Frequently Asked Questions
General Program Questions
The PA program is a full-time program and due to the nature of the heavy course load, high academic standards and the various clinical rotations, the School of PA Medicine does not recommend any type of employment while enrolled in the program. Students must ensure they have adequate financial resources prior to matriculation into the program. Please refer to the tuition and fees tab for additional information related to costs associated with the program. A student may not be compelled to be an employee of the program. (ARC-PA Standard A3.15e)
The PA program is structured to be face to face instruction and students must be willing to attend the program on-campus. The PA program will make every attempt to temporarily accommodate for illness and injury to a student on a case-by-case basis. Please contact the PA program if you have any additional questions.
The PA program does not offer part-time enrollment and is only available full-time, each student admitted to the program will matriculate once per year with an established cohort.
No, the sequencing of the curriculum is unique to the NU PA program and requires all students to enter the program as a cohort.
Yes. The PA program will conduct a routine criminal background check on all admitted students, prior to matriculation. The cost associated with the background check will be the responsibility of the incoming student. If you have questions related to criminal background, please contact the PA program at pa-admissions@northwestu.edu.
The PA program will conduct a routine urine drug test for all students admitted to the program prior to matriculation in the program and again prior to the clinical phase (final year) of the program. The cost associated with the drug screen will be the responsibility of the student and is required. Students should be cognizant that many clinical training sites require drug screening as a prerequisite for participation in a clinical rotation. If you have any questions related to the drug screen, please contact the PA program.
Admission Questions
The answer is no. The program will review all applications that are submitted by the posted deadline. Please refer to the admission process for further information.
The PA program does NOT require GRE scores to be submitted with the application, if you have taken the GRE and it is included in the application, the PA admission committee will NOT review the results and therefore it will not factor in the decision of admission to the program.
Prerequisite Questions
The PA program does not allow applicants to use AP credit or CLEP credit to meet any of the required prerequisites. If you have any questions regarding the prerequisite coursework requirements, please refer to the admissions requirements tab for further information. (ARC-PA Standard A3.13c)
No, the PA Program Admissions Committee expects applicants to complete the prerequisites as listed on the admission requirements tab and not substitute them for any other coursework.
Yes. The PA program does not offer any advanced standing, and the entire 28-month program must be completed in full.
We reserve the right to confirm and verify all employment, volunteering and clinical experience as included in all submitted applications.
You may contact CASPA to have your PCE hours updated on your application prior to the FINAL submission date. Please contact CASPA or the program to get additional information about this process.
Please notify CASPA immediately. Because all materials are submitted through CASPA, all communication will have to go through CASPA. Feel free to send an email to pa-admissions@northwestu.edu with a brief overview of the mistake, and be sure to include the communication you received from CASPA in this email.
Students in the NU PA program are not required to provide or solicit clinical sites or preceptors. The NU PA program recruits, develops, maintains, and determines student placements for all supervised clinical practice experiences (also known as SCPEs or clinical sites). Coordinating supervised clinical practice experiences (SCPEs/clinicals) by the program’s faculty involves identifying, contacting, and evaluating sites and preceptors for suitability and student safety as a required (core) or elective rotation experience.
Students may suggest or provide information regarding potential preceptors or clinical sites to the program’s faculty, but no student will be required to provide or solicit clinical sites or preceptors. Any clinical site or preceptor recommended to the program by a student must be reviewed, evaluated and approved for educational suitability and student safety by the program. (ARC-PA Standard A3.03)