Examples of
Direct Patient Care Experience
for Physician Assistant Program Admission
At least 750 hours of quality direct-patient contact experience are required to begin the PA program. A competitive applicant will have the
required 750 hours of patient care experience at the time of application. The quality of the experience(s) and number of hours are weighed
when considering an application. The more hands-on activities are considered higher quality and less hands-on activities are considered
lower quality but are still important to include in your application. Patient contact hours may be paid or volunteer. It is extremely important
to provide a detailed description of your responsibilities on your CASPA application to ensure that you are given appropriate credit.
The following is a list of patient-care experiences with approximate quality values and is intended as a guide only and is not all-inclusive.
Again, it is important to note that assigned values of patient experience are based on description of duties on the application.
High Quality
High-quality experiences require a high level of decision making and intensive hands-on responsibility for which 100 percent of the total
hours will count toward the prerequisite hours. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
}Athletic Trainer
}Certified Nurse Assistant
(CNA)
}Dental Assistant
}Dentist
}EMT
}Home Health Aide w. Health
Care Responsibilities
}Licensed or Certified Health
Care Professional
}Patient Care Advocate
}Physical Therapy Aide
}Occupational Therapy Aide
}Health care internship or hands-on
training
}Shadowing Physician, PA, or Nurse
Practitioner
}Personal caregiver for a relative or
friend
}Shelters for the homeless, halfway houses, homes for battered women, etc.
}Volunteer experiences in soup kitchens, on crisis hotlines, for food pantries, etc.
}Red Cross, Peace Corps
}Medical Assistant
}Medical Research w. Human
Subjects
}Medical Scribe
}Mental Health Worker
}Military Medic/Corpsman
}Nurse
}Nurse’s Aide
}Occupational Therapy
Assistant
}Patient Safety Observer/Sitter
}Medical Translator
}Bench research with data and/or
lab animals with a human medical
component
}Medical Records Processor
}Patient transport
}Recreational aide for special needs
populations
}Ophthalmic Technician
}Paramedic
}Participant on a mission
trip with a health care
related assignment or other
cross-cultural health care
experience
}Patient Care Technician
}Phlebotomist
}Physical Therapist
}Pharmacy Technician if patient
counseling, preparation of
medication, and communication with
health care providers are entailed
}Medical office receptionist
}Pharmacy Technician if duties only
involve cashing out customers and
administrative work
}Lifeguard
}Physical Therapy Assistant
}Public Health Response
(COVID Screening, Testing,
Education and Outreach)
}Radiology Technician
}Sonographer
}Substance Dependency
Counselor
}Surgical/OR Tech
Moderate Quality
Moderate-quality experiences require a moderate level of decision making and moderate hands-on responsibility for which 25-50 percent
of the total hours will count toward the prerequisite hours. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
Low Quality
Low-quality experiences require a low level of decision making and minimal hands-on responsibility for which 10 percent of the total
hours will count toward the prerequisite hours. These hours are still important as it provides one with experience in a health care
setting. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
Related Humanitarian Experiences
Value for the hours accumulated in these experiences will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Examples include, but are not limited to,
the following:
Ofce of Graduate Admission
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