Best 15 Masters in Physician Assistant Programs in 2024

Since 1971 Northeastern University has offered a comprehensive program designed for students wishing to earn a master’s degree as a Physician Assistant. This program is perfect for students who wish to work in the medical field alongside an attending doctor. This program will allow students to run and interpret testing and diagnostics, as well as educate patients on disease management and mitigation. Graduating students have the opportunity to work in nursing homes, physician offices, hospitals, or emergency rooms.

The program offered from Northeastern University gives students the opportunity to enroll in a dual master’s program. Students can earn a dual master’s degree in PA/MPH and PA/Health Informatics (HI). It is important to remember that the ability for a PA to practice will change depending on individual state regulations.

• Application Requirements: Application, Application Fee, Official Transcripts (minimum 3.0 GPA), Hands on Experience, Minimum Science Course Requirements Undergraduate Level, Criminal Background Check

As one of the top ranked schools for Medicine, Baylor University’s School of Medicine offers a competitive program for students wishing to earn their Masters in Physician Assistant studies. This program is augmented by the state-of-the-art biomedical facility located on campus. Students will have the opportunity to work with other disciplines at the university including nursing and social practice students.

The program offered at Baylor instills a service mindset in students with regular opportunities available to help serve all members of the Houston community.

• Application Requirements: Application, Application Fee, Bachelor Degree and Transcripts with Minimum 3.2 GPA, GRE Scores, Course Specific Requirements, Healthcare Experience

Supported by the most up to date technology, the University of Wisconsin offers a competitive program for students wishing to earn a Masters in Physician Assistant degree. This school offers opportunities for a wide demographic, but focuses on students stemming from rural, underserved, and urban communities. In this way, the University of Wisconsin can offer medical care and practice to long underserved communities.

Not only does the school have state-of-the-art technology for students to learn and practice on, but they have a dedicated team of faculty and staff members. Boasting a small admittance rate, students will be sure to get one-on-one attention and practice with trained professionals.

• Application Requirements: Application, Application Fee, Bachelor Degree and Transcripts with Minimum 3.0 GPA, Required Undergraduate Coursework, Minimum 1,000 Hours Hands on Healthcare Practice

The PA Program offered at Stanford University offers students the opportunity to earn a high demand degree from a prestigious school. This program consists of 9 quarters giving students the chance to enroll in a wide variety of courses as they pertain to medical study. Students who earn a PA from Stanford can pursue several different career outlets including clinical research and study, clinical practice, community health, or medical education.

Stanford University offers what they call a “flipped classroom”. This course of study allows lectures to be viewed remotely, in an online format. This dedicates traditional classroom time to collaborative work and study with fellow students and faculty members. In this way, Stanford hopes to redefine traditional education focusing more on hands-on practice.

• Application Requirements: Application, Application Fee, Bachelor Degree, CASPer, GRE, MCAT, or PA-CAT Scores, Letters of Recommendation, Essay

Emory University, based out of Atlanta, Georgia offers one of the top PA programs for students. For those interested in earning a Masters in Physician Assistant studies, the school offers several different paths. Students may enroll in a Masters in Physician Assistant degree, or can complete a dual degree coupling their Physician Assistant degree with Masters of Public Health Degree.

The goal of the program is to educate students allowing them to pursue a medical degree and help areas in the community that are continuously underserved. The program is intended to help community outreach and provide much needed medical care and education to both urban and rural areas of the country. The program strives to produce medical leaders who will help educate and care for the community.

• Application Requirements: Application, Application Fee, Undergraduate Degree with Minimum 3.0 GPA, GRE Scores, Required Undergraduate Coursework, Minimum 2,000 hours Patient Care Experience, CASPA, 2 Letters of Recommendation

The PA Program offered at the University of Florida is designed to set students up for success as a practicing Physician Assistant. Over 98% of graduating students successfully pass their board examinations allowing them to work with patients in a medical or research capacity. Students will have the opportunity to not only attend one of the best schools to become a Physician Assistant but will have ongoing success in a medical career.

Students enrolled at the University of Florida also can take additional courses or seminars in related medical practices. The school offers a surgical residency program for interested PAs and offers ongoing practice and theoretical coursework for students interested in specialized coursework.

• Application Requirements: Application, Application Fee, Undergraduate Degree with Minimum 3.0 GPA, GRE Test Scores, Minimum 2,000 hours Hands on Experience, Minimum coursework in Undergraduate Degree Required

The Physician Assistant program offered at Cornell University takes students 26 months to complete. The study is divided into two sections; the first is pre-clinical study while the second half is clinical practice. Students will have the ability to choose from a mix of core coursework, as well as elective study. The program has had a strong reputation focusing on surgical practice, but the goal of the program is to make students well rounded and prepared Physician Assistants.

This program requires students to successfully complete both the pre-clinical and clinical phase of study, as well as complete a master’s thesis with an oral defense. Students who graduate will be prepared for a career in medical practice or ongoing clinical research.

• Application Requirements: Application, Application Fee, Bachelor Degree with Minimum Course Work, GRE Scores, Minimum 500 Hours of Health Care Experience, Letters of Recommendation

As part of the MEDEX Northwest program, the University of Washington offers a competitive program for students wishing to earn their Masters in Physician Assistant studies. This program is perfect for students who want the challenging yet rewarding career in the field of medicine. This program consists of two distinctly separate parts to the program which takes 27 months to complete. The first part of the program is the didactic training (or non-clinical), and the second part of the program is clinical practice.

