Undergrad Coursework to take for Canadian PA Admissions

Every Canadian Physician Assistant program has different admission requirements to secure a spot at their school.

Some schools have required coursework, while others have recommended coursework or no pre-requisite courses at all.

Do PA programs require you to complete mandatory courses before applying to PA school? Here we break down what PA programs require or recommend you to have courses completed.

Mandatory vs. Recommended Courses for PA School

McMaster’s PA program does not have required coursework or admission requirements.

This means you do not need to take Organic Chemistry, Anatomy or Physiology, Biochemistry or other courses to apply to the background.

You can complete coursework in any university-level undergraduate degree.

University of Toronto’s PA program has recommended courses

PA consortium does not require you to have completed certain courses before applying to PA school, however they have listed a few courses you can take that would make your application more competitive.

• One full year course, or two semesters worth is RECOMMENDED (not required) to be completed in:

  • Human Anatomy

  • Chemistry

  • Physiology

• PA Consortium also lists a few other Preferred Admission Criteria (e.g. current resident off Ontario, have been a resident as an adult in a northern or rural community, and more)

You can STILL get into PA school at University of Toronto without having completed those courses.

University of Manitoba is the only PA program that has mandatory courses to appy to PA school

University of Manitoba Master of PA Studies requires candidate to complete a four-year Bachelor’s degree. You may be in your last year of study when you apply.

• University of Manitoba is the only PA school in Canada which requires mandatory completion of the following courses:

  • Human Anatomy

  • Human Physiology

  • Biochemistry

• These courses must be taken at an undergraduate level and account for three credit hours

They have also listed Microbiology and Psychology courses as assets, but not required to apply.

Why are these courses mandatory or recommended?

I can’t speak personally as to why PA program admissions at Manitoba and PA Consortium have opted to include those courses as mandatory / or ‘preferred’, however taking Anatomy, Physiology and Chemistry/Biochemistry provide a good foundation going into your first didactic year in PA school.

• Anatomy and physiology as a background is helpful when learning about the medical foundations, different body systems, pathophysiology, understanding symptoms, clinical reasoning, and rationale for different treatment modalities.

• Biochemistry is the “study of chemical processes within living organisms”. It is relevant to the study of medicine, as the human body functions as a result of complex biochemical processes. This is helpful during your unit on immunology, endocrinology, infectious disease, gastroenterology, the coagulation cascade.. and more. The treatment of many conditions relies on an understanding of the biochemical processes that take place in human physiology.

You DO learn anatomy, physiology and biochemistry in PA school, but it certainly helps to have the background going in.

Students who do not have this background may have a bigger learning curve and require a bit of extra studying, but at the end of the day we all write (and pass!) the PA certification exam.

How to pick what undergrad courses to take to be competitive for PA school

If you are plannign to apply to PA school, it’s a good idea to self-reflect and evaluate what courses you should take.

Here are a few questions to consider:

• Completing course requirements in order to earn your degree, and/or complete a minor

• Courses that help you GPA: Taking a balance of ‘difficult’ and ‘easier’ in order to maintain a good GPA

• Personal Interest: Learning subjects that are personally interesting to you

• Completing courses to fulfill admission requirements for professional programs you are interested (e.g. medicine, dentistry, physiotherapy, PA, etc.)

• Courses that will help prepare you for program admissions tests (e.g. MCAT for medical school, DAT for dentistry school, PCAT for pharmacy, etc.). Remember that PA programs in Canada do not require writing the GRE or MCAT – so there are no preparatory courses you have to take for that.

Tip: If the school(s) you are considering do not list any courses as mandatory or recommended, do not feel compelled to take it – especially if you are concerned it will bring down your GPA.

A Note on GPA

I have taken challenging courses in the summer, where I had no other coursework to compete for my time in order to focus on getting a good grade. This strategy paid off for me and as a result these ‘harder’ courses for me helped improve my cumulative GPA.

You should always be working towards achieving the best GPA you can in all of your courses – regardless of which ones you choose to take.