Mailing Address

Yale Physician Associate Program
Yale School of Medicine
P.O. Box 208083
New Haven, CT 06520-8083
203.785.2860 (phone)
203.785.3601 (fax)

Physical Address

Physician Associate Program
Yale University School of Medicine
Edward S. Harkness Memorial Hall
367 Cedar Street
New Haven, CT 06510

Admissions

The application deadline for the Class beginning Fall 2008 is September 1, 2007.

A new class of thirty-two students is admitted each fall. The Admissions Committee seeks to select those candidates who show the most promise of becoming outstanding Physician Associates. It looks for intelligent, mature and highly motivated students who will likely become leaders in our profession. Decisions are based on the evaluation of the applicant's academic record, personal statement, previous medical experience, GRE scores, personal references and formal interview. The committee reviews each application individually on its merit and does not weigh one element of the application more than another. Recommendations submitted to CASPA should come from a recent professor or academic advisor, and a physician or PA. Personal recommendations by acquaintances should not be included in the application. The Program encourages applications from qualified individuals of any age, race, sex, religious belief, sexual orientation or national origin.

Prerequisites

Academic

An applicant must have completed a baccalaureate degree before entrance into the Program. The Admissions Committee closely examines an applicant's record for evidence that the individual is capable of successfully completing graduate-level science work. All prerequisites must be completed prior to application. A premedical science major is not a prerequisite. Due to the intense nature of graduate study at Yale, a cumulative science GPA of 3.0 is required of all applicants. The Program will not accept distance-learning or audited courses as prerequisites. The following are a list of the prerequisites:

Two semesters of general biology or zoology with lab
Two upper level (300 or 400 equivalent) biology courses, one of which must be animal or human physiology
One semester of General Chemistry with lab
One semester of either Organic Chemistry or Biochemistry

Please note that all prerequisite courses must be completed before the Admissions Committee is able to consider an application for review.

The General Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is required for admission as well. Please mark the Program's GRE Institutional Code as 3983 when requesting score distribution. The deadline for Program receipt of scores is September 1, 2007. While Yale does not have a specific numerical threshold for GRE scores, they should be in the range of the 50th percentile.

Admission to the Yale PA Program is quite competitive. The following is a range of the academic qualifications of our incoming class:

Overall GPA:	2.61-3.98
Science GPA:	3.11-4.10
GRE General Test:	Verbal mean:	566
	Quantitative mean:	691
	Writing mean:	4.6

Please note the data above represents the range of our incoming class and by no means predicts one's success as an admissions candidate. As stated above, each application is reviewed and evaluated individually.

Experience

The Admissions Committee expects that applicants have some awareness of the intricacies of medical care delivery as it exists today and can realistically commit themselves to a profession that aids the sick and injured. Many of our students have extensive medical background in roles such as nurse's aide, military corpsmen, nurse, surgical technician and emergency medicine technician. We do not have a baseline requirement of a certain number of health care hours nor do we judge one type of experience higher than another. The range of health care experience hours for the incoming Class of 2009 is 124 to 36,708 hours.

Interpersonal

The Program values the ability to work skillfully, thoughtfully and responsibly with people. Compassionate health care is a basic tenet of the physician assistant profession. The Admissions Committee also screens applicants to assess their career commitment, awareness of the physician associate role and willingness to work with a supervising physician.

Technical Standards

In addition to these requirements, applicants must possess the physical, emotional, and behavioral capacities necessary to meet all requirements of the Program's curriculum and to graduate as skilled and effective PA practitioners.

Please see the Yale University School of Medicine Physician Associate Program Technical Standards for complete information. (PDF format)

Application Process

The Yale PA Program requires all applicants to use the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA). Please go to www.caspaonline.org or call (240)497-1895 for more information. The Yale Physician Associate Program does not require a supplemental application. Recommendations submitted to CASPA should come from a professor, a physician or physician assistant and another professional affiliate. All test scores must be sent directly to the program identified by the GRE institutional code of 3983. The deadline for receipt of GRE scores is September 1, 2007. The mailing address is:

Admissions, Yale PA Program
47 College Street, Suite 220
New Haven, CT 06510

The application deadline for the Class beginning Fall 2008 is September 1, 2007.

Transfer Policy and Advanced Placement

Generally, the Physician Associate Program at Yale does not accept transfer students. In accordance with the Yale School of Medicine the following exceptions will be considered: Admission to advanced standing is considered only when the prospective applicant attends an ARC-PA accredited program and has a compelling personal need to be at Yale. Circumstances constituting “compelling need” under this policy include marriage to a member of the Yale-New Haven Medical Center Community or a serious illness in the applicant's immediate family requiring the applicant to be in New Haven as a primary supportive family member. The PA Program does not recognize credit for advanced placement courses or experiential learning.

Nondiscrimination Policy

The Yale Physician Associate Program is committed to the principles of equal opportunity in education. In accordance with Yale University nondiscrimination policy and Yale School of Medicine nondiscrimination policy, the Physician Associate Program does not discriminate in admissions against individuals on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, disability, illness, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, veteran status, national or ethnic origin, or socioeconomic background.

International Students

International applicants must complete at least one year of study in an American college environment prior to application. English proficiency is considered essential to providing quality patient care and precise communication with patients. Anyone whose native or first language is not English and who has not completed 4 years of undergraduate education in the United States is required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) examination. A minimum TOEFL total score of 213 (computer-based), 550 (paper-based), or 79-80 (internet based) is required for application. For computer based or paper based scores only, the Test of Spoken English (TSE) is also required with a minimum score of 55.

The Educational Testing Service administers these examinations in the United States and abroad. Please visit www.ets.org for more information.

Procedure

All applications are reviewed by members of the Admissions Committee and selected individuals are invited for interview. Only applicants formally interviewed at the Yale University PA Program office will be considered for admission. Applications are not accepted from graduates of medical schools.