Mar 29, 2024  
2019-2020 Undergraduate Bulletin 
    
2019-2020 Undergraduate Bulletin [ARCHIVED BULLETIN]

Physician Assistant Studies, Bachelor of Science (BS) and Master of Science (MS), Dual-degree Program


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Carina Loscalzo, Chairperson and Director

Physician assistants are health professionals licensed to practice medicine in collaboration with physicians and other healthcare professionals providing a team-based approach to quality, patient-centered care. Physician assistants work in a variety of medical settings, ranging from basic primary care to sub-specialty medicine. Physician assistants are qualified to care for patients in a variety of settings, including assisting in surgery, attending medical emergencies and caring for patients in out-patient internal medicine, pediatrics or family medicine offices and clinics.

Hofstra's program is designed to provide students the opportunity to earn both BS and MS degrees in Physician Assistant Studies. Undergraduate students first complete the pre-professional phase, consisting of three years of collegiate instruction including all prerequisite courses. The professional curriculum (graduate) is divided into three semesters of didactic instruction, three semesters of clinical clerkships and one semester of research. The curriculum focuses on integrating basic science and the application of clinical medicine. To best reach different students learning styles, the professional phase of the program instructs students utilizing a multi-modal approach. These include: traditional lecture series, case-based learning, simulation, standardized patients (actors), practice sessions for procedural and physical examinations, use of cadavers for anatomy instruction and procedure skills.

During the clinical year of the program, students are assigned to clinical clerkships at affiliated hospitals, private physicians' offices and community clinics. Located in a variety of medical settings, these clinical campuses offer training in many disciplines of medicine and provide the opportunity for exposure to a wide variety of patient populations. The research semester will culminate in a research project using community partnerships. Upon successful completion of the program, candidates are eligible to sit for the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE). Undergraduate students having completed 126 semester hours of coursework and all Hofstra University undergraduate degree requirements will receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Physician Assistant Studies (see note below). Students should file for graduation only at the end of the didactic (fourth) year. Students in years 1-4 of the program will be eligible for undergraduate financial aid and all relevant undergraduate awards; students enrolled in years 5-6 will be eligible for graduate financial aid and all relevant graduate-level awards. All students, including those earning the baccalaureate, will earn a Master of Science in physician assistant studies upon completion of the entire curriculum.

Note


Students who complete the required course work and all Hofstra University undergraduate degree requirements are eligible for the BS degree; however, they will not be eligible to sit for the PANCE exam or to receive the MS degree until all requirements for the MS degree are fulfilled, including completion of the PA Professional Phase of the program. Students who do not continue into the professional phase can earn a BA in Natural Sciences  degree which builds on what has already been taken as part of the pre-PA curriculum. Alternatively, students may choose any other major to transfer into.

Entry and Progression Requirements for direct admission to the dual-degree program (BS and MS)


Students entering Hofstra as incoming first-year students may apply for the direct entry admission to this dual-degree program. The following requirements must be met to be eligible for the dual-degree direct entry program:

  1. Enter Hofstra University as a first-year student with a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 in high school academic work and an SAT score of 1300 (evidence-based reading and writing + math sections) or an ACT score of 27
  2. Qualified applicants to the direct entry program will be asked to submit a supplement to their application, consisting of two essay questions
  3. Advanced placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB) or college credit will not be applied to dual degree courses that begin with BIO, CHEM or MATH.

Students admitted directly to the dual-degree program as incoming freshman students will be admitted automatically to the professional phase of the program beginning the fall semester of his/her senior year, provided they fulfill the following requirements:

  1. Complete a successful interview during the junior year;
  2. Successful completion of a background check without any convictions during their junior year;
  3. Attend Hofstra University for all undergraduate course work;
  4. Maintain a minimum cumulative overall grade point average of 3.3 for each of the six fall and spring semesters prior to beginning the PA program curriculum;
  5. Achieve a minimum cumulative overall and science grade point average of 3.3 at the end of the spring semester of the junior year;
  6. Follow the prescribed pre-professional curriculum;
  7. Complete three years in-residence before entering the professional phase of the program;
  8. Meet with a pre-professional science advisor (and the PA program advisor, if appropriate) at least once each semester;
  9. Document 50 hours of health care experience.
  10. Obtain a letter recommending admission to the graduate phase of the program from a faculty member from one of the PHA classes at the end of the spring semester of the student’s junior year;
  11. Submit a $1500 deposit (applied to tuition once enrolled) to reserve a seat in the graduate phase.

Should a student meet all conditions, a space will be reserved in the professional phase of the PA program beginning in his/her senior year.  If a student withdraws from the program, they forfeit the seat reserved for them in the professional phase of the program.

The science grade point average is calculated using ALL science courses taken beginning with CHEM, BIO, BCHM or PHYS. If a course is repeated, both classes will count in the science GPA calculations. BIO 100  is excluded from this calculation. The only other courses that will be counted towards the science GPA are HSCI 103, HSCI 105, and HSCI 50 (formerly BIO 103, 105, and 50).

Students who do not meet every condition for the first-year dual degree option may apply to the graduate program as an external candidate via www.caspaonline.org.

