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Prospective Students

The Drury University Physician Assistant Program is accepting applications for the class of 2027 starting in the Fall of 2025.  Prospective students must apply through the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA).

All CASPA applications must be received and verified by April 1, 2025.  We encourage you to apply early in the admission cycle to increase your chance of acceptance into our program as we practice rolling admissions.

Prospective applicants please carefully read our admissions and FAQ webpage to learn about our requirements and process. If your questions are not answered after review of our admissions and FAQ webpages, please contact us for further information at PAProgramAdmissions@drury.edu.

Admissions

Admission Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited university in the United States
  • Minimum overall GPA of 3.0
  • All prerequisite coursework must be completed within the last 10 years
    • Anatomy recommended within the last seven years
  • Prerequisite courses must have a combined cumulative GPA of 3.0 with no course below a 2.0
  • 750 hours of direct-patient care work experience – paid or volunteer
  • A minimum of 16 hours shadowing a physician assistant
  • Three letters of recommendation (see requirements below)
  • GRE or PA-CAT taken within five years
  • Residency: US citizen or US legal permanent resident

Application Submission

Your CASPA application to the Drury University PA Program must be verified by April 1, 2025.

  • Please note: it can take up to 30 days for CASPA to verify all application materials.
  • If you are using the Professional Transcript Entry (PTE) service through CASPA, please plan for additional time for your application to be completed and verified.

The following application materials must be received and verified by CASPA before an application will be reviewed:

  • College transcripts
  • Official GRE/PA-CAT scores taken within the last five years
  • Three letters of recommendation

Incomplete or unverified applications will not be reviewed.


Admissions Process and Timeline

  • Completed CASPA applications will be reviewed in the order in which they are verified.
  • Interviews for the class starting in August 2025 will begin in Fall 2024 and continue until the class is full.
  • Applicants selected for interviews will be notified by email.
  • Interviews will be conducted in-person, and participation is required to be considered for a seat in the program.

Application Review

The Admissions Committee will begin reviewing verified applications as they are received.  Applications will be reviewed based on the following admission criteria:

  • Academic achievement (cumulative GPA, prerequisite GPA, and academic rigor)
  • Patient care experience
  • Letters of recommendation
  • GRE or PA-CAT score
  • Physician assistant shadowing experience
  • Personal statement
  • Noncognitive considerations (see more information under the Full Admissions Requirements tab below)
    • Military experience
    • Drury graduate or current student who will graduate by June 1st of the matriculating year
    • First generation college students from SW Missouri with additional points for students who are educationally and/or economically disadvantaged
    • Leadership/volunteering experience

Acceptance Process

Final admission decisions will be based upon in-person interviews, the Admissions Committee’s recommendations, and the application review.  After completed interviews, candidates will be notified of their acceptance status within two weeks of the interview date.

If accepted into the program, a seat deposit of $1,000 is due within two weeks of notification.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite Coursework

All prerequisite coursework must be completed by June 1st of the year of matriculation. Transcripts must be submitted to the program no later than July 1st prior to matriculation in August.

  • General Chemistry I and II with labs – minimum 3 credits each
  • Organic Chemistry or Biochemistry – minimum 3 credits
  • General Biology I with lab – minimum 3 credits
  • One upper-level biology course – minimum 3 credits
  • Microbiology with laboratory – minimum 3 credits
  • Human Anatomy with laboratory – minimum 3 credits
  • Human Physiology – minimum 3 credits*
  • Introductory Psychology – minimum 3 credits
  • Genetics – minimum 3 credits
  • Statistics – minimum 3 credits
  • Medical Terminology –minimum 1 credit
  1. All prerequisite coursework must be completed with a grade of 2.0 (C) or higher. A grade of C- will not be accepted.
  2. Prerequisite courses must have a combined cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above.
  3. Prerequisite coursework may only be repeated one time to be considered as part of the application.
  4. Prerequisite courses are to be completed within ten years prior to the date of application with no exceptions.
  5. We strongly recommend all prerequisite coursework be completed with a grade option. Pass/fail grades may be considered on a case by cases basis with required official documentation.

Please Note:  At the time of application, a candidate may only have a maximum of two outstanding prerequisite courses.  Any candidate accepted into the program without completed prerequisites, will be accepted on the following conditions:

  • Required prerequisite courses must be completed by June 1st of the matriculation year.
  • Required outstanding prerequisite courses must be completed with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or greater.

*Human physiology may be taken in conjunction with gross anatomy. This course must cover the major body systems and meet our credit hour requirements (6 credits) if combined with human anatomy.

**CLEP (College Level Examination Program), AP (Advanced Placement), IB (International Baccalaureate), ACE Credit (American Council on Education), and AICE (Advanced International Certificate of Education) course credit may not be used or substituted to meet prerequisite requirements.

Advanced Admission Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree

  • A bachelor’s degree is required from a US regionally accredited college or university for admission into the program and must be completed by June 1st in the year of matriculation.
  • The program DOES NOT accept the following course work or degrees
    • Prerequisite coursework completed at a nationally accredited college or university.
    • Any degrees (bachelors, masters, doctorates, or professional degrees) or coursework completed outside of the United States. This includes the WES transcript.

Residency Requirements

All applicants must be citizens or residents of the US.


Healthcare Experience

A minimum of 750 hours of direct patient care experience is required and must be completed by April 1, 2025.  On CASPA, enter your hours under Supporting Information -> Experience -> Add Experience -> Patient Care Experience.

