Health Care Experience

A minimum of 1 year (approximately 2,000 hours accumulated as of the October deadline) of health care experience in a position of responsibility is expected of all applicants.

Preference is given to candidates with health care experience that involves direct, 'hands-on' patient care, working with more acutely sick or injured patients in a hospital or clinical setting. The experience can be obtained through paid positions, volunteer work, or community service. 

Health care experience is evaluated on the following criteria: 

Shadowing experience, although highly valued, does not count toward the total number of hours. Applicants should enter any shadowing or intern types of opportunities under the health care related area of their CASPA application.

Types of Health Care Experience

The Program doesn't necessarily base decision on a position's title, but rather the duties and skills involved with the position.  However, we offer the types of experience below as suggested avenues for obtaining health care experience.  There may be other acceptable experiences, but just not mentioned.  Please use the criteria above when determining the type of experience to obtain prior to applying to PA school.