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Develop the skills you need to be a vital member of the healthcare team as a student in the Physician Assistant Program. You'll learn from caring faculty experts who will prepare you to apply evidence-based medicine and compassionate decision making to benefit a diverse community of patients. Our student-centered curriculum and expansive clinical experiences will prepare you to build your future as a competent, caring physician assistant dedicated to making meaningful contributions to your patients, the community, and the profession.
Program
Masters
Location
Downers Grove, IL
Duration
27 months, full-time
Class Size
86
Graduation Rate
96% (3-year average)
Midwestern University's Master of Medical Science (M.M.S.) in Physician Assistant Studies is a continuous, full-time program extending 27 months from matriculation to graduation. The Physician Assistant (PA) professional curriculum offers students the opportunity to earn a graduate degree and satisfy the eligibility requirements for the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE). The maximum allotted time for completion of this program is 40.5 months.
The roles and specific clinical duties and responsibilities that graduates can expect to experience will likely vary depending on their chosen career path. PA Program graduates are expected to have the ability to competently perform patient histories and physicals, gather pertinent patient data, order and interpret diagnostic studies, recognize common diseases and disorders, choose appropriate therapeutic modalities, perform surgical procedures, manage emergency life-threatening conditions, promote health through counseling, education, and disease prevention, and demonstrate interpersonal skills consistent with the physician assistant role.
The didactic coursework includes 12 months of basic science coursework in anatomy, biochemistry, neuroscience, physiology, pharmacology, immunology, genetics, and microbiology. It also includes clinical coursework in clinical medicine, behavioral medicine, professional issues, and interpretation of the medical literature. During the remaining 15 months, students are required to rotate through eight core clinical rotations and two elective clinical rotations, in addition to completing advanced clinical medicine courses and a capstone project.
The second-year clinical program is primarily delivered at affiliated clinical sites and facilities within the Chicago metropolitan area. These sites are geographically and demographically diverse, reflecting the broad scope of practice opportunities that exist for PAs in the healthcare delivery system of this country. Sites include ambulatory practice settings, small and large office-based group practices, community health centers, in-patient settings involving large and small hospitals as well as federal and state facilities. These sites are in urban, suburban, and rural communities. In addition, the Program has established formal affiliations with clinical facilities and practitioners in a number of other states. As part of the clinical education phase of the program, students enrolled in the PA Program will likely be assigned to clinical rotations that reflect the geographic and demographic diversity described above, including distant in-state and out-of state rotations. Subsidized housing is provided for distant in-state and out-of-state core clinical rotations only. Students are expected to secure their own housing for local and elective rotations, and must provide their own transportation to all core and elective clinical rotations regardless of location.
No advanced placement within the PA Program is allowed for prior academic, clinical, or life experience. Midwestern University has an articulation agreement that exists between programs. The Program strongly discourages students from seeking outside employment while attending Midwestern University and will not make any exceptions in didactic or clinical workload for any student who chooses to engage in outside employment.
The PA Program does not offer an extended course of study beyond the usual length of the program. Please click here for more information on the curriculum. Please also see the Midwestern University Catalog for more detailed course descriptions and additional University, College, and Program policies which pertain to Physician Assistant students.
The mission of the Midwestern University Physician Assistant Program is to develop competent and compassionate physician assistants who will make meaningful contributions to their patients, community and profession.
The goals of the Midwestern University Physician Assistant Program are to: 1) provide a rigorous academic and clinical curriculum and achieve first-time PANCE percentage pass rates above the national average, 2) cultivate an environment of professionalism to encourage the development of competent and compassionate providers, 3) prepare students to serve diverse populations in both primary care and specialty settings, and 4) demonstrate the application of evidence-based medicine and foster a continuous commitment to life-long learning and community involvement as a health care provider.
The Midwestern University PA Program demonstrates achievement of these goals by analyzing the results of student performance in the didactic and clinical year, PA National Certifying Exam (PANCE) pass rates, and regular surveys of graduates, preceptors and employers:*
*October 2020 survey of the graduating class of 2019 (not every graduate answered each question; max. response rate was approximately 52%)
The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) has granted Accreditation-Continued to the Midwestern University-Downers Grove Physician Assistant Program sponsored by Midwestern University. Accreditation-Continued is an accreditation status granted when a currently accredited program is in compliance with the ARC-PA Standards.