While the program is geared toward preparing students to take on a career in the medical field, it is centered on providing medical support to traditionally underserved communities. Students will have elective rotations lasting for one month each where they will have the opportunity to explore several specialties and electives. The program also features a four-month practice focusing on general, primary care aspects of medical practice.

• Application Requirements: Application, Application Fee, Pre-requisite courses in Undergraduate, Minimum 2,000 hours Health Care Practice, Minimum B- GPA in Accredited School

The Masters in Physician Assistant program offered at University of Iowa is unique to other programs offered throughout the country. While students are in their non-clinical, or didactic phase of study, PA students will work alongside fellow medical students. This allows students to collaborate and learn from students of all medical disciplines and practices.

The university strives to create students who are life-long learners. They continuously develop questions, studies, and dedicate their lives to ongoing medical practice and study. This program wants to create students and PAs who are equally well versed in theoretical ideas as well as hands-on practice.

• Application Requirements: Application, Application Fee, Bachelor Degree with Minimum 3.0 GPA, GRE or MCAT with Minimum Score, Minimum 1,000 Hours of Direct Patient Work, Letters of Recommendation

Offering a range of specialties, the Masters in Physician Assistant program offered at Seton Hall University gives students the opportunity to study and select the course of medical study that most interests them. Students can specialize in Surgery, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Obstetrics/Gynecology, or Psychiatry.

The program offered at Seton Hall University is 33 months long and offers comprehensive study for students. Education is focused on having clinical experience over theoretical practice, which can leave graduates with a great advantage over PA peers from other universities.

• Application Requirements: Application, Application Fee, Bachelor Degree with Minimum 3.2 GPA and Minimum Coursework, GRE Test Scores, Minimum 250 Hours of Healthcare Practice, Letters of Recommendation, Optional Interviews

Students who enroll in the Masters in Physician Assistant program at Quinnipiac University will have the opportunity to enroll in a full-time program. This program does not allow part-time study and will not accept transfer credits from other universities. The Masters in Physician Assistant can be completed as a stand-alone degree, or can be coupled with a dual degree in Health Science Studies.

Students will have the opportunity to complete this exciting curriculum in a state of the art, 325,000 square foot research and laboratory facility. This allows students the necessary theoretical, as well as practical, experience needed to become a successful Physician Assistant.

• Application Requirements: Application, Application Fee, Bachelor Degree with Minimum 3.0 GPA and Minimum Course Requirements, 2,500 hours of Patient Practice

The Masters in Physician Assistant program at Butler University requires students to take a 24 month course curriculum. This program can help set students up for a career in either surgical or general medical practices. Students will graduate with the knowledge and experience necessary to take state issued boards and exams to practice medicine in their respective state.

The program is divided into two parts consisting of a non-clinical and clinical phase. The first year of study is dedicated to a non-clinical phase, while the remaining study is focused on hands-on practice and experience. Students will always work alongside trained and certified faculty and staff when moving to the clinical phase of study.

• Application Requirements: Application, Application Fee, CASPA, Pre-Requisite Course Work, Bachelor Degree and Transcripts with 3.2 GPA Minimum, Three Letters of Recommendation

Wake Forest University School of Medicine offers a competitive and comprehensive PA program for students wishing to pursue a medical career in practice or research. This 24-month program with a primary focus on Inquiry-based Learning models the continuous, life-long adult education principles required of PA practice. Students who complete the PA program coursework will earn a Master of Medical Science.

In its partnerships with the Wake Forest University colleges of business and law and the graduate medical school research programs, sequential and dual degrees are offered. These options allow students to augment their clinical education with a focus on topics such as health administration and management, public policy, and research.

The core PA Program course curriculum is divided into two parts, with the first year consisting of didactic, clinical practice-based applications, and the second year of study devoted to supervised clinical experiences with direct patient care. In the clinical portion of study, students from both the Boone and Winston-Salem campuses are combined, adding expanded opportunities for peer study and cooperative work.

• Application Requirements: Application, Application Fee, Letters of Reference, CASPer, Bachelor Degree with Minimum Course Requirements, Health Care Experience

Stony Brook University was one of the first public universities to offer physician assistant education in the country. Their 24-month program is fully accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA) and students earn a Master of Science (MS) degree upon graduation. In 2018, the Stony Brook PA Program expanded to the Stony Brook Southampton campus, which has 25 PA students on the Southampton campus in addition to the 44 students on the Stony Brook location campus.

The school is working with the community of Southampton to build a new state-of-the-art Southampton Hospital on the campus which will be part of the learning environment for future PA Students. Their program emphasizes competence in primary care as the foundation of sound clinical practice and graduates use their education and training in over 60 specialties and subspecialties of medicine and surgery. Stony Brook graduates can be found working in all 50 states and internationally in rural, urban, and suburban settings.

• Full Time NYS Resident Tuition per year: $16,220 (Fall and Spring), $4,732 (1st Year Summer), $7,436 (2nd Year Summer)
• Full Time Non-NYS Resident Tuition per year: $29,980 (Fall and Spring), $8,743 (1st Year Summer), $13,739 (2nd Year Summer)
• Application Requirements: visit the application process page for detailed information

The Physician Assistant program offered at Drexel University is perfect for students who wish to continue their career to practice medicine. Students will earn a Masters in Health Science with an opportunity to take board certified exams required to practice medicine following the completion of the program.

Students who go on to graduate as a practicing PA can help diagnose patients, assist in surgical procedures, conduct hospital rounds, perform certain specialized procedures, and generally work alongside a medical doctor.

• Application Requirements: Application, Application Fee, Bachelor degree with minimum 3.0 GPA, Transcripts, Letters of Recommendation, Essay, Resume, Interview may be Optional