Prerequisite Courses
All prerequisite coursework must be completed at a regionally accredited institution within 10 years of application to the program. For a list of regional accrediting organizations and accredited institutions, please visit the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) website.
All prerequisite coursework must be complete at the time of application.
No advanced placement or CLEP credits are accepted for prerequisite or program courses. Additionally, no credit within the program is granted for prior experiential learning, degrees, certifications, advanced training, or transfer coursework.
Prerequisites
Unless stated otherwise, all science prerequisites courses must be for science majors and may not be introductory courses. (Note: All required course credits are listed as semester credit hours. Courses taken on a quarter/trimester credit hour basis must be equivalent in credits to meet the semester credit hours listed below. All prerequisite courses must have been taken at a regionally accredited university in the U.S. or Canada.)
| Course | Credit Hours | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| English | 3 | *Must include writing/composition |
| Biology (with lab) | 6 | *A lab component is required for each biology course. *The Biology prerequisite can be fulfilled with Biology I and Biology II, or other non-introductory biology courses designed for science majors that include a lab component. Recommended courses include, but are not limited to, Genetics, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Embryology, Histology, Immunology, and Biochemistry. |
| Human Anatomy (with lab) | 3 | |
| Human Physiology (with lab) | 3 | *Combined Anatomy and Physiology courses are acceptable provided the total credits received is a minimum of 6 semester hours (see note below) |
| Microbiology (with lab) | 3 | |
| General Chemistry | 3 | |
| Organic Chemistry (with lab) | 3 | |
| Psychology | 3 | *May be introductory or for non-science majors |
| Statistics | 3 |
While not required, the Baylor MPAS program recommends courses in genetics, cell biology, molecular biology, embryology, histology, or immunology to complete the biology course requirements. A medical terminology course is also highly recommended.
Baylor's MPAS program requires one of the following two combinations to meet the Human Anatomy and Human Physiology requirements:
- Human Anatomy (with a lab) + Human Physiology (with a lab), OR
- Human Anatomy & Physiology I (with a lab) + Human Anatomy & Physiology II (with a lab)
Admission Requirements
Candidates for admission to the Master of Physician Assistant Studies degree program must complete all required prerequisite courses with a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) and prerequisite course GPA of 3.00 or greater on a 4.00 scale. Pass/Fail courses will only be accepted by individual waiver.
GPA requirements must be met by the application deadline.
Grades below “C” in prerequisite courses will not be accepted.
If a prerequisite course is repeated, the credit hours assigned to the course may be counted only once in fulfilling the required number of hours. Both grades will be calculated into the cumulative GPA. Higher grades do not replace lower grades.
If the cumulative GPA is less than 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, an applicant may still be eligible for admission if a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or greater has been achieved over the last 60 semester or 90 quarter hour credits of coursework.