Master of Physician Assistant (PA) Studies

Application Guidelines

Application steps, required academic standards, and education and work experience requirements are listed below. For admissions and program related questions, visit our Frequently Asked Questions page, for any additional questions contact us: AdmissionsPA@rowan.edu.

For more details on the admissions information below, please refer to the PA Program Admissions Requirements.

Follow our application steps

• Complete primary application through CASPA (rolling admissions).
  • CASPA will collect and summarize all applicant data.
  • In addition to the CASPA general application procedures, we require the completion of custom questions and custom essay questions within the CASPA application.
  • The CASPA application requires you to provide information and transcripts verifying satisfactory completion of the required prior education components listed below.
  • Within the CASPA application, you must obtain/submit Letters of Recommendation* from three sources:
    • One science professor
    • One supervisor/manager
    • One person of your choice (e.g., physician, PA, advisor or coach)
      *Recommendations cannot be from family members or friends.
• A representative from the Rowan-Virtua SOM PA Program will contact applicants to complete the Rowan-Virtua SOM supplemental application before July 2025. This is a required component of the application.
  Please note that CASPA applications will be pre-screened for completion of all requirements. All requirements must be complete to move beyond this phase of the process with the exception of direct patient contact hours, degree completion, course prerequisites and community service hours, which are required to be completed by the time of matriculation. Please see the pre-screening section on the Admissions Procedures page for more information.

Required Academic Standards

• Cumulative GPA: 3.00+ (Preferred: 3.20+)
• Prerequisite GPA: 3.00+ (Preferred: 3.20+)
• All prerequisite courses (see below) must be completed with a grade of "C" or better and no more than two grades of "C" for all prerequisites.

Required Prior Education and Work Experience

• Bachelor's Degree
  • Rowan students may have an in-progress degree at the time of matriculation in the event that they are in a PA track program and all requirements of progression within that program are met.
• Prerequisite Courses (C or higher):
  • General Biology: 8 credits
  • Advanced Biology: 3 credits
  • General Chemistry: 6 credits
  • Organic Chemistry/Biochemistry: 3 credits
  • Human Anatomy & Physiology: 8 credits
  • Statistics: 3 credits
  • Psychology: 3 credits
  • Medical Terminology: 1 credit
• All courses must be completed within 10 years prior to matriculation.
• Preference will be given to those candidates who have completed in-person science and/or lab courses.
• Patient Care Experience
  • Applicants must have a minimum of 350 hours of patient care experience within the last five years. Examples of accepted experience include work performed as an EMT, Medical Assistant, Scribe, Paramedic, CNA, Nurse, Phlebotomist, Surgical Tech, Radiologic Tech, etc.
• Community Service
  • A minimum of 40 hours of community service within the last 10 years is required of all applicants. This includes volunteering at shelters, food banks, community events, or non-profit organizations.

Please note that standardized tests or PA shadowing is not required to apply.