To reach your goal of practicing medicine as a physician assistant, you’ll need an undergraduate education that can:
1) fulfill the requirements of physician assistant (PA) graduate school, and
2) allow you to shine throughout the future you see for yourself.
Augustana’s pre-physician assistant advising program prepares you for the entrance requirements of any PA graduate program in the country. Beyond requirements for a bachelor’s degree and strong science background, PA programs often give more consideration to applicants with a broader, well-rounded education.
At Augustana, you’ll choose a major (most choose biology) and the specific pre-PA advising program. You are required to obtain 1,000 hours of clinical experience on your own to satisfy PA program expectations and build your skills and confidence as a future physician assistant.
Augustana graduates perform well in their rigorous PA graduate programs. They say it stems from their undergraduate preparation in the sciences and well-rounded background, extensive clinical work and research, and connections with devoted faculty mentors.
What you'll learn
Disciplinary knowledge
Gain a deep understanding of your subject and how it connects to other subjects.
Critical thinking and information literacy
Judge and construct arguments, raise questions and define problems. Make a conclusion based on evidence.
Quantitative literacy
Interpret, represent and summarize information. Use math and statistics to solve problems.
Communication competence
Read and listen carefully. Express ideas (writing or speaking) suited to the audience.
Intercultural competence
Understand real and imaginary similarities and differences. Use more than one perspective to view issues.
Distinctions
• Connections and our location lead to good clinical placements. Faculty mentors work with Augustana’s Office of Career Development in CORE to assist pre-physician assistant students with clinical placements at a variety of hospitals, rehabilitation centers and nursing facilities throughout the Quad Cities.
• Augustana pre-physician students can gain clinical experience and earn college credit through summer internships and research assistantships. One example is Augustana’s intensive internship program with the Texas Medical Center in Houston, the largest medical complex in the world. Students conduct research with mentors who are leaders in areas ranging from cancer to molecular genetics.
• Among the high-tech laboratories in Augustana’s Hanson Hall of Science are individual labs for anatomy and physiology, cell biology, genetics, and hands-on experience working with human cadavers — a rare opportunity for undergraduates, giving students in the pre-health sciences an edge for graduate school.
Recent grads
Izzy Anderson '19 is pursuing a master’s in physician assistant studies at the University of Dubuque.
Rachel Buenaobra '18 is a laboratory assistant at NICL Laboratories in Northbrook, Ill.
Ben Hodges '15 is a physician associate at Fort HealthCare Orthopaedic Associates in Oconomowoc, Wis.
Jennifer Vanderpool '15 Myers is a physician assistant–neurosurgery at Ascension in Milwaukee, Wis.
“Throughout my time here, I’ve been challenged and encouraged to tap into potential I didn’t know I was capable of — inside and outside the classroom.”Read More
“Augustana really helped me determine what I wanted to do and, most importantly, why I wanted to do it.”Read More
“The liberal arts education has allowed me to gain interest in more than one area of study, and then learn to connect the two topics for a broader perspective.”Read More