Dual Degree Program Requirements – Total Semester Hours: 165


BS/MS in Physician Assistant Studies

Five and One-half Year Sequence

Candidates for the dual degree (BS/MS) must fulfill the following requirements:

  1. The successful completion of at least 165 semester hours.
  2. The successful completion of the progression requirements listed above.
  3. The successful completion of the following courses:

Pre-Professional Phase (Undergraduate) - Total Semester Hours: 86


Please note that although pre-professional phase courses and required Hofstra University distribution courses must be taken by the end of the spring semester of the student’s junior year, the sequence in which the student takes these courses may vary according to student preference. Below is a sample curriculum. 

First Year


COURSE

SEMESTER

SEMESTER HOURS

WSC 001 - Composition 

FALL

3

Language Level 1 or
3 s.h. of liberal arts elective if language requirement fulfilled

FALL

3

BIO 012 - (NS) Animal Form and Function 

FALL

4

CHEM 003A - (NS) General Chemistry I, CHEM 003B - (NS) General Chemistry Laboratory I 

FALL

4

 

 

 

WSC 002 - Composition 

SPRING

3

BIO 011 - (NS) Introductory Cell Biology and Genetics 

SPRING

4

CHEM 004A - (NS) General Chemistry II, CHEM 004B - (NS) General Chemistry Laboratory II 

SPRING

4

Language Level 2 or
3 s.h. of liberal arts elective if language requirement fulfilled

SPRING

3

PHA 101 - Physician Assistant Seminar I 

SPRING

1

TOTAL CREDITS FOR THE FIRST YEAR

 

 

29

Second Year


COURSE

SEMESTER

SEMESTER HOURS

Bio 135 – Genetics

FALL OR SPRING

3

Bio 025 - Microbiology

 

FALL OR SPRING

4

Chem 135 – Foundations of Organic Chemistry

FALL OR SPRING

4

LT, BN, HP distribution courses

FALL AND SPRING (any combination to be completed over both semesters)

3 EACH = 9 TOTAL

Language Level 3 (or 3 s.h. of liberal arts electives if language requirement fulfilled)

FALL OR SPRING

3

HSCI 103 - Human Anatomy and Physiology I 

FALL

4

HSCI 105 - Human Anatomy and Physiology II 

SPRING

4

PHA 102 - Physician Assistant Seminar II 

SPRING

1

TOTAL CREDITS FOR THE SECOND YEAR

 

 

32

Third Year


COURSE

SEMESTER

SEMESTER HOURS

Bio 137 – Cell Biology

FALL OR SPRING

3

Bio 140 – Human Physiology

FALL OR SPRING

4

BCHM 162 - Foundations of Biochemistry (preferred) or BCHM 163 - Bio-Organic Chemistry of Metabolism 

FALL OR SPRING

3

EMATH 050 - (MA) Precalculus or MATH 071, 072, 073 - (MA) Analytic Geometry and Calculus I, II, or III

FALL OR SPRING

4

BIO 100 - Biostatistics or PSY 040 - Statistics or SOC 180 - Statistics in Sociology 

FALL OR SPRING

4

CC, AA distribution courses

FALL AND SPRING

3 EACH = 6 TOTAL

PHA 103 - Physician Assistant Seminar III

SPRING

1

 

TOTAL CREDITS FOR THE THIRD YEAR

 

 

25

Professional Phase (Graduate) - Total Semester Hours: 79


Fourth Year


FALL
Course Semester Hours
PHA 223 - Human Anatomy 4
PHA 217 - Pharmacology I 2
PHA 215 - Physical Examination and Diagnostic Modalities I 3
PHA 212 - Physiology 4
PHA 224 - Medicine I 4
Total 17

 

SPRING
Course Semester Hours
PHA 200 - The Physician Assistant and Society 2
PHA 216 - Health Psychology 2
PHA 202 - Evidence-Based Medicine 2
PHA 220 - Physical Examination and Diagnostic Modalities II 3
PHA 225 - Medicine II 5
PHA 221 - Pharmacology II 2
PHA 232 - Correlative Medicine I 1
PHA 235 - Preventative Medicine 1
Total 18

  

SUMMER
Course Semester Hours
PHA 219 - Physical Examination and Diagnostic Modalities III 2
PHA 227 - Medicine III 7
PHA 233 - Correlative Medicine II 1
PHA 234 - Pharmacology III 2
Total 12

 

Fifth Year


FALL, SPRING AND SUMMER
Course Semester Hours
PHA 250 - Family Medicine Clerkship 3

PHA 255 - Internal Medicine Clerkship

3
PHA 260 - Obstetrics/Gynecology Clerkship 3
PHA 265 - Surgery Clerkship 3
PHA 270 - Emergency Medicine Clerkship 3
PHA 280 - Pediatrics Clerkship 3
PHA 285 - Psychiatry Clerkship 3
PHA 290 - Elective Clerkship 3
Total

24

 NOTE: Each of these courses must be completed before the end of the program; however, the sequencing varies.

Sixth Year


FALL
Course Semester Hours
PHA 218 - Epidemiology 2
PPHA 301 - Research Design and Analysis 3
PHA 302 - Master’s Research Project 3
Total 8

Complete BS Requirements


BS Requirements  in Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

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