Applicants should have direct (hands-on) patient care in a clinical setting to be competitive.

  • Direct Patient Care Examples
    • CNA, medical assistant, LPN, RN, PT, PTA, OT, OTA, military corpsman, EMT, paramedic, respiratory therapist, speech therapist, surgical technician, phlebotomist, radiology technician, athletic trainer, medical scribe

The experience can be traditional paid employment, volunteer, or research experience. Hours obtained as a student (for credit or for certification) will not be counted toward the 750-hour minimum.  Additional consideration is given to candidates with direct patient care experience over 750 hours up to 2000 hours.


Shadowing

A minimum of 16 hours shadowing a physician assistant(s) is required.

    • Shadowing may include observing a PA in your place of work or at an arranged observation at another clinical setting.

On CASPA, enter your shadowing hours under Supporting Information -> Experience -> Add Experience ->Shadowing.  

What do we expect from your shadowing experience?  We want to see you shadow a physician assistant to learn about their daily work life, settings in which they work, how a PA differs from other healthcare professionals, and their educational experience to become a PA.


Letters of Recommendation

Three letters of recommendation must be submitted to CASPA. References should highlight your qualities that will make you an excellent physician assistant and enable you to handle the rigors of physician assistant school.

Who should write your letters of recommendation?

  • At least one letter from a physician assistant, physician, or nurse practitioner who can highlight the qualities that will make you an excellent physician assistant. (required)
    • Please note shadowing experiences less than 16 hours are not sufficient for a letter of recommendation.
  • We recommend one letter be from an individual who supervised you in a paid or volunteer clinical position. 
  • We recommend one letter be from a professor, academic advisor, or research mentor who can attest to your academic potential.

*No letters from immediate family members or friends will be accepted.


GRE or PA-CAT

The GRE General Test or the PA-CAT exam is required and must have been taken within five years of the application deadline. If you are applying for entry for fall 2025, you must have completed the GRE no earlier than April 1, 2019.

GRE scores must be sent directly to CASPA using the code 3989.

Applications will not be considered complete and ready for review until either your GRE or PA-CAT scores are received.


Information About the PA-CAT

The Physician Assistant College Admission Test (PA-CAT) is a specialized test designed to measure applicant knowledge in key prerequisite science subjects typically required for PA school. For information about the PA-CAT and to schedule your exam go to www.PA-CAT.com to register.

  • To send scores to our program select Drury University PA Program as the institution to receive your score report in your PA-CAT Score Portal.
  • It is recommended that you take the PA-CAT exam early in the application cycle for early admission consideration.
  • The PA-CAT score deadline is April 1, 2025.
  • Scores may take up to two or three weeks to be reported.

Noncognitive Factors

We seek to recruit and retain students with diverse backgrounds whose qualifications align with the program’s mission and goals. Applicants to the program will be evaluated holistically.  Candidates with the following experiences will be given additional consideration:

  • Active-duty military or veterans
  • First-generation college students from Missouri
    • Additional consideration is given to applicants who also qualify as educationally and/or economically disadvantaged
  • Drury University alumni and current students who will graduate by June 1st of the matriculating year
  • Demonstrated leadership skills (see below)
  • Demonstrated service through volunteering (see below)

Qualified Drury students and alumni will automatically receive an invitation for an interview for up to two admissions cycles. An invitation to interview does not guarantee acceptance into the program.


Leadership Experience

The Drury University PA Program is focused on graduating PAs who are capable of leading in the healthcare setting. We value applicants’ leadership experience and give additional consideration to applicants with a proven record of leadership.  The following is a list of leadership activities we value: 

  • Intercollegiate athlete – an athlete must have completed one year (one season) with their college team.
  • Executive leadership role in fraternity/sorority, professional organization/club, or student government.
  • Non-college leadership role within the community or place of employment.

Volunteer Experience

We give additional consideration for significant volunteering in the following areas:

  • Humanitarian work such as medical or humanitarian mission trips.
  • Community service such as volunteering in a homeless shelter, animal shelter, nursing homes, hospital, or other related areas.
  • Organizing charity events such as Relay for Life, cancer awareness etc.

This lists above are not exhaustive.  If you have activities or events demonstrating leadership/maturity/volunteering, please list them in your application.


Practices for Advanced Placement

No advanced placement credit will be awarded to applicants. The program does not accept transfer students or provide credit for experiential learning. All students matriculating into the Drury University Physician Assistant Program must take all curricular components of the PA curriculum in order to graduate and be awarded a degree from Drury University.

Clinical Placements

The Drury University Physician Assistant Program assumes responsibility for the recruitment of clinical sites and preceptors in sufficient numbers for the program-mandated supervised clinical practice experience (SCPE). Students are not required to provide or solicit preceptors or clinical sites for the program-mandated clinical experiential learning component of the program.

Students may voluntarily submit the name(s) of potential preceptors and/or clinical sites not already affiliated with the PA program; however, the potential preceptors and/or clinical sites must agree to host future students from the Drury University PA Program. There is no direct or implied guarantee on the part of the program that the student will be assigned a rotation with any requested preceptor or clinical site, including those already affiliated with the program. It is ultimately the responsibility of the director of clinical education and the program director to judge whether the preceptor and clinical site are deemed appropriate for use in Supervised Clinical Practice Experiences.

Address: 1423 North Jefferson Avenue, Springfield, MO, 65802

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