriculation. Accepted students must either provide a grade for Medical terminology on an official transcript or a Certificate of Completion in the course.

Inquiries or communications concerning admissions should be addressed to the Physician Assistant Program Admissions Office. Telephone inquiries will be answered if the applicant calls (305) 899-3130 or (727) 302-6609 but email inquiries are preferred (please e-mail paadmissions@barry.edu).

The Physician Assistant program meets the educational requirements to apply for professional licensure in the state of Florida. Barry University has not determined whether the degree program meets the educational requirements to apply for professional [licensure] outside of Florida. Prospective students are urged to contact their state’s licensing agency for the most up-to-date information