Pre-professional: Physician Assistant

Students who would like to practice medicine under the supervision of a licensed physician should consider becoming a physician assistant (PA). A physician assistant can record medical histories, perform physical examinations, make diagnoses, counsel patients, order and administer laboratory tests, assist in surgery, set fractures, and prescribe drugs. Each graduate program determines its prerequisite courses, and students should consult with the School of Health advising office (pre-health@calvin.edu) for advice about preparatory courses and hours of direct patient care required by particular clinical training programs. Some PA programs require the prerequisite courses to have been completed at the time of application to their program.

Students can major in any discipline as long as they complete the prerequisite courses for the graduate program to which they intend to apply. Students may be required to take either the GRE (Graduate Record Exam) or the PACAT (PA College Admission Test). The timing of these tests will depend on coursework and/or when the student plans to apply to PA programs.