The Master of Science in Medicine - Physician Assistant (MSM-PA) is a graduate health sciences program designed to graduate medical providers eligible to take their national licensing examination.

In keeping with the mission of the University, the mission of the Physician Assistant Program is to educate competent physician assistants who practice evidence-based medicine, demonstrate cultural sensitivity, and express their faith through service to the community.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the Master of Science in Medicine - Physician Assistant curriculum, the graduate will be competent to:

1. Gather a history and perform a physical examination.
2. Prioritize a differential diagnosis following a clinical encounter.
3. Recommend and interpret common diagnostic and screening tests.
4. Enter and discuss orders and prescriptions.
5. Document a clinical encounter in the patient record.
6. Provide an oral presentation of a clinical encounter.
7. Form clinical questions and retrieve evidence to advance patient care.
8. Give or receive a patient handover to transition care properly.
9. Collaborate as a member of an interprofessional team.
10. Recognize a patient requiring urgent or emergent care and initiate evaluation and management.
11. Obtain informed consent for tests and/or procedures.
12. Perform general procedures of a physician assistant.
13. Identify system failures and contribute to a culture of safety and improvement.

Physician Assistant Student Handbook

Please click here to view the Physician Assistant Student Handbook.

Master of Science in Medicine Admission Requirements

Application Process

• Application to the program can only be made through the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA). Please visit the CASPA website for more information.   
  CASPA (Central Application Service for Physician Assistants)
  Telephone (617) 612-2080
  Email: apply@caspaonline.org     
• Applications are reviewed when the CASPA application has been verified and CASPer results received. Prerequisite courses must be completed by December 31 of your application year. Interviews will be conducted between August and November either virtually or in person as safety dictates. All applicants will be notified of their admission status by March 1.
• CASPer- Applicants must also complete the Computer-Based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics (CASPer) evaluation.  
  Information and registration can be found at takecasper.com to sign up for the American Professional Health Sciences test (CSP10101). Applicants must submit their CASPer assessment to the PLNU program by November 1 of their application year. 

Admission Criteria

• A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university recognized by a regional accrediting agency.  College seniors are eligible to apply providing they will receive their degree prior to the August start of the program.
• A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.000 
• A minimum science GPA of 3.000
• All applicants much meet the program’s technical standards. 

Prerequisite Courses

• Anatomy: 3 semester hours or 4 quarter hours
• Physiology: 3 semester hours or 4 quarter hours
  Combined Anatomy and Physiology courses are acceptable if they meet a minimum of 6 semester hours or 8 quarter hours; Labs are preferred but not required. If the combined course is a two-semester sequence (e.g. A & P I and A & P II) then both courses must be taken;
• Microbiology: 3 semester hours or 4 quarter hours
• General Chemistry with labs: 8 semester hours or 10 quarter hours 
• Organic Chemistry with lab: 4 semester hours or 5 quarter hours; the two-semester sequence for science majors is strongly recommended
• Biochemistry: 3 semester hours or 4 quarter hours
• Statistics: 3 semester hours or 4 quarter hours

All prerequisites must be completed at a regionally accredited college or university and must be completed with a grade of C (2.000) or better. A C- is not acceptable. Courses for which credit was awarded by examination, such as AP courses, will not meet the criteria for any prerequisite courses.  

Applicants may apply to the program with no more than two outstanding prerequisites (including any in progress at the time of application), but prerequisites must be completed by December of the application year. Documentation of official grades received must be submitted to the program by the following January.

Experience

A minimum of five hundred hours of direct (hands on) patient care experience is required and must be completed at time of application. Volunteering and shadowing, while helpful, do not count toward these hours.         

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), taken within the last 2 years, is required for any applicants for whom English is not their native language. The TOEFL requirement may be waived for applicants with a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited US institution. To review your application, we must receive official scores from ETS for the TOEFL. Only the IBT (Internet Based Test) form of the TOEFL will be accepted. We require a total score of 93 and a speaking score of 26 for entry into our program.

Advanced Placement/Transfer Credit

The PLNU PA Program values rigorous academic preparation and previous health care experience in the evaluation of applicants. However, it is not the policy of the program to award advanced placement or, to accept for credit, any previous academic or other experiential learning toward completion of the MSM degree. All matriculated students are required to participate in and complete the entire curriculum of the program to meet the requirements of graduation.     

Course List

Code	Title	Units
Required Courses
ANA 6001	Human Gross Anatomy	6
MSM 6002	Physiology	3
MSM 6003	Foundations of Medical Science	4
MSM 6004	Medicine and Society I	2
MSM 6005	Introduction to Patient Assessment	3
MSM 6006	Medicine and Society II	2
MSM 6008	Medicine and Society III	3
MSM 6100	Fundamentals of Hematology and Oncology	2
MSM 6101	Fundamentals of Dermatology	2
MSM 6102	Fundamentals of Infectious Disease	2
MSM 6103	Fundamentals of Cardiovascular Disorders	4
MSM 6104	Fundamentals of Pulmonology	3
MSM 6105	Fundamentals of Gastroenterology	4
MSM 6106	Fundamentals of Nephrology and Genitourinary Disease	3
MSM 6107	Fundamentals of Neurology	3
MSM 6108	Fundamentals of Endocrinology	2
MSM 6200	Pharmacotherapeutics I	3
MSM 6109	Fundamentals of Musculoskeletal Disease and Rheumatology	3
MSM 6201	Pharmacotherapeutics II	3
MSM 6300	Fundamentals of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine	2
MSM 6301	Foundations in Pediatrics	2
MSM 6302	Foundations in Women's Health	2
MSM 6303	Foundations in Emergency Medicine	3
MSM 6304	Foundations in Surgery	2
MSM 6010	Medicine and Society IV	2
MSM 6202	Pharmacotherapeutics III	2
Clinical Rotations
MSM 6500	Clinical Internal Medicine	5
MSM 6501	Clinical Family Medicine	5
MSM 6502	Clinical Pediatrics	5
MSM 6503	Clinical Women's Health	5
MSM 6504	Clinical General Surgery	5
MSM 6505	Clinical Behavioral Medicine	5
MSM 6506	Clinical Emergency Medicine	5
MSM 6600	Clinical Elective	5
MSM 6601	Clinical Service Elective	5
Culminating Experience
MSM 6800	Capstone	0
Total Units		117

Graduation Requirements

In order to earn and receive a Master of Science in Medicine degree, a student must satisfy all of the following:

1. Successful completion of all requirements, exams, and have all grades posted prior to degree posting. 
2. A completed application for degree candidacy conveyed to the Office of Records. (Students may participate in Commencement convocations with an approved plan of 6 or fewer units remaining to complete their degree in the following semester.)
3. Payment in full of all tuition, fees, and other financial obligations owed to the university, including a degree processing fee, and
4. All requirements completed within forty-eight (48) months from the time of initial enrollment.