Physician Assistant, Undergraduate Pre-Professional Program - Curriculum & Duration

Pre-Professional Undergraduate Phase Accelerated Track

Note: In addition to this 3-year accelerated track, USciences offers a traditional 4-year track for students who would like to take a minor, or prefer a more traditional course load.  The same courses are covered, with additional Biomedical Science electives and free electives.

Summer before First Year

Minimum of 50 hours of patient contact/shadowing required  prior to start of 1^st year

First Year, Fall Semester

Course Number	Course Name	Credits
BS 109	General Biology I	3
BS 110	General Biology I Lab	1
CH 101	General Chemistry I	3
CH 103	General Chemistry Lab I	1
PHA 100	PA Seminar	1
MA 107	Precalculus	3
PE 101	Physical Education I	0
WR 101	Writing and Rhetoric I	3

First Year, Spring Semester

Course Number	Course Name	Credits
BS 119	General Biology II	3
BS 120	General Biology Lab II	1
CH 102	General Chemistry II	3
CH 104	General Chemistry Lab II	1
MI 110	Intro to Health and Medical Professions	1
MA 110	General Calculus	3
PE 102	Physical Education II	1
WR 102	Writing and Rhetoric II	3

Second Year, Summer

Minimum of 150 documented hours of shadowing/patient contact hours required prior to start of second year.

Second Year, Fall Semester

Course Number	Course Name	Credits
CH 201	Organic Chemistry I 1	3
CH 203	Organic Chemistry Lab I 1	1
PHA 206	PA Shadowing & Physical Exam I 1	3
PY 200	Survey of Physics	4
SO 101	Introduction to Sociology	3
WR 302	Scientific Writing	3
MD	Multidisciplinary Inquiry Requirement	3

Second Year, Spring Semester

Course Number	Course Name	Credits
CH 202	Organic Chemistry II 1	3
CH 204	Organic Chemistry Lab II 1	1
CO 101	Introduction to Communication	3
PHA 208	PA Shadowing & Physical Exam II 1	3
MD	Multidisciplinary Inquiry Requirement	3
	Humanities Discipline Requirement	3

Third Year, Summer

• Application to graduate professional program(s).
• Minimum of 300 documented hours of patient contact required by start of third year.
• Minimum of 400 documented hours of patient contact prior to start of professional program.

Third Year, Fall Semester

Course Number	Course Name	Credits
BS 207	Human Structure and Function Lab I  1, 2	1
BS 243	Microbial Science	3
BS244	Microbial Science Lab	1
BS 493	Biological Sciences Seminar I	1
BS 310	Anatomy and Physiology I 1, 2	3
CH 340	Survey of Biochemistry 1	3
PHA 300	PA Interview Seminar 1	1
PHA 310	Medical Terminology I for the PA 1	1
SO 347	Death and Dying	3
WR 302	Scientific Writing	3
	Other Humanities Requirement	3

Third Year, Spring Semester

Course Number	Course Name	Credits
BS 208	Human Structure &Function Lab II 1, 2	1
BS 311	Anatomy and Physiology II 1, 2	3
BS 358	Principles & Applications of Immunology	3
BS 466	Genetics	4
BS 494	Biological Sciences Seminar II	1
PHA 303	Introduction to Pharmacology 1	3
PHA 311	Medical Terminology II for the PA 1	1
ST 310	Biostatistics	3

¹ Must be taken at USciences

² BS 207 and BS310, as well as BS208 and BS311, must be taken at the same time

General Notes:

1. Second-year transfer students are required to take PHA 100 .
2. Note that second-year students are required to shadow as part of their academic curriculum during the school year.
3. Students will receive their BS in Biomedical Sciences degree after successfully completing their first semester in the graduate program (total of 127 credits needed for BS degree). Remaining credits for graduation will be transferred back from the Professional School Partner.