Why?
Programs will look at applicant GPA and prerequisite fulfillment as part of the application process. There are minimum requirements for each at almost all programs, which are listed on the program’s website. It is important to note that the GPA programs will see will be calculated by CASPA, which may differ from the GPA on your official transcript.
The prerequisite courses ensure that applicants will have the foundational knowledge necessary to be a successful provider. Starting with general biology and chemistry and working up to biochemistry, anatomy, and physiology gives students the background information that will be expanded upon during PA school. It is true that you can major and minor in anything so long as you complete the prerequisite courses. If you have specific questions about which of your courses might fulfill prerequisites, it is a good idea to contact them for clarification.
PA schools want to know that their students can succeed during their rigorous coursework. They will look at GPA, but they will also take into consideration the difficulty of the coursework. Taking more credits with more challenging courses will speak to your ability to handle the PA school curriculum and to your time-management skills.
My Experience
Since I knew so early that I wanted to be a PA, I was able to use that information to choose a college and course of study. Personally, I absolutely love science, and I was especially excited about anatomy. The Biomedical Sciences program at Colorado State University was the main reason that I decided to attend CSU for my undergraduate degree. Almost all of the prerequisites for PA school were already built into the curriculum, so it was easy to add a class here and there to fulfill the last few prerequisites. I also added a minor in Spanish to expand the patients that I could eventually provide care for.
In addition to the BMS major and Spanish minor, I participated in the University Honors Program. This was another way to not only set my application apart, but it allowed me to participate in smaller discussion-based classes with people from diverse backgrounds.
There were some prerequisites at some programs that I had questions about. For example, some programs require six credits of writing, but as part of the Honors Program the class that fulfilled writing requirements at my university had the prefix HONR. It was easy to get in touch with those programs via phone or email and talk to someone in the admissions department. I did this about a year and a half before I planned on applying to plan any courses I needed to take beforehand.
Advice
If you are still deciding what to major in, be sure to choose something that you enjoy; it truly does not matter what your degree is in as long as you complete the required courses. School is essentially your “job” with the number of hours it takes up during undergraduate, so find something that will keep you engaged for four years!
Regardless of when you decide to pursue a career as a physician assistant, all prerequisite classes need to be completed before starting PA school. Since those vary from program to program, you can approach this one of two ways: use program requirements to direct which classes you take or choose programs that match the classes you have already taken. If you have yet to start college classes or are in the middle of college, I recommend the first approach. I found general requirements for PA schools and then fine-tuned my four-year plan to meet the specific requirements of programs I was interested in. If you have already graduated with a college degree or are close to completing one, it will likely be more efficient to apply to programs that require the classes that you have already taken. This can be done using your own research, which is more cost effective but time consuming. You can also use My PA Box to input your classes and other credentials to be matched to programs. I highly recommend using My PA Box whether you match your courses to the programs or match programs to your courses.