Academics

What Are the Qualities of a Good Candidate?

The ideal candidate has the academic ability, prior health care experience, and personal maturity to successfully complete the program and to insure a productive career as a physician assistant. Ability to relate to people, capacity for calm and reasoned judgment in encountering emergencies, and a demonstrated commitment to patients are qualities essential for a physician assistant.

The program's selections committee is seeking candidates who:

• Sincerely desire a career as a physician assistant and have a good understanding of the role of the PA
• Is able to successfully complete a college level program based on a strong foundational knowledge of basic sciences
• Possess some experience in the delivery of health care
• Understands of the role of a primary care practitioner
• Demonstrates a commitment to the team concept in health care
• Thrives in a service career providing help and care to other people
• Preference given to military veterans and Miami-Dade County residents however, all applicants are considered
• Communicates effectively and efficiently both in writing and in speech
• Demonstrates a commitment to community service.

Requirements

• Baccalaureate degree
• PA-CAT completion with scores sent to MDC
• Cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above.
• Completion of the required natural science courses with GPA of 3.0 or above.
• All natural science courses must have been completed within 10 years of the application deadline.
• Previous health care career education and/or documented experience are highly recommended.
• Shadowing a physician assistant for a minimum of 50 hours is highly recommended
• Completion of program-generated written essay.
• English competency in oral and written communication skills is required.
• Preference given to military veterans and Miami-Dade County residents however, all applicants are considered.
• Successful completion of a panel interview (interview rated by panel)
• Three letters of recommendation
• As part of the admissions process, applicants must be available between January - March to participate in onsite interviews and written essay. Specific dates and times will be communicated to eligible applicants.

Admission Test

All applicants will be required to take the PA-CAT as part of the admissions process. To learn more about the PA-CAT, visit the Physician Assistant College Admissions Test (PA-CAT) website.

For information about admissions requirement for the PA-CAT, please see Step 4 under the Apply to MDC tab on this page.

There is financial aid available to cover some of the cost of the PA-CAT for qualifying students. Please contact the test sponsor for more information.

The PA-CAT format is as follows:

• 9 subjects presented sequentially
• 240 multiple-choice test items
• 4.5-hour total exam window
• Electronically administered by Prometric
• Special Accommodations available. View Resources

PA-CAT Covered Subjects:

• Anatomy
• Physiology
• General Biology
• Biochemistry
• General and Organic Chemistry
• Microbiology
• Behavioral Sciences
• Genetics
• Statistics

Oral Interview and Written Essay

The following criteria is used to determine which candidates will be eligible for the Oral Interview and Written Essay phase of the Admissions process:

• PA-CAT Score
• Overall GPA
• Natural Science GPA
• Medical training and background
• Successful completion of all pre-requisite courses
• Degrees earned

The top scoring candidates will be invited to for a face to face interview and written essay examination. Students will be given 30 minutes to write the essay. This essay will be evaluated by an external review committee based on proper grammar, spelling, and sentence structure. The essay should include an Introductory statement and thesis statement, a body, and a conclusion. Essays are graded using a program-generated rubric. The topic of the essay is chosen by the program administrators. Up to Fifty-five students may be chosen for entry into the program each year.**

** Students from current class who are decelerated may affect total amount of seats available for the incoming class.

Pre-requisite courses

Math and Natural Science Courses

• General Chemistry I and Qualitative Analysis
• General Chemistry I and Qualitative Analysis Lab
• General Chemistry II and Qualitative Analysis
• General Chemistry II and Qualitative Analysis Lab
• Anatomy and Physiology 1
• Anatomy and Physiology 1 Lab
• Anatomy and Physiology 2
• Anatomy and Physiology 2 Lab
• Microbiology
• Microbiology Lab
• College Algebra (Or Higher)*
• Statistical Methods (Must take)*

*Baccalaureate degree must include 2 levels of math & must include College algebra or higher & Statistics.

Program Specific

• Introduction to Health Care
• Introduction to Health Care Lab

NOTE:

• All science lecture courses taken more than ten years ago must be repeated. Labs do not need to be repeated
• In order to graduate from the program, students will be required to complete the foreign language competency requirement.
• Introduction to Healthcare course (HSC003/Lab) is an institutional requirement. For more information about this course please call (305) 237-4103

View the complete course list (PDF).

Students should review the College Catalog for specific course descriptions, including pre and co-requisite course requirements.