Accreditation remains in effect until the program closes or withdraws from the accreditation process or until accreditation is withdrawn for failure to comply with the Standards. The approximate date for the next validation review of the program by the ARC-PA will be March 2023. The program’s accreditation history can be viewed on the ARC-PA website at: http://www.arc-pa.org/accreditation-history-midwestern-university-dg/
Students seeking admission to the PA Program must submit the following documented evidence:
PREREQUISITE COURSES
Course |
Sem Hrs |
Qtr Hrs |
Biology with lab* |
4 |
6 |
Anatomy* |
4 |
6 |
General Chemistry with lab* |
8 |
12 |
Organic Chemistry with lab* |
4 |
6 |
Math (college algebra or above) |
3 |
4 |
Statistics |
3 |
4 |
English Composition** |
6 |
9 |
Social and Behavioral Sciences (Sociology, Psychology, Anthropology, etc.) |
6 |
9 |
*All science prerequisites must be courses designed for science majors. No survey courses will fulfill science prerequisites. Courses with an online laboratory component will not meet any biology or chemistry prerequisite. In addition, advanced placement credit received at the undergraduate level may not satisfy biology or chemistry prerequisites. For Advanced Placement (AP) credit earned in biology or chemistry, MWU may request the submission of appropriate documentation (as determined by MWU) to verify the AP credit earned meets the program's admission standards. **Courses accepted for the English Composition prerequisite include rhetoric, composition, technical writing, and courses designated as writing intensive by the institution. |
Online labs:
“The Midwestern University-Downers Grove Physician Assistant Program is aware that many universities and colleges across the country had to modify their curriculum in reaction to the Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. One modification was offering coursework, including laboratory components, online. Currently, the PA Program policy is that courses with an online laboratory component will not meet any biology or chemistry prerequisite. This policy will be amended to accept prerequisite coursework with a laboratory component completed during Spring, Summer or Fall 2020 which was only offered online. In these circumstances, MWU may request appropriate documentation to verify that the institution was not offering in-person laboratory components for prerequisite courses the applicant completed during the above time period(s).”
Pass/Fail coursework:
“The Midwestern University-Downers Grove Physician Assistant Program is aware that many universities and colleges across the country had to modify their curriculum in reaction to the Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. One modification included awarding Pass/Fail final grades instead of traditional letter grades for completed coursework. According to the admissions requirement of the Midwestern University-Downers Grove PA Program, perquisite courses in which grades of "pass" are earned are counted only when applicants can provide verification that the earned grades are equivalent to grades of C or better (grades of C- are not acceptable). This requirement will be waived for all prerequisite coursework completed during Spring, Summer or Fall 2020 in which only pass/fail grades were awarded. In these circumstances, MWU may request appropriate documentation to verify that the institution was not awarding letter grades for prerequisite courses the applicant completed during the above time period(s).”
Physician Assistant | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
Tuition | $51,638 | $51,638 | $12,910 |
Student Services Fee | $687 | $687 | $172 |
Health Ins | $3,736 | $3,736 | $934 |
Disability Ins. Fee | $63 | $63 | $16 |
Books & Supplies | $3088 | $826 | $0 |
AAPA Membership | $75 | $0 | $0 |
See the Midwestern University Catalog for policies and procedures related to refund of tuition and fees.
Please click the following link for information pertaining to the Program's attrition and graduation rates: ARC-PA Student Attrition Template.
The average graduation rate for the program is 96%, which was calculated using the graduation rates for the PA Classes of 2018, 2019, and 2020.
Primary care, surgery, medical and surgical specialties, emergency medicine, behavioral medicine
Number of PA jobs projected to increase by 37% by the year 20261
Median annual salary is $105,000 (varies by hours worked, specialty, practice setting, location, experience)2
1. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S., Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Physician Assistants, on the internet at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physician-assistants.htm (visited 04/27/2018)
2. American Academy of PAs. (2018). 2018 AAPA Salary Report. Alexandria, VA.