PA Entry-Level: FAQs

  1. What is the deadline to apply to the program?
  2. What type of academic background and/or degree is likely to optimize my potential for success in your program?
  3. Can I apply with outstanding courses and/or health care experience?
  4. How many classes does the program accept each year? How many students?
  5. Do I need to meet all of the program’s admissions prerequisites or can some be waived on the basis of prior work experience in health care?
  6. Does the Stony Brook PA program offer a part-time option/distance learning courses?
  7. Why do you require health care experience as an admission prerequisite?
  8. Do you have any suggestions on how I can obtain the required healthcare hours of patient care experience?
  9. Can you connect me with a PA I can shadow?
  10. Does the PA Program offer Advanced Placement?
  11. Do Stony Brook undergraduates get preferential admission to the program?
  12. Do I get to choose where I complete my clinical clerkships?
  13. What credentials will I have upon graduation from your program? Where can I practice?
  14. Can you provide me with information about on-campus and off-campus housing opportunities?
  15. Do you give preference to New York State residents?
  16. Where can I get information about financial aid?
  17. What about physician assistant program “ranking” systems?
  18. Can I transfer into your program?
  19. What are your guidelines on TOEFL?
  20. Do you have a placement service for graduates?
  21. Will I be able to work during the time I am a student?
  22. What are the employment and salary outlooks for PAs?
  23. Does the Stony Brook PA program require a deposit to secure admission?
  24. Do we require the GREs?
  25. Do we require a supplemental Application?
  26. Do we require a criminal background check?
  27. What is your first taker PANCE performance in each of the last 5 years?
  28. Does the program allow foreign medical graduates to waive out of portions of the PA Program curriculum?
Question #1: What is the deadline to apply to the program?
Answer: We utilize a rolling admissions process. Interviews are granted to qualified applicants on a first come first served basis until full. The CASPA application will close on September 1st. This is the deadline for us to receive your application from CASPA. 
Question #2: What type of academic background and/or degree will likely optimize my potential for success in your program?
Answer: Strong preparation in biology, chemistry, and math (especially statistics) is highly valued. The number of courses, the level of those courses, and performance are important considerations. Applicants should demonstrate their ability to handle social science and humanities coursework in psychology, sociology and logic/critical thinking/ethics. Degrees in related majors will also help ensure success in the program.
Question #3: Can I apply with outstanding courses and/or healthcare experience?

