• The Boston University Master of Science (MS) degree will be conferred upon those students who successfully complete the 28-month Physician Assistant (PA) Program.
  • The first 12 months of didactic training, comprised largely of traditional lectures, seminar sessions, and laboratories, provides the basic and clinical sciences foundation requisite for medical practice as a physician assistant. Principles of clinical research are taught in the first semester and reinforced with journal clubs throughout the first and second year. Important clinical skills such as history-taking, physical examination and basic surgical skills are introduced and practiced during the first year.
  • The second phase of the program is comprised of both clinical clerkships and the thesis proposal/research project. The clerkships engage students in clinical practice in inpatient (hospital), outpatient (clinics and community health centers), operating room, and emergent medical settings. The thesis project requires students to develop a comprehensive research proposal related to clinical practice, health policy, or workforce.
  • The PA Program is designed as an intensive, full-time program; students who need additional time to complete the program may be accommodated under very limited circumstances. All of the curriculum elements listed below are required for successful completion of the program. While we have many elective clerkships from which to choose, all students must complete five electives in order to graduate from the program. Consistent with physician assistant programs in the United States accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education of the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA), students who successfully complete the program are eligible to sit for the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) national licensing examination.