Physician Associate

• AAPA Definition: PAs (physician associates/physician assistants) are licensed clinicians who practice medicine in every specialty and setting. For more information: https://www.aapa.org/about/what-is-a-pa/
• The Berry PA Program strongly encourages all potential applicants to review the below links to learn more about our profession and professional organizations.
  • American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA): https://www.aapa.org/
  • The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA): https://www.nccpa.net/
  • PA History Society: https://pahx.org/who-are-we/
  • Georgia Association of PAs: https://georgiapa.wildapricot.org/

A physician assistant/associate is a PA. A PA who is certified receives the “C” after PA. This means they have successfully passed their PA National Certifying Examination (PANCE) and maintained certification per the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). For more information, please visit the NCCPA website.

According to the American Academy of Physician Associates, PAs should continue to use “physician assistant” or “PA” as their official legal title in a professional capacity, particularly in clinical settings and with patients, until the jurisdiction governing their licensure and practice has formally adopted the title of “physician associate.”

While Berry College PA Program is using the most current professional nomenclature, we will require Berry PA students to identify as PA or physician assistant students while on clinical rotations in states that have not formally adopted the new terminology. Additionally, we recommend they continue to refer to themselves as “physician assistants” or “PAs” and follow AAPA recommendations upon graduation. For further information: https://www.aapa.org/title-change/.

The Berry Physician Associate (PA) Program is seeking accreditation from The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). This is the only US accreditation organization for physician assistant/associate programs. Upon successfully completing the Berry PA Program, students will be eligible to take the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) PA National Certifying Examination (PANCE), the only certifying organization for PAs in the United States.

Oregon is the first and only state to formally adopt the name change as of June 6th, 2024.

Schools and programs that review applicants holistically consider the whole person, not just their grades and scores. However, if schools or programs list minimum requirements, those must be met before a holistic review can occur.

Holistically, the Berry PA program looks at the quantitative and qualitative data collected through CASPA and in-person interviews. Minimum requirements are outlined on our program website and CASPA. For example, minimum GPAs must be met. For further clarification or questions please contact our admission coordinator, Ms. Evans-Thomas, at pevansthomas@berry.edu.

• Health-care-related experience is required.
• Patient contact and/or clinical experiences may include health-related, patient care, research, shadowing and volunteer experiences as defined by CASPA Experiences (Liaisonedu.com).
• There is no minimum number of hours required. Generally, competitive applicants should have at least 500 accrued patient contact and/or clinical experience hours at the time of application submission. This requirement will be reviewed holistically with the candidate's application and compared to the applicant pool at the time of application.

Students are responsible for obtaining their own housing in the area during the didactic phase of the curriculum. Students should have access to a personal vehicle. Since some clinical rotation sites may be outside of Rome, students should expect to be assigned to these sites and should anticipate the need to find housing in these areas during the clinical portion of the program. The clinical team will work with AHEC about potential housing at these away sites; however, neither AHEC nor the program guarantees housing.

Prior to matriculation, students must hold current certification in American Heart Association Basic Life Support (AHA BLS).

No. Prerequisite courses have been selected in consideration of adequate preparation for the rigor of PA education and are in line with typical PA program prerequisites for US-based PA programs.

• Prerequisite Course Grade and GPA requirement - All prerequisite courses must be completed with a grade of 'C' or higher, and all applicants must have a cumulative Prerequisite Course Grade Point Average (as calculated by CASPA) of 3.0 or higher. Must be taken within last 5 years.
• Cumulative Science GPA Requirement (Biology, Chemistry, Physics or BCP courses) - All applicants must have a cumulative overall BCP Course Grade Point Average (as calculated by CASPA) of 3.2 or higher.
• Cumulative Overall GPA Requirement - All applicants must have a cumulative overall Grade Point Average (calculated by CASPA) of 3.0 or higher for all undergraduate and graduate courses.
• NOTE: Higher GPA will result in higher weighting on the Berry PA Program admissions rubric.

• All candidates must submit unofficial GRE scores to CASPA at time of their application and official scores by time of interview.
• MCAT and PCAT scores are not accepted in place of GRE scores.
• There is no minimum score requirement. Scores will be reviewed holistically with the candidate's application and compared to the applicant pool.
• GRE must be taken within five years of date of application.
• Berry PA Program GRE Designated Institution (DI) Code 1269

To ensure that the Physician Associate student gets the most out of the student’s education, the program assesses each student’s engagement with the coursework, learning activities and outcomes. If attendance and participation expectations are not met, this may result in the inability of the student to meet the learning outcomes and require disciplinary measures (as per the student handbook). Excessive absences from the required in-person activities may result in failure of courses and dismissal from the program. This policy is designed to ensure that the student receives the training they need to be a successful PA.

Please contact Polly Evans-Thomas, Program Manager (admissions coordinator), at pevansthomas@berry.edu or 706.238.7889.