Answer: Yes. However, your bachelor's degree and all academic and healthcare requirements must be completed by August in the year that you are applying.
Question #4: How many classes does the program accept each year? How many students? When do classes start?
Answer: There is one entering class each year, which includes 45 at the Health Sciences Center campus and 25 at the Southampton campus. The starting date for each class is mid-June of the year of admission.
Question #5: Do I need to meet all of the program’s admissions prerequisites or can some be waived based on prior work experience in health care?
Answer: No prerequisites for admission are waived on the basis of prior health care/life or academic experience. Prior healthcare experience will be applied to the program’s healthcare experience requirement.
Question #6: Does the Stony Brook PA program offer a part-time option/distance learning courses?
Answer: Our program does not offer a part-time option or distance learning courses.
Question #7: Why do you require direct care experience as an admission prerequisite?
Answer: The experience of working with patients is invaluable to anyone considering a career in medicine as a PA. It grounds your career choice in the realities of the profession and offers a unique perspective on how our health care system works. The reality is that whether or not a given PA program requires direct care experience, this type of experience is valued in considering the admission qualifications of any given applicant.
Question #8: Do you have any suggestions on how I can obtain the required patient care experience?
Answer: Many applicants begin working in the healthcare field in the summer between high school and college. By working in health care each summer through their undergraduate education, they accrue the required experience. Potential entry-level positions (paid and unpaid) include but are not limited to EMT, phlebotomist, nursing aide, home health care aide, scribes, paramedics, laboratory technologists, nutritionists, volunteers for community mental health or family planning agencies, and other health-related experience.
Question #9: Can you connect me with a PA I can shadow?
Answer: Because of HIPPA regulations and patient privacy issues, we do not make arrangements for PA shadowing. You may want to try to contact hospitals in your local area (some use their volunteer office to make such arrangements) to establish shadowing experiences or for help in meeting a PA.
Question #10: Does the PA Program accept Advanced Placement credit for science prerequisites?
Answer: The PA Program does NOT accept Advanced Placement credit toward science prerequisites but is accepted for non-science requirements.  
Question #11: Do Stony Brook undergraduates get preferential admission to the program?
Answer: While the rigor of undergraduate education at Stony Brook is well recognized, all applicants are given equal consideration for admission.
Question #12: Do I get to choose where I complete my clinical clerkships?
Answer: Students are offered a choice in selecting their clinical clerkship track and medical and pediatric preceptorship sites. Academic performance while in the program and prior clinical experience are considered in all placements.
Question #13: What credentials will I have upon graduation from your program? Where can I practice?
Answer: Students are granted a Master of Science (MS) degree upon graduation and are eligible to complete the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE) offered by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). Graduates of the Stony Brook Physician Assistant Program certified by the NCCPA are eligible to practice in all 50 states and other national or international jurisdictions that license/utilize PAs.
Question #14: Can you provide me with information about on-campus and off-campus housing opportunities?
Answer: The campus has a housing website that includes housing information. Students who are planning to live on-campus are strongly encouraged to live at the West Apartments, which observes "quiet lifestyle" rules, have single rooms, and is air-conditioned. Married students may want to consider the Chapin Apartments directly across the street from University Hospital.
Question #15: Do you give preference to New York State residents?
Answer: Admission preference is not given to New York State residents. However, tuition for New York State residents is lower than that for that for out-of-state residents. Out-of-state tuition is very reasonable and cost effective in comparison to that of most other programs.
Question #16: Where can I get information about financial aid?
Answer: The Office of Student Services at Stony Brook University retains financial aid officers who are experts in this area and make every attempt to assist students seeking financial aid.
Question #17: How are Physician Assistant programs ranked? Where does Stony Brook fall in the rankings?
Answer: The most recent ranking of PA programs compiled by US News and World Report can be found in America's Best Graduate Schools/Programs. In the 2019 edition, the Stony Brook PA program was ranked 15th in the United States and first in New York State. This ranking system is based largely on the evaluation of peers at other graduate level Physician Assistant Programs. The exclusive use of any ranking, without doing the kind of intensive program exploration that insures that the match between a given applicant and a given program is optimal, cannot be responsibly recommended.
Question #18: Can I transfer into your program?
Answer: Applicants require a completed Bachelor's degree to be eligible to apply. Every student applying to our program must apply through CASPA.
Question #19: What are your guidelines on TOEFL?
Answer: All applicants whose native or first language is not English must achieve at least a 550 paper-based or 213 computer-based score on the TOEFL within two years prior to the date of admission.
Question #20: Do you have a placement service for graduates?
Answer: Many Stony Brook students are offered employment during their clinical rotations. The program also e-mails job opportunities to second year students and maintains a listing of job opportunities, a data base of all program graduates who often share information on job opportunities with the program, and a file on organizations that service the PA employment market.
Question #21: Will I be able to work during the time I am a student?
Answer: Most students find it impossible to work due to the intensive nature of the PA curriculum and the class and study hours involved in the first year. During clinical clerkships students note that their patient management responsibilities and the time required to prepare for rounds, conferences and presentations do not allow them to both work and attend the program.
Question #22: What are the employment and salary outlooks for PAs?
Answer: The employment outlook for PAs is positive. The US Department of Labor has identified the physician assistant profession as one of the 10 fastest growing occupations, 2019-29. Stony Brook PA graduates are highly rated and sought after by employers. For the past several years over 25% of each graduating class has had at least one job offer prior to graduation and over 90% of recent classes have been employed within 12 weeks of graduation. Salary information is available through the AAPA.
Question #23: Does the Stony Brook PA program require a deposit to secure admission?
Answer: Applicants who are accepted to graduate programs at Stony Brook University (including professional graduate programs like the PA Program) are not required to pay a deposit to secure their seat. As a matter of principle, our belief is that prospective students should not be financially pressured into making such an important decision without first being sure that the program match is right. Once a student has made a decision to accept our offer of admission it is expected that s/he will honor that commitment. Our goal is to insure that the process is fair to both those who have already been offered a seat and those who are on our alternate list.
Question #24: Do you require the GREs?
Answer: We do not require the GREs.
Question #25:  Do you require a supplemental application?

Answer:  Yes, we do require a supplemental application. The link to the supplemental application is located on the CASPA website under program materials.  Applications are not considered complete until the supplemental application has been received. Please do not contact the program to request a supplemental application.
Question #26: Do you require a criminal background check?
Answer:  All students who are offered seats and decide to attend the program must clear a criminal background check prior to the start of the program.  Information related to potential companies that can be utilized will be sent to you in the Spring prior to the start of the program.  You are responsible for working with that company and providing the program with the findings of the criminal background check.  Failure to provide this report to the program, or to not clear a criminal background check will result in the program rescinding the offer of admission.
Question #27:  What is your first taker PANCE performance in each of the last 5 years?
Answer: Our first-time taker PANCE pass rates are listed on the "Why Stony Brook?" page and our PANCE results page.
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Question #28: Does the program allow foreign medical graduates to waive out of portions of the PA Program curriculum?
Answer: All students matriculated into the PA Program must complete all coursework within the PA Program curriculum to receive their degree.